Report details sex abuse investigation results at St. George’s preparatory school

ST. GEORGE'S School has made a report public on its website detailing results of a sex abuse investigation.
ST. GEORGE'S School has made a report public on its website detailing results of a sex abuse investigation.

MIDDLETOWN – A report made public to the St. George’s preparatory school community on its website details results of a sex abuse investigation that identifies misconduct dating back 50 years.
First reported by the Boston Globe, the report, dated Dec. 23, confirms that investigator Will Hannum of Schwartz Hannum PC determined that three former employees engaged in sexual misconduct with 23 alleged victims in the 1970s and 1980s. During the same period, Hannum found three other former employees engaged in sexual misconduct with three different victims.
As advised by Rhode Island State Police, victims and perpetrators have not been identified, with the exception of former athletic trainer Al Gibbs, who died in 1996.
The school had dismissed four of the six former employees involved, and a student alleged to have abused another student was expelled “after the school became aware of the misconduct…. However,” the report states, investigators, “cannot be certain of whether the school possibly knew more before those perpetrators left the school.”
There is “no evidence” the school ignored any complaints, but the report notes the school “failed on several occasions to fulfill its legal reporting requirements to authorities.”
“To all victims,” the report states, “we are truly, deeply sorry for the harm done to you by former employees or former students of the school. We are heartbroken for you and for the pain and suffering that you have endured. We pledge to do all we can to support you in your efforts to heal, if you want or need our support.”
While acknowledging that an apology included in the investigation commissioned by the school is “not enough,” Headmaster Eric Peterson and Board of Trustees Chairperson Leslie Heaney pledge to do “what we can to assist” victims.
That includes providing counseling support, establishing a victim’s support fund, hotline and advisory group and organizing a private survivors’ gathering, as well as renaming the Zane dormitory named after Tony Zane, who led the school during the time of the abuse.
Peterson could not be reached for comment.
St. George’s is a co-educational boarding and day school for grades 9 through 12.

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