Police Report Alleged Abuse at St. George's School in 2004

By Parker Gavigan
NBC 10
February 11, 2016

http://turnto10.com/i-team/nbc-10-i-team-police-report-alleged-abuse-at-st-georges-school-in-2004

St. George's School oceanfront campus in Middletown is picturesque. The student body comes from some of the wealthiest families in America. Tuition is close to $60,000 a year.

Tradition was tainted around the New Year, when several alumni came forward, claiming rape and sexual misconduct on the part of teachers from decades ago, in the 1970s and 1980s.

"It hurts. My parents didn't believe me, the school didn't believe, and nothing was done," said Katie Wales, class of 1980, at a press conference in January.

Questions circled around what school officials knew and when they knew it. Did they report the allegations to Rhode Island's social services? Lawyers for the alleged victims have shown evidence that the answer is no.

Working on a tip, the NBC 10 I-Team discovered a newer complaint against St. George's, this one from May 2005.

A former student, who NBC 10 News has decided not to name, was expelled for smoking marijuana. He was back on campus and told to leave or else the police would be called. That's when he said he had a story to tell.

The allegations are laid out in the pages of a Middletown police report obtained by the I-Team. The teen said he was sexually molested by his dorm master in the fall of 2004 and touched inappropriately about 15 times.

"The teacher was having students come to see him in his room after school hours," said Carmen Durso, a Boston attorney representing alleged victims, including this former student. "Really bizarre behavior, and really no explanation as to why a teacher would have to do that."

According to the police report, the teen said he felt "uncomfortable" and was "afraid." The teacher, he said, kept touching his legs.

"While I was sitting on his couch he told me I had great sailors knees," the former student said. The former student told police he sailed, but didn't know what "sailors knees" meant. "I feel that he would try and look up my shorts," said the former student. He also told police there were other victims, too.

After the allegations surfaced, a Detective Kelly Mitchell from Middletown police began investigating the claims. She was told by headmaster Eric Peterson that the teacher took a leave of absence and letters went out to families in the teacher's dorm, according to the report.

The detective tried to speak with the teacher, but he was advised by his lawyer, Michael Robinson, not to discuss the matter with police. The report identified the teacher as Charles Thompson, a technology teacher and athletic trainer at the school. Police said it appeared he touched the teen like any trainer would. There was no corroborating evidence, wrote the detective.

"I find the allegations of an assault to be unfounded," wrote the detective. The report is punctuated with the words "Case Closed."

Lawyers for the alleged victims question whether police had all the facts, whether the school was completely honest with police.

"I can think of four people at least, who made complaints about this teacher. I was told by these people that there were other students who were harassed by him as well. So, I can't imagine that if the police had had this information that they wouldn't have followed this up more completely," said Durso.

Middletown's Deputy Police Chief Ferenc Karoly wrote in an email to the NBC 10 I-Team, "If we knew of other allegations we absolutely would have investigated those allegations as well. We investigate all allegations of criminal activity."

Peterson is still St. George's School headmaster today.

School spokesman Joe Baerlein told the I-Team in a statement, "When Mr. Peterson became aware of reports of inappropriate behavior by Mr. Thompson, he immediately put him on leave. Mr. Peterson had the matter investigated and mandated that Mr. Thompson receive a psychiatric evaluation before returning back to the school."

Thompson later left St. George's School and was hired by the Taft School in Connecticut as head of information technology. In a letter to students, parents, staff and alumni -- and reviewed by the I-Team -- Taft headmaster William MacMullen said, "Mr. Thompson was hired here in 2011 with favorable references from St. George's."

However, in a December 2015 email to attorney Eric MacLeish, who is also representing some alleged victims, Sara Schwartz, a lawyer for St. George's wrote, "In connection with Mr. Thompson becoming employed at Taft, St. George's advised Taft of the allegations."

Thompson has not been accused of any impropriety at Taft, according to MacMullen, who placed the teacher on administrative leave. Attempts to reach Thompson were unsuccessful.

St. George's School and a group of victims have agreed to a third-party investigation by Martin Murphy.

Rhode Island State Police, with the Middletown Police Department's assistance, have opened their own investigation into the St. George's accusations. Anyone wishing to speak directly with a state police detective is asked to call 401-444-1205.