NEW YORK
The Fordham Ram
August 18, 2016
By Laura Sanicola
This story is breaking and will be updated.
Two more individuals have made allegations about former Fordham Prep teacher Fernand Beck and have contacted Mitchell Garabedian, a lawyer specializing in sexual assault cases made against the Catholic Church. Their claims are currently being investigated, according to the lawyer.
Beck was accused of rape by former student Michael Meenan. Fordham Prep launched an investigation, found the claims to be credible, alerted the Fordham Prep community and announced that Beck would not be returning to the school in early August. More information can be found here.
On Thursday afternoon, a small group of protesters gathered outside of Fordham University gates passing out pamphlets to pedestrians and drivers and holding signs that said that Jesuits were unresponsive to allegations of sexual assault. The protesters included Neal Gumpel, who said he was sexually assaulted by Rev. Roy Drake in the 1970s. Robert Hoatson, a former priest and alleged victim of priest of abuse who now is co-founder and president of Road to Recovery, a New Jersey based nonprofit that assists victims of sexual abuse by priests, also attended. Gumpel was not a student at Fordham Prep.
Drake was a priest who resided for several years on Fordham’s Rose Hill campus and briefly worked as a teacher at Fordham Prep. Gumpel’s wife Helen also attended the protest. Drake had left Fordham Prep and was employed by the Maine Maritime Academy at the time of the alleged assault.
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