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Attorney General Launches Criminal Investigation Into St. Paul's Prep School

Eddie Cheuk

The New Hampshire Attorney General's office has initiated a criminal investigation into St. Paul's School, the prestigious Concord prep school at the center of the high-profile sexual assault trial of a former student in 2015, and a recent report detailing a decades-long history of sexual abuse by members of the school's faculty.

According to a release late Thursday, the investigation will involve several agencies including the Concord Police Department and New Hampshire State Police. (Scroll down to read the full text of the release.)

Last month, the Concord Monitor reported new claims of "sexual conquest" games being played by St. Paul's students were being investigated by the school, two years after the "senior salute" ritual was cited in the Labrie case.

Concord Police also said they were investigating reports of a sexual assault at the school.

The investigation is going to focus initially on whether the school engaged in conduct constituting endangering the welfare of a child. It will also look at whether the school obstructed justice.

"Protection of children is a paramount priority for law enforcement," N.H. Attorney General Gordon MacDonald said in a statement. "I am confident that an institution such as St. Paul's School will be fully cooperative with this investigation as it has pledged that '[t]he safety and well-being of all students remains [its] highest priority.'"

Amanda Grady Sexton, director of public affairs for the New Hampshire Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual Violence, commended the attorney general's office for launching the investigation.

"Elite boarding schools are in many ways exceptional, but they are not above the law," Sexton said. 

"While administrators at St. Paul's School recently disclosed a decades-long history of sexual assault and misconduct on campus, they seem to be unwilling or unable to comprehend the ongoing problem unfolding right in front of their eyes today," Sexton added. 

We will continue to follow this developing story.

Read the news release:

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