A former Phillips Exeter Academy teacher is accused of sexually assaulting a student at the prestigious boarding school multiple times between 2013 and 2015.
Szczesny Kaminski is facing three counts of felonious sexual assault for allegedly grooming and assaulting a student during her freshman and sophomore years on campus, according to the Rockingham County Attorney’s office.
During an arraignment held Tuesday in Superior Court, a lawyer for Kaminski said he denied the charges.
Rockingham County Attorney Pat Conway asked the court to detain Kaminski pending trial, citing the seriousness of the charges and a series of text messages purportedly sent by Kaminski to the student requesting that she not reveal information about the alleged sexual encounters.
Judge Polly Hall ordered Kaminski released on $50,000 bail.
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Exeter police originally investigated a complaint against Kominski in 2016, but didn’t bring charges at that time. According to school officials, Kaminski remained on faculty but was given “written notice that certain actions would result in his termination.”
School officials say new information surfaced earlier this year leading to Kaminski’s firing after twenty years in the math department. The school says it did not publicize his termination at law enforcement’s request.
According to a 2017 profile in the school’s newspaper, Kaminski served as an advisor to the school’s opera and frisbee clubs.
In an email to parents and faculty sent Monday afternoon, the school says it is prepared to provide support and resources to anyone harmed by sexual misconduct.
In 2018, Phillips Exeter released the results of an investigation into decades of sexual misconduct allegations by adults against students. School leadership issued an apology and pledged to provide a “safer future” to students.
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(Editor's note: this story was updated following an August 25 bail hearing)
