Sexual Abuse

Parents and advocates for children packed a Concord School Board meeting on Monday to give input on the district’s policies on sexual harassment, abuse and community safety.

The meeting came after revelations that the district mishandled allegations against Primo “Howie” Leung, a former special ed teacher, who is now facing charges of sexually assaulting a Concord student.

The details laid out in a November legal complaint against Dartmouth College are shocking.

Seven women in the school's prestigious Psychological and Brain Sciences Department say they were harassed, assaulted, and even raped by tenured faculty members. They say administrators turned a blind eye, protecting the department’s reputation, and the men, at all costs.

We follow up on the Concord Monitor’s series, Fighting Back: Confronting Domestic Violence In New Hampshire, by looking at what a person needs when they leave an abusive relationship. such as emotional, legal, and financial support, and what barriers might stand in their way. We also discuss what our state is doing well, and where it can improve, in its approach to intimate partner violence. 

Former Bedford Superintendent of Schools Chip McGee resigned Friday, weeks after he authorized a high school staffer to testify on behalf of Kristie Torbick, a former Bedford guidance counselor who plead guilty to sexually assaulting a 14-year-old child. 

For many parents in the district, McGee's resignation is only a first step in resolving the issue. 

Parents in Bedford are calling for action after district officials allowed Bedford High School Dean of Students Zanna Blaney to give character testimony on behalf of Kristie Torbick, a former district counselor who plead guilty to sexually assaulting a 14-year-old student in Exeter. 

At Torbick's sentencing hearing earlier this month, Blaney described her as a "pro when it comes to making a student feel heard" and said she had never been concerned about Torbick crossing boundaries with students.  

Over a year ago, St. Paul’s School in Concord, New Hampshire published an investigation that revealed decades of sexual abuse allegations. The school is currently being sued by two alumni over faculty sex abuse allegations.

And yet they haven’t established a therapy fund for alumni who were abused, something academics, attorneys and victims believe is essential for healing.

Chester Irons' relationship with St. Paul’s School didn’t always feel so complicated.

He’s in his 60s now, yet he can still remember the exhilarating feeling of being dropped off at the Concord boarding school for the first time.

"I stepped out of the car with my parents and said goodbye to them and ran off with a bunch of friends I met literally 20 minutes earlier. It was a new beginning, a new adventure and I was very excited," he recalled in a recent phone interview.

Reports of sexual abuse at several top prep schools have surfaced in recent years. A group of Phillips Exeter Academy alumni have now launched an independent reporting website for sexual assault survivors from that school. 

Susannah Morrison Curtis is part of that group and she’s on the line with me now. 

(This transcript was lightly edited for clarity.)   

I’d like to get into what you’re trying to accomplish with this website, but first tell us a little bit about your experience at Phillips Exeter, whatever you are comfortable sharing.