Sexual Abuse at St. Paul's School? Tell Us About Your Claim; You Deserve Justice!
Allegations of sexual abuse and misconduct at St. Paul’s School in Concord, New Hampshire, span decades and involve former faculty, staff, and students. Independent investigations substantiated numerous allegations involving former employees, while lawsuits and a New Hampshire Attorney General investigation have raised additional questions about the school’s handling of sexual misconduct and the legal options available to survivors.
St. Paul's School Lawsuit Claim Form
St. Paul's School Sexual Abuse Lawsuit
Allegations of sexual abuse and misconduct at St. Paul's School in Concord, New Hampshire, span decades and involve former faculty, staff, and students. Independent investigations substantiated numerous allegations involving former employees, while lawsuits and a New Hampshire Attorney General investigation have raised additional questions about the school's handling of sexual misconduct and the legal options available to survivors.
St. Paul’s School in Concord, New Hampshire, has faced allegations of sexual abuse and misconduct involving former faculty, staff, and students. An independent investigation commissioned by the school documented decades of historical sexual misconduct by adults in positions of authority, while separate allegations of student-on-student sexual assault brought additional scrutiny to the school’s handling of sexual misconduct. If you or someone you know allegedly experienced sexual abuse or assault while attending the boarding school St. Paul’s School, you may have legal options. Our consumer advocates can connect you with an attorney who handles sexual abuse claims. Call us today for help.
Background of Alleged Sexual Misconduct at St. Paul’s School
St. Paul’s School in 2016 retained the law firm Casner & Edwards LLP to independently investigate reports that former faculty and staff members may have engaged in sexual misconduct involving students. The investigation ultimately examined dozens of allegations involving current and former employees at the boarding school. In May 2017, investigators released a 73-page report detailing what they described as credible historical information about sexual abuse and misconduct at the school.
What Did the Sexual Misconduct Investigation Find?
The independent investigation substantiated allegations against 13 former faculty and staff members. The alleged conduct described in the report ranged from serious boundary violations to sexual relationships with students and sexual assault. There were also what investigators called “Other Reports Of Sexual Misconduct” involving 10 former faculty and staff at St. Paul’s School.
Investigators also examined additional allegations against 11 current and former faculty and staff at St. Paul’s School that they could not substantiate because there was not enough evidence available to independently verify them. An allegation being classified as unsubstantiated did not necessarily mean investigators determined that the alleged conduct did not occur.
“As our report demonstrates, based on our interviews and investigation, we were able to substantiate a range of credible and very disturbing historical information about the conduct of certain faculty and staff at SPS,” investigators wrote. “Put simply but starkly, several former faculty and staff sexually abused children in their care in a variety of ways, from clear boundary violations to repeated sexual relationships to rape.”
St. Paul’s subsequently released supplemental reports in September 2017 and August 2018 after additional former students came forward with claims of sexual abuse and misconduct. The reports expanded the documented history of alleged misconduct at the school and substantiated additional allegations involving former employees.
Former Teachers, Coaches, Administrators, Clergy Members, Counselors, and Others Implicated in St. Paul’s Sexual Misconduct Report
The independent investigation found that alleged sexual misconduct involving students at St. Paul’s School was not limited to one employee or a brief period in the school’s history. Reports involved former teachers, coaches, administrators, clergy members, counselors, and other adults who held positions of authority over students.
The initial investigation examined conduct dating from 1948 through 1988. Later supplemental investigations addressed additional reports, including alleged misconduct occurring after that period. The allegations included inappropriate touching, sexual harassment, sexual relationships between adults and students, and sexual assault. Investigators also documented accounts from former students who said the alleged misconduct had lasting emotional and psychological effects.
The investigation further raised questions about how St. Paul’s historically responded when students reported inappropriate behavior. According to reporting on the investigation, some former students had previously disclosed alleged misconduct during an earlier school-commissioned investigation conducted more than a decade before the 2017 report. St. Paul’s later acknowledged that the earlier investigation had not been sufficiently thorough and its findings had not been broadly released.
Allegations of Sexual Abuse by Former St. Paul’s School Faculty and Staff Members
The 2017 Casner & Edwards investigation identified 13 former St. Paul’s School faculty and staff members by name in connection with sexual abuse or misconduct allegations that investigators classified as substantiated. The alleged conduct occurred over several decades and involved teachers, coaches, clergy members, counselors, and other adults who held positions of trust and authority over students.
Among the former faculty and staff associated with substantiated sexual misconduct allegations were:
- Edward Lawrence “Larry” Katzenbach III: Katzenbach taught English and history at St. Paul’s from 1971 to 1995 and also served as debate coach, student council faculty advisor, and head of the Advanced Studies Program. Investigators concluded that he committed 10 acts of sexual misconduct, including alleged sexual relationships with students, inappropriate touching, exposing himself to students, and propositioning female students to travel alone with him. The report also states that one former student confirmed she experienced repeated sexual misconduct by Katzenbach during the 1970s.
- Jose A.G. “Senor” Ordonez: Ordonez was a history teacher at St. Paul’s from 1952 to 1987, as well as a cross-country coach and later the school’s archivist. The report states that investigators substantiated seven acts of sexual misconduct involving male students. Earlier investigations indicated that Ordonez had acknowledged engaging in sexual conduct with students on numerous occasions and more explicit sexual behavior with multiple students over prolonged periods during the 1980s.
- Former Reverend Howard Willard “Howdy” White Jr.: White served as a St. Paul’s chaplain and sacred studies teacher from 1967 to 1971 and was also an assistant house master. The investigation documented the alleged repeated sexual abuse of a 15-year-old St. Paul’s student during a six-week summer trip, including alleged rape. White was one of the 13 former faculty and staff members included in the report’s substantiated sexual misconduct section. The report also notes that he later pleaded guilty to sexual abuse charges arising from his time at St. George’s School in Rhode Island, which was separate from the St. Paul’s allegations.
These allegations are particularly significant because faculty and staff at boarding schools occupy positions of considerable trust. Students may live on campus away from their families and depend on school employees for education, supervision, counseling, extracurricular activities, and day-to-day support. When an adult allegedly exploits that authority for sexual purposes, the conduct can involve an abuse of power in addition to the underlying alleged sexual misconduct.
Student Sexual Assault Allegations at St. Paul's School
St. Paul’s has also faced scrutiny over allegations of sexual misconduct between students at the boarding school. One of the most widely reported incidents involved former students Chessy Prout and Owen Labrie. The incident was separate from the school’s historical investigation into alleged sexual misconduct by faculty and staff.
Prout alleged that Labrie, then an 18-year-old senior, sexually assaulted her when she was a 15-year-old freshman in 2014. In 2015, a jury acquitted Labrie of felony sexual assault charges but convicted him of misdemeanor sexual assault, child endangerment, and a felony computer-related offense. The New Hampshire Supreme Court later overturned the computer-related conviction while leaving his other convictions intact.
Prout and her parents subsequently filed a civil lawsuit against St. Paul’s School alleging that the school failed to adequately protect her. The lawsuit was resolved through a confidential settlement in 2018.
New Hampshire Attorney General Investigation of St. Paul's School
In 2017, the New Hampshire Attorney General’s Office opened a criminal investigation into St. Paul’s School following reports of sexual assault and misconduct. The investigation examined whether the school had endangered the welfare of children through its handling of sexual misconduct allegations. State investigators reviewed thousands of documents and examined how the school responded to reports involving both students and employees.
In 2018, St. Paul’s School and the New Hampshire Attorney General’s Office entered into a settlement agreement. Among other requirements, the agreement established independent oversight of the school’s compliance with policies and procedures intended to protect students. The agreement represented another significant development in the broader examination of how St. Paul’s School had responded to allegations of sexual misconduct.
Sexual Abuse Lawsuits Against St. Paul's School
Former students have also pursued civil lawsuits alleging that St. Paul’s failed to protect them from sexual abuse. In 2018, former students George Chester Irons and Keith “Biff” Mithoefer filed a lawsuit against the school alleging that faculty members sexually abused them while they attended St. Paul’s during the 1960s and 1970s. Their lawsuit included allegations of negligent hiring, retention, and supervision of faculty and staff.
The allegations raised in civil lawsuits are separate from findings made by independent investigators or criminal courts. Civil sexual abuse lawsuits may seek to hold both an alleged perpetrator and an institution accountable. Depending on the circumstances, an institution may face allegations involving negligent hiring, inadequate supervision, failure to respond to warning signs, or failure to protect students from foreseeable harm.
How Sexual Abuse Can Affect Survivors
Sexual abuse can have lasting effects, particularly when the alleged perpetrator is a teacher, coach, counselor, or another trusted adult. Sexual abuse survivors may experience:
- Emotional and Psychological Effects – Sexual abuse can contribute to anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), shame, fear, and other emotional difficulties. Some survivors do not fully recognize or address the effects of what happened until years or even decades later.
- Problems With Trust and Relationships – When alleged abuse involves a trusted adult or institution, survivors may have difficulty trusting other people or authority figures. These experiences can affect friendships, family relationships, intimate relationships, education, and employment.
- Long-Term Effects of Institutional Abuse – The effects may be particularly complicated when a survivor believes an institution failed to protect them or respond appropriately after learning about alleged misconduct. Survivors may experience an additional sense of betrayal when an organization they trusted allegedly failed to intervene.
Every survivor responds differently, and there is no single timeline for recognizing or addressing the effects of sexual abuse.
How St. Paul's School Responded to Historical Sexual Abuse Allegations
St. Paul’s School has taken several steps in response to historical allegations of sexual misconduct. The boarding school commissioned the independent Casner & Edwards investigation and publicly released the initial report and subsequent supplemental reports. School officials also issued apologies acknowledging the harm suffered by former students.
The New Hampshire boarding school currently maintains resources specifically for alumni affected by historical faculty or staff abuse. According to the school, eligible survivors may receive assistance with therapy expenses. The school also offers an alternative arbitration process through which survivors of alleged faculty abuse may seek compensation outside traditional litigation.
St. Paul’s also maintains reporting procedures for current concerns involving sexual misconduct, harassment, bullying, discrimination, and retaliation.
Legal Options for St. Paul's School Sexual Abuse Survivors
People who allegedly experienced sexual abuse at St. Paul’s School in New Hampshire may have legal options depending on the circumstances of the alleged abuse and applicable law. A civil sexual abuse lawsuit may seek compensation from an alleged perpetrator and, in some circumstances, an institution that allegedly failed to protect a student. Potential damages may include costs associated with therapy or medical treatment, lost income, emotional distress, pain and suffering, and other losses connected to the alleged abuse.
Statutes of limitations can affect how long a survivor has to bring a sexual abuse claim and vary state by state. These laws can be complex, particularly when alleged abuse occurred during childhood or many years or even decades ago. An attorney experienced in sexual abuse litigation can review the circumstances and explain what legal options may be available to alleged victims.
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What should you do? If you were the victim of sexual abuse by faculty, staff, or any other person at St. Paul’s School, you should contact a lawyer as soon as possible to discuss filing a sex abuse lawsuit.
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If you allegedly experienced sexual abuse or sexual assault by a faculty member, staff member, student, or another person while attending St. Paul’s School in Concord, New Hampshire, consider speaking with an attorney about your legal rights. An experienced attorney can review the circumstances of the alleged abuse, determine which laws may apply, and explain whether you may be eligible to pursue a civil sexual abuse claim. Contact our consumer advocates today or complete the form on this page to be connected with an attorney experienced in handling sexual abuse lawsuits.
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