1978 rape alleged in response to Rocky Hill School community letter

By John Howell
Posted 9/20/16

When the Boston Globe's investigative Spotlight team, which was featured in a movie of that name, sent a questionnaire to 200 independent schools about sexual abuses at their institution, the six Rhode Island schools chose collectively not

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1978 rape alleged in response to Rocky Hill School community letter

Posted

When the Boston Globe’s investigative Spotlight team, which was featured in a movie of that name, sent a questionnaire to 200 independent schools about sexual abuses at their institution, the six Rhode Island schools chose collectively not to reply, Dr. James Tracy said Friday.

“They were very loaded questions,” said Tracy, the head of Rocky Hill School in Potowomut. He likened the questions to “is it true that you beat your wife?”

But that didn’t mean the school would let the matter of possible abuses drop. Rocky Hill took the initiative to review its policies regarding violent and sexual abuse and asked past and present members of the school community to come forward to report cases of abuse in a July 28 letter. An alumna reported she was 18 when a male teacher made advances and they “made out” when she was a student in the 1970s. A second alumna said the same teacher made inappropriate sexual comments to her in roughly the same timeframe.

“There was nothing illegal, nothing actionable,” Tracy said of the two reports. In addition, he said, the alumnae chose not to pursue the matter. Then on Sept. 8, a third alumna reported she had been raped by the same teacher in 1978. The alleged victim, who was willing to be identified, sought to pursue the matter. As a mandatory reporter, the school immediately filed a report with Warwick Police.

Col. Stephen McCartney said yesterday the department has been in contact with the attorney general’s office concerning “legal questions” relative to statutory limitations of the complaint, which is being reported now for the first time. He also said the case could prove challenging as it may entail a “suppressed memory investigation.”

At this point, he said, police have the statement provided to the school, but the victim has not been interviewed. McCartney was critical of the school for having made contact with the suspect.

“That’s the responsibility of police, not the school,” he said.

In a Sept. 12 letter to the school community, Tracy outlined the series of complaints and added, “We wish to underscore that these incidents are alleged to have taken place decades ago by a faculty member no longer employed by the school. While the school is not a court of law for adjudicating claims, our commitment to our children dictated that, based upon these serious allegations, the accused former faculty member have no further contact with Rocky Hill Schools.”

Tracy and Edwin Santos, president of the school board of trustees, along with attorney Neal McNamara made themselves available to meet with those having questions on Sept. 13 and the following day. The purpose of the meetings, the latter explains, is “to provide us with the opportunity to brief you on protocols in place to provide the highest level of protection for our students against sexual abuse.”

In a statement released Friday, Tracy said the school is working closely with law enforcement and has launched an internal investigation of the allegation.

“We applaud the three alumnae who had the courage to come forward and have again urged any other alumnae or current students who wish to report allegations of sexual misconduct to do so,” he said.

Since initiating its policy aimed at uncovering instances of sexual abuse, Tracy said the school’s proactive position is being held up as how best to deal with the issue of sexual abuse.

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