Phillips Exeter Academy Apologizes for Failing to Stop Alleged Abuse

Eleven former staffers at New Hampshire’s renowned prep school Phillips Exeter Academy have been accused of sexual misconduct against students spanning decades. The allegations, which range from fondling to forced kissing and other forms of sexual misconduct, were detailed in two reports released by the school Friday that largely place the blame on school administrators for failing to stop the alleged abuse. The reports found that school administrators failed to take action when informed of alleged abuse, and in some cases, never bothered to record the allegations in teachers’ personnel files, allowing them to move on to other schools. “On the Academy’s behalf, we accept full responsibility for the harm that has been suffered and for the failures of those whose responsibility it was to prevent and address such harm,” Interim Principal William K. Rawson and John A. Downer, president of the trustees, said in a letter. The reports from Exeter come as a spate of prep schools throughout New England face lawsuits over alleged abuse going back decades. St. Paul’s School, another New Hampshire prep school, released its own report earlier this week detailing claims of decades-old abuse by 20 former faculty members.