Sex Crimes at Prep School Revealed in Investigation

A boarding school in Middletown is apologizing to students and alumni after an internal investigation revealed 26 cases of sexual abuse of students by staff members at the school in the 1970s and 80s.

St. George’s School, a pricy prep school on Middletown’s coast, has acknowledged six members of its staff engaged in inappropriate behavior with students , but has publicly identified just one — Al Gibbs, a former athletic trainer at the school who died in 1996. Four of them had been fired after reports of the behavior surfaced, but the school and its former headmaster did little else to address the crimes, the investigation revealed.

Gibbs — who was at St. George’s from 1973 to February 1980 — was fired in 1980 after a male student caught him taking nude photographs of an underage female student. He has been accused of several sexually based crimes against students at the school during that time, up to and including rape.

See also: A former studentdemands action from St. George’s leaders in an open letter.

“Based on seventeen first-hand accounts (by students from the Class of 1976 through the Class of 1982), Gibbs engaged in a range of inappropriate behavior and sexual misconduct including kissing two female students publicly, telling students to remove their clothes without reason, taking nude photos of three students (and in some cases showing such photos to other students), fondling or grabbing the breasts of seven different students, touching the genitals of three students, and in one case rape,” the report reads. “Regrettably, the school did not report misconduct by Gibbs to any state agency at the time of his termination in 1980.”

The remaining staff members — identified in the report only as “Employee Perpetrator” numbers 2-6 — have been accused of a wide range of sex crimes against both male and female students, including rape. Additionally, various staff members reportedly fondled students, shared beds with them after off-campus parties and engaged in oral sex with students.

In one case, a staff member was engaged in a “long-term emotional and sexual relationship” with a student, who later attempted suicide, the school’s report reveals. The investigation also revealed instances of student sexual misconduct.

The school learned of some of the crimes during the course of its year-long investigation, but many were known to school officials who did little to respond other than distancing themselves from the perpetrators, the report indicates. Former Headmaster Anthony Zane “regrettably” did not turn the employees into police, the investigation reveals, and in some cases delayed any action against employees accused of abuse.

Zane fired “Employee Perpetrator #3” in 1988 after the employee was reportedly found with a naked student. But there had been similar reports about that employee dating back at least five years. The employee was accused of rubbing a student’s back “inappropriately” in 1983, and Zane allowed the employee to continue working there, according to witness statements.

“Mr. Zane recalled that in 1983 or 1984, he warned Employee Perpetrator #3 “not to give students more backrubs,” after Mr. Zane received a report from an adult,” the report reads. “The school did not report Employee Perpetrator #3’s misconduct to DCYF in 1988 on the advice of then legal counsel. it is evident that School failed on several occasions to fulfill its legal reporting requirements to the authorities.”

St. George’s School officials have reported the investigation’s findings to the RI State Police, according to the report. It was not immediately clear if the state police have launched an investigation.

Officials of the prep school on Purgatory Road apologized to the victims and all alumni of the school for the way the school responded, and failed to respond, to the crimes.

“To all victims, we are truly, deeply sorry for the harm done to you by former employees or former students of the School,” the report reads. “We are heartbroken for you and for the pain and suffering that you have endured. We pledge to do all we can to support you in your efforts to heal, if you want or need our support. Of course, it is not enough to simply apologize in this report. It is not enough even to say it to you in person, as we have done in some instances and as we will continue to do for all who want to meet with us. We recognize and we also deeply regret that there is nothing that we can say that will heal your wounds completely, but we are committed to doing what we can to assist you.

The school announced it has started a victim support group and will be covering the counseling expenses for any victims. The school has also created a victim support fund, and the board is considering changing the name of a campus dormitory named for Anthony Zane.