Concord Police Investigating Sex Assault Allegation against Former St. Paul's Chaplain

By Mark Hayward
Union Leader
August 11, 2016

http://www.unionleader.com/crime/Concord-police-investigating-sex-assault-allegation-against-former-St-Pauls-chaplain-08102016

City police confirmed Wednesday that they are investigating an allegation of a decades-old sexual assault at St. Paul’s School after an alumnus recently implicated a former chaplain of the prestigious prep school.

Police Lt. Timothy O’Malley said the Episcopal boarding school informed police of the allegation on Aug. 4, but he could not disclose the name of the suspect.

In January, St. Paul’s informed alumni who attended the school from 1967 to 1971 about allegations against the Rev. Howard “Howdy” White at St. George’s School, a prep school in Middletown, R.I.

White was the chaplain and a teacher of sacred studies at St. Paul’s from 1967 to 1971, acccording to an Aug. 5 letter from rector Michael G. Hirschfeld that the school made available to the New Hampshire Union Leader.

“As always, I am available to hear from alumni who feel that they suffered any violation of the responsibility adults had for them during their time at the School,” Hirschfeld wrote.

A similar institution, Phillips Exeter Academy, started similar soul-searching this year when allegations surfaced of decades-old contact between faculty and students.

Several faculty at that school escaped criminal charges because the crimes took place outside the boundaries of the statute of limitations.

But one former Phillips Exeter instructor, Illinois resident Arthur Peekel, 75, faces two misdemeanor sexual assault charges stemming from an alleged sexual assault of a 14-year-old boy in the 1970s.

Those charges could be brought because Peekel moved out of New Hampshire, which suspends the 22-year statute of limitations for child sexual assault, officials have said.

That situation may also apply to White.

According to the Providence (R.I.) Journal, White lived in several locations after St. George’s School in Rhode Island fired him in 1974, leaving a trail of sex-abuse allegations. Previous residences were in Massachusetts, North Carolina, Nova Scotia and West Virginia, the paper said.

O’Malley said part of the Concord investigation will involve White’s residence status in New Hampshire over the years.

“What stops the clock is if the person left the jurisdication. We would have to look at that,” O’Malley said.

He said police received very limited information from St. Paul’s, and the investigation could prove to be lengthy.

In January, the school hired former Massachusetts Attorney General Scott Harshbarger to investigate White’s time at St. Paul’s.

St. Paul’s will continue to retain Harshbarger as a resource for alumni to contact about any adult boundary violations. He can be reached at harshbarger@casneredwards.com, the letter said.

“St. Paul’s School is concerned for the welfare of all of its students, past and present. Student safety continues to be our highest priority,” the school said in a statement issued Thursday.

According to the Journal, White is now retired and lives in Pennsylvania. The newspaper said police in Waynesville, N.C., are investigating him after two accusers stepped forward following revelations of St. George’s misconduct.

In June, Rhode Island State Police concluded a seven-month investigation and found no prosecutable criminal misconduct. St. George’s announced an undisclosed settlement between the school and up to 30 alumni whose abuse claims reach back to the 1970s.

The Journal said the Episcopal church is investigating White in Pennsylvania, and he could potentially be removed from the priesthood. He is under a bishop’s orders not to attend the church in Bedford, Pa. where he has recently served; is prohibited from being alone with minors and cannot represent himself as a priest in good standing, the Journal said.

Contact: mhayward@unionleader.com