Former Chaplain at Elite New England Boarding School Gets 18 Months in Jail after Pleading Guilty to Abusing Teen Boy during Field Trips in 1973

By Ariel Zilber
Daily Mail
May 15, 2017

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4507274/Ex-boarding-school-priest-pleads-guilty-abusing-teen-boy.html

A former Episcopal priest who worked at an elite Rhode Island boarding school has pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting a student during trips to Boston in 1973.

Prosecutors say Howard White Jr., who was stripped of his priesthood by the Episcopal Church, received an 18-month sentence.

Prosecutors say the now 75-year-old White assaulted the boy during two overnight trips to Boston when the boy was 15 and 16, and White worked at St. George's School in Middletown, Rhode Island.

White, of Bedford, Pennsylvania, was freed on personal recognizance after pleading not guilty in December.

White's attorney tells The Boston Globe that he and prosecutors 'came to an agreement on a plea and sentence that we thought was fair.'

Former Rhode Island priest Howard White, left, exits Suffolk Superior Court in Boston on December 13, 2016, after indictments charging him with five counts of assault and battery for allegedly sexually assaulting a then-16-year-old boy in his care during trips the early 1970's

Prosecutors say the now 75-year-old White assaulted the boy during two overnight trips to Boston when the boy was 15 and 16, and White worked at St. George's School in Middletown, Rhode Island (seen in the above stock photo)

The victim's lawyer, Carmen Durso, said his client was satisfied with the outcome.

'He was pleased that he pled guilty,' Durso said.

'This is the first time [White has] acknowledged any responsibility. He was pleased he got jail time because he should be punished for what he did.'

According to Durso, his client was abused when he was a 15-year-old student at St. George's.

There were instances of abuse during trips to a number of places, including Canada and West Virginia.

White was one of six former staff members at St. George's who came under investigation due to allegations of sexual abuse.

St. George's in Rhode Island counts a number of prominent figures as alums, including Fox News host Tucker Carlson (left) and former Access Hollywood host Billy Bush (right)

St. George's in Rhode Island counts a number of prominent figures as alums, including Fox News host Tucker Carlson (left) and former Access Hollywood host Billy Bush (right)

But because many of the cases grew out of allegations of misconduct from 1970, statute of limitations prevented authorities from filing charges, according to Providence Journal.

Last August, St. George's agreed to a financial settlement with up to 30 former students who allege that they were molested by staff members at the school.

'This is a very unusual case in that the only reason they could prosecute him is because [White] left Massachusetts after abusing the victim,' Durso said.

'They were able to prosecute him because the statute of limitations stops when the perpetrator leaves the state.'

Durso said that his client tried to run away from White during a camping trip to Nova Scotia.

The then-teen fled and came upon a neighboring farmhouse. The boy then told the farmhouse residents that he was running away from a priest who was molesting him, according to Durso.

White then came to the farmhouse and convinced the residents that it was all just a misunderstanding.

'He was an Episcopal priest. He was very convincing,' Durso said.

'He was very good at covering his tracks.'

Durso said that when his client reported White to school authorities, the headmaster refused to believe him.

But when a second student came forward with similar allegations, the school terminated White.

'But White was allowed to go on to other places and abuse other people because there was never any punishment for what he did,' Durso said.

'He was never prosecuted; he was never branded an abuser.'

White has also been accused of sexual abuse in three other states, according to the Globe.

In August of last year, the Providence Journal reported that a graduate of St. Paul’s School in Concord, New Hampshire, a prestigious Episcopal boarding and prep school, claims he was victimized by White.

According to the former student, the abuse took place during the time he was enrolled there from 1967 until 1971.

White was a chaplain and teacher at St. Paul’s.

After news of White's arrest in the St. George's case made headlines in December, two accusers from Waynesville, North Carolina, came forward to allege they were raped and molested by the priest.

White, who had been living in retirement in Pennsylvania before his arrest late last year, was rector of Grace Episcopal in Waynesville from 1994 until 2006, according to The Citizen-Times.

In February 2016, the Providence Journal reported that White was sued in 1996 by a West Virginia man who alleged that White molested him when he was 11 years old.

The lawsuit claimed that the Protestant Episcopal Church in the Diocese of West Virginia 'conspired' to cover up White's behavior to avoid 'public knowledge, criminal prosecution, disgrace and scandal.'

The plaintiff, Richard Albright, alleged that White sexually molsted him in 1969.

St. George's in Rhode Island counts a number of prominent figures as alums, including Fox News host Tucker Carlson; former Access Hollywood host Billy Bush; and Prescott Bush, the former US senator from Connecticut whose son, George Herbert Walker Bush, and grandson, George W. Bush, went on to become president.