St. Paul’s extends victim services offer to former summer program students

By Alyssa Dandrea
Concord Monitor
July 14, 2018

https://www.concordmonitor.com/St-Pauls-School-expands-victim-services-to-Advanced-Studies-Program-18812863

St. Paul’s School has extended its new victim compensation and therapy programs to New Hampshire high schoolers who were sexually abused while participating in a prestigious summer program held annually on the Concord campus.

The prep school recently followed the lead of other private schools in providing financial assistance for mental health services to former students abused over decades by faculty and staff entrusted with their care. On the heels of the announcement to alumni, St. Paul’s leaders also emailed past students of the Advanced Studies Program to inform them of their eligibility to receive victim services, too.

St. Paul’s has long offered the month-long summer program to students between their junior and senior years. High-achieving high school students throughout the state have the chance to spend part of the summer living and studying on campus, where current St. Paul’s faculty and staff, as well as public high school and college professors, teach.

This summer, 240 students are taking courses taught by 25 teachers, five of whom work for the school.

As civil lawsuits against St. Paul’s mounted this spring, one former student of the Advanced Studies Program contacted a Manchester-based attorney to seek compensation for abuse he suffered in 1967. Attorney Peter Hutchins, known for his work representing hundreds of victims of clerical sexual abuse, said he met for the first time with the victim Monday, and filed a claim with two separate law firms who have worked for St. Paul’s, including Boston-based Casner & Edwards.

A school spokesperson said Friday afternoon that St. Paul’s is not aware of any claims filed by a former participant of the summer program and cannot confirm receipt of any claims to its lawyers.

Hutchins said his client was sexually assaulted by Jose A.G. “Senor” Ordonez, who is named in a May 2017 report that substantiated accusations of sexual misconduct and abuse by more than a dozen faculty and staff dating back to 1948. Ordonez was a history teacher from 1952 to 1987 and a former cross country coach. He died in February 2008.

“It’s typical in these cases, as it was in the clergy cases as well, once these reports and verifications hit the press and they start naming the facility involved, that’s when a lot of people are triggered and come forward,” Hutchins said. “Before that, they may have never realized the school or the institution was culpable, until they find out how long it’s been going on.”

In the report, commissioned by St. Paul’s and carried out by Casner & Edwards, two others are also identified as having had connections with the Advanced Studies Program.

Edward Lawrence “Larry” Katzenbach III, who taught English and history from 1971 to 1995, was the one-time head of the summer program for high school students. He is accused of having a sexual relationship with a former student and then teaching intern, who also worked at the program. He died in August 1997 at the age of 53.

Further, Heather Ellen (Couch) Lloyd served as an intern in the Advanced Studies Program during the summer of 1978 and is accused of sexually assaulting a male student. She went on to be the assistant director of admissions from 1979 to 1980.

Not named in the report – or in an addendum released in fall 2017 – is former humanities teacher David Pook, who was the first person arrested in February as a result of the state department of justice’s ongoing criminal investigation into the school. Pook, of Warner, worked for the Advanced Studies Program in 2000, 2001, 2003, 2004 and 2006. He faces two counts each of witness tampering and conspiracy to commit perjury for allegedly conspiring to hide his sexual relationship with a former student.

St. Paul’s acknowledged through the release of the Casner & Edwards reports a long-standing history of sexual misconduct at the prep school and said it has taken steps to improve student safety.

On July 6, Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network launched a dedicated phone line (1-855-215-2281) to connect victims of faculty and staff abuse at St. Paul’s with support services. RAINN works with 1,000 sexual assault service providers across the country and operates the National Sexual Assault Hotline.

Additionally, the school is arranging support services through Sandra Matheson, the former coordinator of victim services for the New Hampshire Attorney General. Matheson, who has more than 30 years of experience working with sexual assault victims at all levels of government, is available to provide support and information to survivors, as well as assist them with the reporting process.

Neither Matheson nor RAINN will share information about their work with the school; rather, St. Paul’s says it will work with a third-party administrator for payment of therapy services to maintain victims’ confidentiality.