2 Letters on St. Paul’s School

From The Living Church-

In separate letters, the Bishop of New Hampshire and two leaders of St. Paul’s School discuss their responses to the conviction of former student Owen Labrie on one count of engaging in sex with a student younger than the age of consent. He was found not guilty on felony charges.

The Rt. Rev. A. Robert Hirschfeld, Bishop of New Hampshire, wrote on Aug. 29:

… The Bishop, who does not serve on its Board of Trustees, has no role in the School’s management or operations. The role of the Bishop is limited to the spiritual and canonical oversight of the clergy employed at the School as chaplains or faculty. This relationship is in contrast to the more close affiliation we have with the schools founded by the Diocese — the White Mountain School and the Holderness School — where the Bishop serves, ex officio, as the President of the Boards of Trustees. I have been in contact with the heads of each of these schools about the Labrie case because I feel we need to redouble our efforts to ensure, as best we can, the health and safety of all in our care and to teach holiness in our relationships.

More here-

http://www.livingchurch.org/2-letters-st-paul-school

Labrie cleared of rape, guilty of lesser charges

From Boston-

Former St. Paul’s School student Owen Labrie was acquitted Friday of raping a 15-year-old girl in a secluded room on the campus in May of last year, but was found guilty on lesser sexual-assault charges involving a minor — a split verdict that left both teenagers in tears.

After about eight hours of deliberations, the jury of nine men and three women determined that Labrie had sex with the girl, then a freshman at the Concord boarding school, but that prosecutors had failed to prove he had acted without her consent, as she had asserted.

More here-

https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2015/08/28/jury-deliberations-continue-paul-school-rape-case-against-owen-labrie/J2kZr6pfpw0T2IVcUAs7LJ/story.html

Defendant Testifies in Prep-School Assault Case

From The Wall Street Journal-

A 19-year-old defendant on Wednesday said he didn’t have sex with a fellow prep-school student in a high-profile case that demonstrates how allegations of campus sexual assault are widening beyond the nation’s colleges and universities.

Owen Labrie, a former student and captain of the soccer team at St. Paul’s School, took the stand for the first time Wednesday. He is accused of raping a then-15-year-old girl in May 2014, just before he graduated at age 18. Mr. Labrie of Tunbridge, Vt., has pleaded not guilty to three felony sexual assault charges and other charges, including endangering the welfare of a child.

Under cross-examination Wednesday, Mr. Labrie acknowledged he invited the girl for a “senior salute,” in which graduating upperclassmen proposition younger students to arrange encounters, often intimate, before graduation. But he said the two had a consensual physical encounter that didn’t include intercourse.

More here-

http://www.wsj.com/articles/defendant-testifies-in-prep-school-assault-case-1440632731

Rape Trial Casts Spotlight on New Hampshire Prep School

From The Wall Street Journal-

A high-profile rape trial under way here has put an uncomfortable spotlight on one of the nation’s most prestigious boarding schools.

Several current and former students from St. Paul’s School in testimony Monday described a campus tradition in which seniors proposition younger students to arrange encounters, often intimate, before graduation—with boys in some dorms and athletic teams competing for the highest tally.

In the “senior salute” tradition, students about to graduate would “decide that they wanted to hook up with a younger student,” Henry Kremer, who graduated from St. Paul’s in June, testified. The encounters “meant at least kissing” and could escalate “all the way up to sexual intercourse,” said Mr. Kremer.

More here-

http://www.wsj.com/articles/rape-trial-casts-spotlight-on-new-hampshire-prep-school-1440515074

Elite New Hampshire prep school probes campus ‘hookup’ culture amid rape case involving teen students

From The NY Daily News-

A New Hampshire prep school that has educated some of the nation's elite for more than a century and a half is confronting a campus practice of sexual conquest after a senior was charged with raping a 15-year-old freshman girl.

In a series of letters over the past year to students, parents and alumni, St. Paul's School Rector Michael Hirschfeld candidly acknowledged the sexual assault charges and vowed to re-examine campus culture to see how a practice known as "Senior Salute" had been allowed to develop.

"While the allegation and the people it involves will not be a topic of conversation at the school, the broader issues it raises — the use of social media to perpetuate unhealthy relationships, the 'hookup' culture and unsanctioned student 'traditions' — will be," Hirschfeld wrote on Aug. 7, 2014, a month after Owen Labrie was charged with rape and other felonies.

More here-

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/elite-prep-school-tackles-hookup-culture-rape-case-article-1.2333915

also here-

http://nypost.com/2015/08/21/elite-st-pauls-prep-school-takes-on-hookup-culture-after-rape-charge/

Alleged NH Prep School Rape Victim Takes the Stand

From ABC (with video)-

The alleged victim took the stand this afternoon after opening arguments in the rape case involving an elite New Hampshire prep school that has raised questions about the campus culture.

The teen, who is not being named because of her age and the nature of the alleged crime, told the court that she and defendant Owen Labrie were not friends and that she was 15 at the time of the incident last year, The Associated Press reported.

Labrie, 19, of Tunbridge, Vermont, is a graduate of St. Paul's School in Concord, New Hampshire. He is accused of raping the girl on campus on May 30, 2014, days before he graduated.

More here-

http://abcnews.go.com/US/alleged-nh-prep-school-rape-victim-takes-stand/story?id=33154253

Sordid sexual tradition alleged at elite prep school

From CBS-

St. Paul's School boasts a glittering roster of alumni that includes senators, congressmen, a Nobel laureate and the current secretary of state. The elite prep school also allegedly has a sordid tradition of sexual conquest in which boys about to graduate attempt to "score" with younger female students.

Details of a practice authorities say was called the "Senior Salute" were spelled out in stark terms by a former prefect at the New Hampshire school who is charged with raping a 15-year-old girl on the roof of a campus building in May 2014.

More here-

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/st-pauls-school-rape-case-reveals-sordid-sexual-tradition/

As rape trial begins, elite St. Paul’s school in N.H. faces sordid ‘sexual scoring’ scrutiny

From The Washington Post-

He was a senior and she was 15 when he allegedly raped her on the roof of a school building last spring. At the elite St. Paul’s School in Concord, N.H., which boasts a century and a half of famous alumni and a vast, bucolic campus that would put many colleges to shame, this was a different, sordid kind of tradition.

It was called the “senior salute,” Owen Labrie told Concord police, according to the Associated Press. Before they graduate, senior men at St. Paul’s competed to sleep with as many younger students as possible. “Score” was kept in permanent marker on a wall behind the washing machines, then, after the school kept painting over it, in an online forum.

More here-

http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2015/08/17/as-rape-trial-begins-elite-st-pauls-prep-school-in-n-h-faces-sordid-sexual-scoring-scrutiny/