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Horace Mann Officials Apologize For Abuse, Won't Be Conducting An Investigation
By
Rebecca Fishbein
Published May 25, 2013
Modified May 25, 2013
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By
Rebecca Fishbein
Published May 25, 2013
Modified May 25, 2013
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For the past year, elite private school Horace Mann has been rocked with sex abuse allegations dating all the way back to the 1960s, and yesterday top officials at the school issued its first public apology to the victims of abuse. But despite the school's acknowledgment that a number of former teachers and administrators had been abusing students for over three decades, the administration did not say they will be conducting an independent investigation into the incidents.
Yesterday, Board of Trustees chair Stephen Freedman and Head of School Thomas Kelly posted a letter [pdf] to the school's website acknowledging the allegations, which recently underwent a 10-month investigation by the Bronx district attorney's office. "Based on what was reported by the Bronx DA’s office in its public statement of April 26th and what was learned through the mediation process, it is clear that between 1962 and 1996, former teachers and administrators in fact did abuse, in various degrees,students at Horace Mann School," the letter reads. "We sincerely apologize for the harm that was caused by the teachers and administrators
who abused anyone during their years at Horace Mann School. These unconscionable betrayals
of trust never should have happened." The DA's office reported last month that there were at least 12 possible abusers involved, but that they cannot prosecute now that the statute of limitations has passed.
The apology came on the heels of alumni recommendations that the school acknowledge the allegations and investigation, remove the board's emeritus trustee position and review its policies for reporting abuse. But some say without an internal investigation, these moves are not enough. "The apology is a teeny weeny baby step in the right direction," Rosemarie Arnold, a lawyer for one of the victims, told the Post. "Being the last step, however, it falls short of being productive." The school says it will release its own report detailing the abuses, but it will not reveal the names of the 30 or so victims that have come forward.
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