Former Miss Hall’s School headmaster Jeannie Norris was indicted Wednesday on a reckless endangerment of a child charge in connection with a sexual abuse scandal at the Pittsfield, Massachusetts, boarding school.

Prosecutors said the case is tied to allegations that Norris failed to protect students from former teacher Matthew Rutledge, who was previously indicted on rape charges involving former students Hilary Simon and Melissa Fares.

Berkshire District Attorney Timothy Shugrue said the investigation is ongoing and that additional charges against Norris remain possible, according to CBS6 Albany.

Norris led Miss Hall’s School from 1996 to 2012 and now lives in Durham, North Carolina. Court records cited by reporters show the grand jury returned a single misdemeanor count of reckless endangerment of a child.

Prosecutors said the indictment follows repeated warnings to school leadership about Rutledge’s conduct that they say were not handled properly.

An internal school review found that administrators were alerted to Rutledge’s inappropriate relationships and interactions with students in the late 1990s and 2000s.

According to the summary of that report, Norris took some steps but did not adequately respond or properly investigate after seeking advice from the school’s former legal counsel. Shugrue said investigators believe protecting the school’s reputation was a concern during the earlier response, WCVB reported.

The criminal case gained momentum after Simon and Fares publicly described abuse they say they suffered as students.

Their allegations prompted renewed scrutiny of Miss Hall’s School and a wider Berkshire County investigation into how the school handled complaints about Rutledge. Rutledge has pleaded not guilty to the rape charges, and prosecutors say their review remains active.

Miss Hall’s School has said it has been working on reforms after outside reviews found serious failures in how abuse complaints were handled.

The school is an independent girls’ boarding and day school where most students live on campus. Officials have said the findings point to broader institutional breakdowns, not only the conduct of one employee, as per the Boston Globe.

Tags
Sexual abuse, Scandal, Rape