Hackley School Comes Clean In Email About Past Sexual Abuse At Hands Of Staffer
TARRYTOWN, N.Y. (CBSNewYork/AP) - Westchester County's prestigious Hackley School has acknowledged sex abuse that occurred in the 1960s and has apologized to victims.
The private school in Tarrytown confirmed to WCBS 880 that it emailed a letter to nearly 4,000 alumni and current parents on Wednesday night.
It says the perpetrator was an unidentified, now-deceased former employee who "had a role in teaching.''
Hackley School Comes Clean In Email About Past Sexual Abuse At Hands Of Staffer
Details of the abuse and the number of victims were not disclosed.
At the time, Hackley was a boarding school for about 500 boys in the sixth through 12th grades.
The letter says several alumni from that era contacted the school over a period of time to report the abuse. The school hired a law firm to look into the allegations.
As WCBS 880's Paul Murnane reported, the Horace Mann Action Coalition is aimed at fighting sexual abuse in schools, including its own.
Robert Boynton with the group calls Hackley's handling of the situation inspiring.
"It was an occasion where an academic educational institution acted like an academic educational institution. It acted with compassion and humanity," he told Murnane. "The issue of sexual abuse of children, of students has always been with us and always will be with us. The only thing that can change and evolve is the way that we treat it when it comes out."
The letter includes information for anyone who needs counseling.
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