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Boarding School Abuse illustrates a series of illegal and lurid activities commonly committed against students by school faculty members, administrators or employees involving sexual assault of varying degrees.

abused at boarding school may be a one-time, non-consensual abuse or it might involve several assaults during an ongoing interaction. For example, an ongoing intimate encounter with a student, formed by the predatory behavior of a faculty member, school administrator or staff and whether heading to physical agreed sex acts or not, is a form of abuse.

Student on student sexual assault is another form of abuse, which might be compounded by the school’s negligence to provide a safe environment that allowed the attack to happen. Within the school community are students of varying ages, maturity and experiences. Immature students may be exposed to the predatory actions of older, more mature students. Their intent, coupled with peer-pressure applied to both the attacker and the targeted victim, may lead to different forms of abuse including sexual assault of varying degrees.

In all alleged Boarding School Abuse situations, a school administration’s failure to completely, immediately report the assault to law enforcement and other authorities, or its additional negligence to investigate, address and deal completely with the matter amplifies the effects on the abuse survivor, the school population and potentially others. Recent Boarding School Abuse issues reported in the press highlight these failures, including matters where the attacker quietly leaves the school only to assume working elsewhere in a school environment.

Predatory Behavior

Most private schools pride themselves on their small, personal communities inside a well-defined and secure campus. In that environment, faculty, administrators and staff are often much nearer and familiar with students than would be expected in a non-boarding school situation. This could create both opportunity and cover for the would-be attacker and for the predatory behavior.

In some situations, the abuser might be a likeable and popular individual, generally considered to be a positive addition to the school community. A targeted victim may feel flattered that a well-liked superior in the school community is expressing special interest in him or her. Because of this popularity and involvement in the school community, attack accusations against these criminals are frequently met with doubt, non-belief, and resistance by the community. Frequesntly, abusers have boundary and judgment issues which turn into oddly friendly relationships with students that are past what are normally anticipated. This provides a predatory pathway and opportunity for the abuse.

Most abusers, to differing amounts, use predatory methods that are generally referred to as “grooming,” or targeting a possible abuse victim. Below is a compilation of grooming behaviors exhibited by predators that are in a position of authority in relation to the student.

Grooming

Grooming is a major part of a predator’s method. In a boarding school setting, a predator often works closely with small numbers of students, realizing every student’s needs and weaknesses. Once a target is located and selected, these vulnerabilities – such as being lonely, low self-esteem, emotional neediness, or attention seeking behavior, could be systematically leveraged in the following manners:

Trust

A predator will initially work to gain the student’s trust. This step is the most difficult to discern as boarding school communities are usually tight-knit and personal engagement is commonplace. Here, the attacker is likely part of a group of staff who are genuinely interested in the student’s wellness and success at the school.

Reliance

As a predator establishes a trusting relationship with the potential student-victim, the student might start to rely more and more on the predator for whatever need it is that the predator is leveraging and fulfilling. The student will spend more time with the predator, feeling increasingly comfortable with the relationship. In addition to attention and affection, the possible victim may receive gifts from the predator, which may include valuable, presents like the promise of high grades, or a university recommendation letter. The reliance stage is usually where the predatory behavior is distinguishable from well-meaning collegial behavior.

Isolation

While the grooming progresses, the predator will try to isolate the potential victim. At school, this may mean late get togethers, tutoring sessions, encounters in the dormitory , one-on-one athletic training sessions, or various other such circumstances.

Sexualization

The predator will start to de-sensitize the possible victim from reacting negatively to touching, caressing and other behaviors that lead to sexual interaction. This may begin with breaching the physical-touch barrier, or communicating, with suggestive messages to gauge the victim’s reaction to the progression. This might escalate until the relationship advances to one of a physical, sexual nature.

Maintenance

As the sexual relationship is created, the predator will work to keep control over the student and the continuing interaction. The predator will likely seek to manipulate the student by inducing emotions of guilt, or possibly threats, or use the opposite strategy of continuing to make the victim feel special and desired. Regardless, the predator will continue to exploit the victim with means necessary to maintain the inappropriate physical relationship.

Legacy on Abuse Victims

When the grooming increases as intended by the predator, the targeted student, being made to feel special, will likely respond affirmatively to the behaviors. The predator, through these well planned and executed grooming behaviors and activities, seeks to re-calibrate and remove the moral confines of the targeted student. Because the victim participated in this re-calibration, she often experiences deep feelings of guilt, initially blaming himself for the incident and hesitant to report it.

Additionally, after the abuse has been revealed, victims of boarding school abuse are often subjected to discreet social pressure and intimidation, like being bullied, alienation from their peers, or revenge from staff. Especially at boarding schools, where education is rigorous, competition can be intense and social circles small, survivors of abuse could be rapidly isolated and socially persecuted. Exposed to those reactions, many boarding school abuse victims who have reported the abuse leave school. Others, faced with the prospect of the isolation and social persecution, report the abuse decades later. In either case, the impact can be significant and lasting.

Some abuse victims bear from long-term effects of the abuse including depression, anxiety, ptsd, low self-esteem, suicidal thoughts, substance abuse, restless sleeping and eating patterns, and trouble creating and maintaining healthy relationships. Individual therapy and support groups could assist survivors overcome those effects.

Legally, a victim of boarding school abuse can recover financial compensation from the predator and more frequently, from the school for its negligence to protect the student from the predator, as well as failures or negligence in its method of reviewing and replying to the victim’s report of the abuse. If you are a survivor of boarding school abuse and would like to confidentially discuss your story and learn of your legal options at no cost or obligation, we are prepared to talk with you. It is important for a survivor to remember that being a victim is not your fault. The lawyers at Meneo Law Group are committed to bringing those responsible for the assault to justice.