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Boarding School Abuse illustrates a wide-range of criminal and improper activities frequently committed against students by school faculty members, administrators or employees regarding sexual assault of varying degrees. The attack may be a one-time, non-consensual attack or it may include several assaults within an ongoing interaction. For example, an continuing intimate relationship with a student, spawned by the predatory behavior of a faculty member, school administrator or staff and whether heading to physical consensual sex acts or not, is a form of abuse.

Student-on-student sexual assault is an additional form of abuse, that may be made worse by the school’s failure to offer a safe environment that enabled the attack to happen. Within the school population are students of different ages, maturity and experiences. Younger students may be exposed to the predatory behavior of older, more mature students. This intent, along with peer-pressure exerted to both the attacker and the targeted victim, could lead to different types of abuse that includes sexual assault of varying degrees.

In all reported Boarding School Assault situations, a school administration’s megligence to entirely, adequately report the crime to police and other authorities, or its further failure to research, address and deal fully with the situation amplifies the effects on the victim, the school population and possibly others. Recent Boarding School Abuse cases reported in the media exemplify these failures, including matters where the attacker quietly leaves the school only to assume employment somewhere else in a school environment.

Predatory Behavior

Many boarding schools pride themselves on their small, personal communities inside a well-defined and secure campus. In that environment, faculty, administrators and staff are frequently much nearer and familiar with students than might be expected in a non-boarding school setting. This can create both opportunity and cover to the possible attacker and for the predatory behavior.

In some matters, the attacker may be a likeable and popular person, generally considered to be a enhancement to the school community. A targeted student could feel flattered that a popular superior in the school community has expressed special interest in him or her. Because of this popularity and integration into the school community, attack allegations against these attackers are frequently met with distrust, non-belief, and resistance by the community. Frequesntly, abusers have distance and judgment problems which manifest themselves in unusually friendly relationships with students that are beyond what are normally anticipated.

deerfield academy abuse creates a predatory pathway and opportunity for the abuse.

All abusers, to differing degrees, use predatory methods that are generally known as “grooming,” or targeting a potential abuse victim. Below is a list 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 ploy. In a boarding school situation, a predator usually works closely with small numbers of students, knowing every student’s needs and vulnerabilities. Once a target is located and selected, these vulnerabilities – like loneliness, low self-esteem, emotional neediness, or attention seeking behavior, can be systematically leveraged in the following manners:

Trust

A predator may first work to get the student’s trust. This step is the most difficult to realize as boarding school communities are usually tight-knit and personal interaction is commonplace. Here, the predator 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 creates a trusting engagement with the potential student-victim, the student may start to count on more and more on the predator for any need it is that the predator is leveraging and fulfilling. The victim might spend more time with the predator, feeling more comfortable with the relationship. In addition to attention and kindness, the possible victim may receive gifts from the predator, including valuable, presents like the promise of higher grades, or a college recommendation letter. The reliance step is mainly where the predatory behavior is noticeable from well-meaning collegial behavior.

Isolation

As the grooming progresses, the predator may work to isolate the student. At school, this could mean after-hour meetings, tutoring sessions, meetings in the dorm , one-on-one sports practice sessions, or various other such circumstances.

Sexualization

The predator will start to desensitize the student from reacting negatively to contact, caressing and other behaviors that lead to sexual interaction. This could start with breaching the physical-touch barrier, or speaking, with suggestive messages to determine the victim’s reaction to the progression. This could increase until the relationship advances to one of a physical, sexual nature.

Maintenance

Once the sexual relationship is created, the predator will try to keep control over the victim and the continuing interaction. The predator will probably seek to manipulate the victim by introducing emotions of guilt, or even threats, or use the opposite strategy of continuing to make the victim feel special and desired. Regardless, the predator may continue to exploit the victim by whatever means available to keep the immoral physical relationship.

Legacy on Abuse Survivors

While the grooming escalates as intended by the predator, the targeted student, being made to feel special, will probably respond affirmatively to the behaviors. The predator, from these well planned and performed grooming behaviors and activities, seeks to re-work and reduce the moral boundaries of the victim. Because the victim participated in the re-calibration, he frequently has deep feelings of shame, initially blaming herself for the incident and likely not to report it.

Additionally, beyond the abuse has been reported, survivors of private school abuse are frequently exposed to discreet social pressure and intimidation, like bullying, isolation from their peers, or revenge from administrators. Especially at boarding schools, where academics are stringent, competition can be intense and social circles small, victims of abuse may be readily isolated and socially persecuted. Subjected to those reactions, many boarding school abuse survivors who have revealed the abuse leave school. Others, fighting with the prospect of such isolation and social persecution, report the abuse decades later. In either situation, the impact can be severe and lasting.

Some abuse victims suffer 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 keeping healthy relationships. Individualized therapy and support groups can assist survivors overcome these effects.

Legally, a survivor of boarding school abuse can receive financial compensation from the predator and more commonly, from the school for its negligence to protect the student from the predator, as well as failures or deficiencies in its process of reviewing and responding to the survivor’s report of the abuse. If you are a survivor of boarding school abuse and would like to confidentially share your story and learn of your legal options at no cost or obligation, we are prepared to speak 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 who committed the the assault to justice.