Letter from Pingry Survivors Regarding Release of School’s Investigative Report

28 March 2017 - 13:46, by , in Pingry Survivors' News, 2 comments

Dear Pingry Community,

Pingry Survivors is an affiliation of adults who were sexually victimized as children at the Pingry School (and its predecessor, the Short Hills Country Day School). In the last six months, the number of victims affiliated with Pingry Survivors has grown to 18. All were sexually abused as children at Pingry between approximately 1972 and 1980.

More than a year ago, several among the Pingry Survivors commissioned an investigation by Crew Janci LLP, a law firm that specializes in representing victims of child sexual abuse across the country. The Crew Janci investigation has focused on determining the scope of the problem of child sexual abuse at Pingry, as well as what was known by those in positions of authority and others at Pingry and when it became known.

In their process, the Pingry Survivors’ investigative team has:

  • contacted more than 150 witnesses;
  • reviewed all pertinent documents available from the time;
  • confirmed the existence and identities of many more victims;
  • identified other Pingry employees who are accused of sexually abusing students; and
  • uncovered additional evidence of Pingry’s knowledge regarding these issues.

In response to the initiation of the Crew Janci investigation, The Pingry School commissioned its own investigation (announced to the community by letter on March 28, 2016). In response to that announcement, Pingry Survivors worked to ensure that the School’s investigation could be as complete as possible. Over the past several months, the 18 Pingry Survivors provided individual in-person interviews to the School’s investigators – taking time away from our families and jobs and traveling at our own expense to share painful details about the sexual abuse we each suffered. We also instructed our advocates at Crew Janci to work collaboratively with the School’s investigators, which they have done – sharing documents, witnesses and other important information.

This week’s release of information by The Pingry School marks the conclusion of the School’s investigation.  You can read The Pingry School’s investigative report here: TMReport.

We are pleased that the Pingry School commissioned an investigation and glad they have released their findings.  We believe that healing from the abuse we suffered – and preventing future abuse – requires that the Pingry community be given a complete picture of what happened and how it was allowed to happen.  We will be carefully reviewing this report in the days ahead.

We hope that revealing the truth about abuse at Pingry will serve as a first step in the healing process – for ourselves and for our community, and we remain hopeful that we can find a way forward through a collaborative process to address the past and to create a safer Pingry for future generations.

Sincerely,

The Pingry Survivors

www.pingrysurvivors.org

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pingrysurvivors/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/PingrySurvivors

 

2 Comments on "Letter from Pingry Survivors Regarding Release of School’s Investigative Report"

Class of '73 - 31 March 2017 Reply

As someone who agressively groomed by Antoine Dubourg while a 7th grader in the glee club, and then humiliated when I did not "properly behave" for him, I am stunned by the suggestion that the school administration was unaware of his long history of pedophilia. His lechery was so open that it was actually part of the daily culture of the school --- as was looking the other way. Though in my own interview by Ms. Kirschstein, I found her to be genuinely outraged by what she was hearing, and sincerely compassionate, her firm works for Pingry, and thus must put the interests of the client first. Most painful for me over the years has been watching as Dubourg, far from being "outed" for his criminal and destructive behaviour, was treated as one of Pingry's great iconic teachers, with an award named after him, as well as an organ (!) -- the ultimate irony. I trust that such profoundly hurtful and even perverse distortions of his true nature as a sexual predator will be reversed immediately. I am grateful to Pingry Survivors for instigating this entire process of disclosure and accountability. Please keep the pressure on until the whole truth has been told.

Class of 1983 - 7 December 2017 Reply

same sentiments as previous comment/person (minus any follow-up). only through recent events in our society have I gained emotional and verbal nomenclature for any of this. as I recall, H. Westcott Cunningham was headmaster and Frank Romano was Dean of Boys, both dead now (google informs that Romano's demise was by his own hand, gunshot, 1993). they were not involved but certainly wish they had been. Monsieur Dollar-A-Year certainly had free reign.

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