St. Francis grad who alleges teacher sexually abused her: 'I always thought it was my fault'

A St. Francis High School graduate alleges a male teacher sexually abused her in the early 1980s and has remained on the job for nearly three years after she and another woman first told the school about the alleged misconduct in 2015.

The women made the complaints after learning three years ago that they both had sexual contact with the teacher when they were students at the school in the late 1970s and early '80s, one of the women told Courier Journal. They graduated four years apart.

“I buried this situation because I always thought it was my fault,” she said.

Courier Journal is not identifying the woman because she says she was a victim of sexual misconduct.

She said they came forward after such a long time because the man was still a teacher at St. Francis and they were concerned for current female students.

Background: Sexual misconduct allegations against St. Francis faculty member being re-investigated

On Thursday, St. Francis confirmed that a faculty member has been placed on leave as the school reopens an investigation into the women's allegations. The school has hired a Boston-based attorney to conduct the review.

The woman said that the inappropriate relationship with the teacher began when she was a sophomore and a member of the soccer team. He would frequently give her rides home from practices and games. During those rides, he started placing his hand on her knee, eventually moving his hand up her leg and under her shorts, she said.

During her junior year, she had a difficult home life and was dealing with mental health issues. She said the man knew this, but instead of directing her to a professional counselor, offered to help her himself.

She then began visiting his home frequently, where she alleges he would give her alcohol and initiate sexual contact. When she was upset, he would hold her close against his body, she said.

However, she said they did not have sexual intercourse until after she graduated high school. She said they continued seeing each other into her early 20s, but he insisted throughout their relationship that they keep it a secret. Eventually, she said she found "the strength to just say goodbye."

"It changed the whole direction of my life. I ruined relationships with people that would have been healthy for me," she said.

St. Francis says it has been planning to "re-evaluate" the allegations since mid-November. In a statement, the school said the 2015 investigation "did not accomplish all it could and should have, and for that we deeply apologize."

The announcement to the school community about the new inquiry came just one day after the woman posted a letter from the 2015 investigation on Facebook. The letter was addressed to her from an attorney hired by the school.

"I knew that if I didn't do this, I was going to die and this secret was going to be buried with me," she said.

The 2015 letter said the school spoke with the teacher twice during its investigation and that he denied having an inappropriate relationship with either student while they were enrolled at St. Francis.

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The woman said the letter, which only addressed her allegations, seemed to frame the case as an example of "he said, she said." The teacher admitted to school officials that he had a sexual relationship with the woman after she graduated but denied having any inappropriate contact with her while she was a student. And because she had failed to produce hard evidence proving a crime had taken place, the man would keep his job at the school's downtown Louisville campus, according to the letter written by Shannon Antle Hamilton, with Stites & Harbison.

When she first received the letter, the woman said she was "shocked" and "devastated." She sought out her own attorney shortly after, but when the attorney told her she would have to get the police involved, she abandoned her efforts, she said.

"I went through hell," she said. "And I was fed up."

The woman said she decided to post the letter on Facebook after witnessing sexual harassment and assault victims across the nation speak out against their alleged abusers.

As a result of the 2015 investigation, the teacher received a written warning in his personnel file and was barred from participating in extracurricular activities that could result in him being alone with a student, according to the letter. The intent was to keep him from being in a position where "deeper personal relationships or feelings could develop," Hamilton wrote.

Some in the small but close-knit St. Francis community who have seen the 2015 letter say they are disturbed not just by the school's decision to retain the teacher, but by how the school appeared to treat the women involved.

"They've been protecting and covering up for the predator," said Thomas Clay Jr., a 1988 graduate of the school and friend of one of the women in the case.

Clay said the letter is an example of why many women choose to stay silent about sexual harassment and abuse rather than come forward.

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Throughout the letter, Hamilton refers to the teacher on a first-name basis and recounts the woman's difficult teenage years.

"You had no home life, so you threw herself into soccer," Hamilton wrote.

"On many occasions, you ran to (the teacher's) house from your home. In time, you began to go there every day. (The teacher) comforted you and counseled you," Hamilton wrote.

The letter also appears to focus specifically on whether the teacher had engaged in criminal conduct, rather than whether his behavior was unprofessional or unethical.

In one part of the letter addressing allegations that the teacher had provided minors with alcohol, Hamilton pointed to a one-year statute of limitations for the misdemeanor act.

"Thus, even if (the teacher) had provided you or other students with alcohol in the past, the criminal statute of limitations has expired," Hamilton wrote.

In another part of the letter, Hamilton wrote that, according to school records, the alleged victim was old enough to have given consent following her freshman year at the school.

"To the extent there was sexual contact after you turned 16, this would not be criminal activity," the letter said.

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The woman disputed that account in an interview with Courier Journal and said she was 15 during the summer after her freshman year when the inappropriate relationship began.

Under Kentucky law, it is a criminal felony for teachers to have sex with students under the age of 18, even if the relationship is consensual. That statute, though, was not on the books 30 years ago.

In a letter to the St. Francis community this week, Head of School Alexandra Thurstone and Board of Trustees President Kenneth Edwards said they have hired an independent investigator to look into the women's claims.

The investigator, Sarah Worley, served as the lead mediator in the Boston Archdiocese child sex abuse case, the letter said. The school encouraged anyone with information or additional allegations to contact Worley, who can be reached by phone at 617-419-0900 or by email at sarah@worleyconflictresolution.com.

St. Francis has campuses in Goshen and downtown Louisville. The school serves nearly 500 students in preschool through 12th grade and is known for its small class sizes.

Mandy McLaren: 502-582-4525; mmclaren@courier-journal.com; Twitter: @mandy_mclaren. Support strong local journalism by subscribing today: www.courier-journal.com/mandym