PEA's past misconduct cases continue

EXETER - The repercussions of historic sexual abuse coming to light at Phillips Exeter Academy carried over into 2017, with an alleged student-on-student assault and its aftermath taking the limelight.

On the morning of jury selection for the June trial of former academy student Chukwudi Ikpeazu, the Rockingham County attorney's office announced the trial had been called off, with all charges dropped with conditions. Ikpeazu, whose case gained attention and merited alumni outcry after the alleged victim spoke to the Boston Globe, was charged with Class A misdemeanor sexual assault for allegedly fondling a fellow classmate against her will in the school church's basement in October 2015.

"Chudi has always maintained that he is innocent of these charges and he is extremely grateful that this matter is now behind him," Ikpeazu's attorney Richard Samdperil said in a statement after the charges were dropped.

The alleged victim, who was 17 at the time, told the Globe after the alleged assault in October, she met with AJ Cosgrove, dean of residential life, and Melissa Mischke, dean of students, to report what had happened. School officials looked to handle the incident "in-house" and sometimes classified her encounter with Ikpeazu as harassment rather than assault, she said. While Cosgrove and Mischke never brought her complaint to authorities, the alleged victim reported it the Exeter Police Department in the spring of 2016.

In November, state police documents leaked to various media outlets showed N.H. State Police Trooper Mallory S. Littman, an investigator with the state's major crime unit, wrote in a detailed November 2016 report that she determined there was "probable cause to believe that (Dean of Residential Life Arthur J. Cosgrove) and (Dean of Students Melissa Mischke) did commit the crime of Child Protection Act-Reporting Law, a misdemeanor." Littman drafted arrest warrants for the two deans, but Rockingham County Attorney Patricia Conway decided not to go forward with charges. As an alternative, her office entered into a detailed memorandum of understanding with the academy and Exeter police, outlining mandatory abuse reporting laws and expectations.

On Dec. 15, Ann M. Rice, deputy attorney general, announced that Conway "did not abuse her discretion" in electing to pursue a memorandum of understanding with the academy rather than charge Mischke and Cosgrove. The state attorney general's office backed Conway's decision not to go forward with criminal charges, as Conway had argued that case would have been difficult to prove beyond a reasonable doubt.

Phillips Exeter Academy ended 2017 with the release of 900-plus pages of the state's investigation into allegations of abuse and misconduct at the academy dating back to the 1950s. The documents were released by Conway's office following a Right-To-Know request from Seacoast Media Group. The hundreds of pages revealed six new faculty names accused, but not charged with, abuse or misconduct over the years, faculty members accused of violating the state's mandatory reporting law and hundreds of interviews with academy staff and students.

Conway's office received scrutiny from the academy's law firm and alleged abuse survivors about the release of the documents with unredacted names and identifying factors. Conway agreed to review the file and correct mistakes before it is released further.