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A prestigious all-girls boarding school in Massachusetts, where students pay up to $79,000 a year for tuition and room and board, is facing a sweeping sexual-abuse scandal after a newly released independent investigation found decades of misconduct by multiple employees and years of institutional failures that allowed alleged predators to remain in the classroom.
The investigation centers on former Miss Hall’s School history teacher Matthew Rutledge, who taught at the elite Pittsfield, Massachusetts, campus for more than 30 years. According to the Aleta Law investigative report, Rutledge engaged in a long pattern of grooming, sexualized behavior and sexual assault of students beginning in the 1990s. Five former students came forward with firsthand accounts.
The findings go far beyond Rutledge, with the 60-page report outlining eight substantiated cases of sexual misconduct by former Miss Hall’s employees from the 1940s through the 2010s, including teachers who allegedly exploited students emotionally, crossed physical boundaries, engaged in sexualized conduct or committed sexual assault.
Miss Hall’s School is an independent, college preparatory, boarding and day school for girls in grades 9–12. (Google Maps)
Two former Miss Hall’s students, Hilary Simon and Melissa Fares, have sued the school, alleging negligence and emotional and physical harm. Both women testified before the Massachusetts Joint Committee on the Judiciary in June, urging lawmakers to strengthen protections for students.
“What began as compliments and extra attention turned into forcible touching and sexual intercourse with this man who is 25 years older than me,” Simon testified. “He isolated me physically and emotionally.”
Rutledge has never been criminally charged.
“This is where Massachusetts is way behind,” Wendy Murphy, a Massachusetts-based attorney and national advocate for sexual-assault survivors, told Fox News Digital. “The law treats these students as if they’re capable of consenting, but consent isn’t real when the perpetrator is in a position of authority over you.”
The Berkshire District Attorney’s Office concluded in October 2024 that under Massachusetts’s General Law, no criminal conduct occurred.
“Massachusetts law defines the age of consent as 16. While the alleged behavior is profoundly troubling, it is not illegal,” District Attorney Timothy Shugrue said.
Read the report here:
According to the Aleta Law report, Miss Hall’s administrators, including senior leaders and at least one former head of school, received multiple reports or warnings about Rutledge’s behavior over the years but failed to intervene. The report concluded that the school’s leadership “failed to adequately investigate and respond.”
A recent Vanity Fair investigation likewise reported that school officials were alerted to Rutledge’s concerning behavior as early as 2005, and that administrators at one point instructed him to cease contact with a former student, but allowed him to remain in the classroom.
“The investigation revealed horrible truths about a community we hold dear,” Head of School Julia Heaton wrote in a letter to the Miss Hall’s community.
The Aleta Law report describes a school environment in the 1990s and 2000s where teachers regularly spent time alone with students, invited them into faculty apartments, gave personal gifts and blurred emotional and physical boundaries.
Several employees admitted they suspected inappropriate relationships involving Rutledge but feared retaliation or believed leadership “would not listen.” Students who raised concerns about other teachers in past decades reported being ignored, discouraged or even punished.
“It’s very common for schools to get rid of the noisemaker—the victim who won’t shut up,” Murphy said. “The message becomes: if you complain, you’ll be punished.”
“If a teacher hurt a Jewish or Asian student, they’d be fired instantly. But when the victim is a girl, schools often treat the abuse as less serious. Girls keep getting second-class treatment,” she said. “Victims have a long, long time to file lawsuits.”
The Berkshires is a rural region in the mountains of western Massachusetts. (Massachusetts Office of Travel and Tourism)
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The school has apologized to its community and acknowledged “past failures” in safeguarding students. According to the report, Miss Hall’s has begun implementing extensive reforms, including:
- New employee code of conduct
- Strengthened reporting protocols
- Shared faculty office spaces
- 24/7 multilingual counseling access for students
- Survivor-centered listening sessions
- The creation of a Survivor Therapy Fund
Miss Hall’s said it is committed to “ensuring every student is seen, safe, cared for, and able to thrive.”
Rutledge has not publicly commented on the allegations. Fox News Digital has reached out to his attorney and to Miss Hall’s School for comment.
