County Attorney Releases Unredacted Documents
After releasing over 900 pages of investigative documents detailing allegations of misconduct at the Academy dating back to the 1950s, the Rockingham County Attorney informed Exeter on Wednesday that there would be no further report releases until the middle of January 2018. The County Attorney Patricia Conway released the documents last Wednesday to Seacoast Media Group under New Hampshire’s Right-to-Know statute (91-A). These reports revealed identifying information about victims, whistleblowers and accused perpetrators whose confidentiality the school and the Exeter Police Department (EPD) had worked together to protect through significant redactions in their own reports.
Disclosing the identity of student reporters, witnesses and victims ... will also discourage other students from coming forward and reporting suspected instances of misconduct.
When the Schubart case broke in the spring of 2016, Exeter asked that victims of misconduct at the Academy come forward, and committed to passing along to the EPD all allegations they received. Many documents included in the compilation pertain to reports made following this time. The compilation consists of Academy reports, EPD reports and state reports, and, according to Exeter’s in-house legal counsel Holly Barcroft, only two of the cases listed in the documents have led to actual charges.
PEA’s legal counsel has reached out to Conway for assurance that the names of minors will be treated with care in the future. Exeter lawyers emphasized how important it is to the Academy that the names of minors who come forward remain permanently redacted.
Upon the release of the documents, Exeter’s legal representatives contacted Conway, arguing that more information should have been redacted. They also proposed specific redactions the county attorney’s office might make in the interest of protecting victims and minors. In an update to the Exeter community, Principal Lisa MacFarlane said, “I also want to report that we have requested in writing – and the County Attorney has agreed to review – a detailed list of redactions before that office releases the files to any additional parties.”
Lawyer David A. Vicinanzo at Nixon Peabody LLP wrote a letter to Conway on Dec. 10, saying, “The adverse impact associated with the public disclosure of student and employee identifying information is apparent, particularly for minor students whose identity New Hampshire law requires be kept confidential in all proceedings initiated under RSA Chapter 169-C.”
Vicinanzo also expressed concern in his letter about the possibility of future victims being unwilling to come forward for fear of their confidentiality being violated. “Disclosing the identity of student reporters, witnesses and victims—many of whom came forward believing their identities would remain strictly confidential—without their knowledge or consent will also discourage other students from coming forward and reporting suspected instances of misconduct,” he said.
He continued, “This is precisely the type of collateral consequence that Chapter 91-A seeks to avoid by protecting from disclosure information that, if publically known, would constitute an invasion of privacy. Protecting privacy, on the other hand, will encourage future reporting by students and faculty alike. To be clear, PEA does not oppose the RCAO’s disclosure of its investigative files; rather, PEA believes that careful redaction of the files could protect the privacy of reporters, witnesses, victims and subjects, while still providing insight into the workings of government and satisfying the public’s right-to-know.”
Last night, Conway informed the school of her commitment to honor the redactions they requested. “The County Attorney is taking our redaction requests so seriously that there will be no further releases of the documents until the middle of January 2018,” Barcroft said. “We have great respect for the County Attorney’s decision and feel lucky to have a good working relationship with her.”
In her update to the community, MacFarlane emphasized the proactive measures the school continues to take. “In addition to investigating each allegation, we also continually review our policies, our training and our employment actions, to ensure we are being as responsive as possible to safety concerns. We stay vigilant about emerging threats, as they can change over time,” she wrote. “Our guiding principle is the safety of each individual in our community.”