More than 20 ex-students at US high school accuse teachers of sex misconduct

More than 20 former ex-students have stepped forward to accuse their former high school of having a “culture” of child grooming.

More than 20 former students at New York’s Babylon High School have stepped forward to accuse teachers of sexual misconduct, leading school officials to yank a slew of educators from the classroom.

The mountain of troubling accusations surfaced after former student Brittany Rohl, 28, heard that a teacher at the Long Island school was removed from the classroom earlier this month because of “disturbing” sexual allegations, the New York Postreports.

That led Rohl to write a detailed letter to the district’s school board – and post it on Instagram – accusing one of her former teachers there of grooming her for sex beginning at age 16.

Rohl then flew from her home in Florida to a school board meeting last week in the Babylon Union Free School District, where she outlined her charges in person.

A parade of former students – some of them weeping – joined her in telling the board about their own experiences with alleged teacher misconduct.

“I think it was an open secret,” former board president Linda Scordino said at the meeting, referring to the alleged teacher sexual misconduct.

“But there were very few people who had the guts to fight it,” she said, accusing school administrators of having stifled her efforts to combat predatory teachers in the past because they were more concerned about property values.

Over 20 ex-Babylon High School students have come forward to accuse teachers of sexual misconduct.

“It was part of the culture. It wasn’t just one or two teachers. It was almost like a cultural thing,” she said of the alleged misconduct.

The former-student accusers – whose allegations ranged from attempted kissing to commentary on student physiques and inappropriate correspondence – refused to leave the meeting until the board agreed to reassign five targeted teachers still employed by the district.

The proceeding, which drew more than 1000 observers on Zoom, didn’t end until roughly 1am, when the board finally caved to the demand. Superintendent Linda Rozzi repeatedly told Rohl and others not to mention the accused educators by name.

The district recently retained outside legal counsel Chris Powers amid the accusations, and he said the remarks coupled with outing the teachers could constitute defamation.

But Rohl ignored those warnings and recited the names of the accused during the meeting. District officials have noted that the allegations – some of which are decades old – are difficult to substantiate.

Former student Brittany Rohl wrote a detailed letter to the district’s school board accusing one of her former teachers there of grooming her for sex beginning at age 16.

But the Suffolk County Police Department’s Special Victims Unit has been in contact with the school district regarding the allegations, according to News 12 TV. It doesn’t appear that any of the accusers have filed formal complaints with cops, at least yet.

Meanwhile, the father of one student has written to the state Attorney-General’s Office to demand a wider probe of sexual misconduct at the school.

The spiralling controversy has rocked the small village of Babylon and its 12,000 residents.

“People are shell-shocked,” said a village official who declined to be named. “You go from being a quiet, tightly knit community to this.

“It’s had a major impact, and it feels like there’s no end in sight right now,” the source told the Post.

Scordino wrote in a Facebook post on Monday that she was receiving threats because of her outspoken positions.

Rohl ignored legal warnings and recited the names of the accused during a school board meeting.

“Today, I received an anonymous threatening letter in the mail,” she wrote.

The district has pledged to probe all of the allegations – but Rohl said she has her doubts about whether an impartial investigation will be conducted.

“The removal of the teachers is too little, too late,” she told the Post on Monday. “The resistance from the board of education is the nail in the coffin for why they are not fit to lead the district.”

Babylon school officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

This article originally appeared in the New York Post and was reproduced with permission

Originally published as More than 20 ex-students at US high school accuse teachers of sex misconduct