The Berkshire District Attorney’s Office says it found no criminal conduct after investigating allegations of sexual abuse leveled against a former teacher at the private Miss Hall’s School in Pittsfield.
District Attorney Timothy Shugrue said Friday “while the alleged behavior is profoundly troubling, it is not illegal.” The age of consent in Massachusetts is 16.
The district attorney began investigating claims made by multiple women against Matthew Rutledge in the spring.
Earlier this week, former Miss Hall's student Melissa Fares filed a lawsuit seeking monetary damages from the school and former supervisory staff. The suit includes graphic accounts of abuse, including grooming and rape, allegedly committed by Rutledge when Fares was a student between 2007 and 2010.
The Berkshire DA also deemed separate allegations made against two former Miss Hall's employees unfounded. The private institution cooperated with the DA's probe and is conducting its own investigation.
