Berkshire Bureau Chief Josh Landes has more.
“Beginning when I was 15 years old, I was groomed and sexually abused by a man who was a respected teacher, coach, and dorm parent at an all-girls boarding school in Pittsfield, Massachusetts,” testified Hilary Simon.
Simon is one of two former students who sounded the alarm about longtime Miss Hall’s School history teacher Matthew Rutledge in 2024. He resigned shortly after claims of sexual abuse from generations of students went public. Parallel allegations accused school leadership of knowingly shielding Rutledge and working to silence his accusers on the secluded campus, where boarding students pay tuition of up to $79,000 a year.
Simon and Melissa Fares, who are suing the school over their experiences, testified Tuesday during a Joint Committee on the Judiciary hearing on Beacon Hill. The former students were there to support House Bill 1634, which 3rd Berkshire District State Representative Leigh Davis proposed in response to the Miss Hall’s case. The measure is aimed at closing a loophole that makes it difficult to prosecute adults in positions of authority accused of sexual misconduct.
Simon described how Rutledge abused his power.
“What began as compliments and extra attention turned into forcible touching and sexual intercourse with this man who is 25 years older than me," she said. "He used his position of authority at the school to gain constant access to me, to get me alone for copious amounts of time, and to slowly cut me off from friends, trusted adults, and even my own family. He isolated me physically and emotionally.”
Simon testified that Rutledge knew exactly how to exploit the existing law.
“For more than 30 years, this man preyed on students," she continued. "Why? Because he knew that he could. Because he knew that the law offered cover- Outdated protections that fail to shield 16- and 17-year-olds from predators disguised as educators.”
Davis said Tuesday that her bill would make key changes.
“Right now, in Massachusetts, a teacher, a coach or a priest can legally have sex with a 16- or 17-year-old in their care and claim it was consensual," she said. "That's not consent, it's exploitation. The bill does not change the age of consent, which remains 16. It addresses the power imbalance when an adult in a position of authority exploits a young person in their care.”
While investigations into the Miss Hall’s matter revealed decades of allegations against Rutledge and other teachers at the school, Berkshire District Attorney Timothy Shugrue said his office was unable to prosecute him due to existing Massachusetts law. Shugrue on Tuesday spoke in support of Davis’ bill.
“House Bill 1634 gives the legislature the ability to close this sexual loophole and restore Massachusetts to its rightful place as the leader in child protection in this country," he said.
To those former Miss Hall’s students still struggling to rebuild their lives, Shugrue’s decision not to prosecute came as a shock.
“Last October, I received a message from a reporter telling me that the man who had groomed and sexually abused me as a teenager would not face criminal charges. According to a press release from the DA’s office, while the behavior was troubling, it was not illegal," said Melissa Fares. “I had reported rape. I had told my story to law enforcement in Massachusetts twice, but they maintained they were constrained from pursuing criminal charges. Rape doesn't always involve a violent attack by a stranger in a dark alley. It can also take the form of a trusted authority figure, like a teacher coercing a student behind closed doors in a classroom closet.”
Fares said in the aftermath of her experiences with Rutledge, she has battled panic attacks, night terrors, depression, dissociation, and difficulties around intimacy.
“Massachusetts, often seen as progressive, is shamefully behind in this area," she continued. "As long as the law allows authority figures to claim consent as a defense, as long as prosecutors say their hands are tied because a teacher waited until a student turned 16, students stay vulnerable and survivors stay unprotected.”
Democratic State Senator Joan Lovely of Essex has unsuccessfully pursued similar legislation in her chamber of the legislature for almost a decade.
