Horace Mann: Bronx DA opens hotline for school’s sexual abuse victims
Former New York Governor Eliot Spitzer, one of Horace Mann’s distinguished alumni, visits FOX Business’ ‘Power and Money with David Asman’ at FOX Studios on November 28, 2011 in New York City.
Horace Mann has been in the spotlight since the New York Times Magazine ran an article last week revealing the prestigious high school's history of sexual abuse, and the Bronx District Attorney's office has opened a hotline for victims to come forward with their stories, WNYC reported.
Bronx DA Robert Johnson said Tuesday that his office encouraged alleged victims of assaults from their teachers to share the incidents, even if they happened after the statue of limitations, according to WNYC.
More from GlobalPost: Horace Mann, elite NY private school, had long history of sexual abuse
Amos Kamil, a 1982 graduate of Horace Mann and New York Times writer, detailed incidents of sexual assault by several of the school's educators throughout the 1980s and early 1990s, NBC News New York reported. He interviewed several students (identified mostly by letters in their names) who point to three now-deceased teachers that molested them and other pupils.
Speaker of New York's City Council Christine C. Quinn wrote a letter to Johnson on Monday urging his office to conduct “an appropriate review of the matter," the New York Times reported.
“Although the reported abuse occurred many years ago, the fact that it continued for nearly two decades suggests a pervasive culture that allows such criminal behavior to occur," Quinn wrote, according to the Times.
She also wrote to the New York State Association of Independent Schools asking them to implement clear protocol for how private schools should deal with sexual abuse reports, according to WNYC.
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Horace Mann officials refused to comment on the unfolding scandal, but Head of School Thomas Kelly sent a letter to the school's community Sunday night asking them to be patient as he and his staff look into the reports and develop "a thoughtful process that places the first priority on those alumni in need."
"It has been a most troubling week for so many of us," wrote Kelly. "While we cannot change the past, we can take action today that will influence our future together for the better."
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