Abuse allegations at elite Southern California school detailed in new report

The Cate School, a prestigious boarding school near Santa Barbara, released a report last month describing allegations of sexual abuse and other teacher misconduct dating back to the 1960s, according to the Los Angeles Times.

The report is the result of a year-long internal investigation of abuse allegations at the school. It identifies 17 former faculty members who allegedly engaged in inappropriate behavior with students, including kissing, touching and sexual relationships with students after they graduated, according to the newspaper.

“In a close community such as ours, the bonds created between people on the Mesa are meant to provide comfort and nurture growth, not to inflict trauma. This was where we failed,” board of trustees President Lisa Browne Stanson and Chair Wyatt Gruber wrote to Cate students, alumni and parents. “We honor the survivors for the courage they have shown in coming forward to recount their painful experiences, and we thank those witnesses who joined them in helping us to understand the full nature of what occurred.”

–Carolyn Jones