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School officials read a statement on Monday that they were ending the investigation.

Adams-Cheshire Closing Book on 40-Year-Old Sex Abuse Cases

By Jack GuerinoiBerkshires Staff
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CHESHIRE, Mass. — School officials have ended an investigation into alleged sexual abuse committed by a former employee in the 1970s.

The Adams-Cheshire Regional School Committee read a prepared statement Monday stating that because no lawsuit has been filed against the district, the district has stopped its investigation.

"To date no suit has been filed against the district," Chairman Paul Butler said. "Since no claim or suit has been filed, the district's investigatory activities ceased and no report was prepared."

The allegations were raised in 2016 when the School Committee received a letter from an attorney representing two men who claimed to have been sexually abused by custodian Clement St. Hilaire in the mid-1970s at then Adams Memorial Middle School.

St. Hilaire was allowed to voluntarily terminate his employment in 1976. The Berkshire Eagle was contacted by one of the men nearly two years ago and last year wrote several articles about the alleged abuse, with at least seven men coming forward to say St. Hilaire had molested them. St. Hilaire, now in his 90s, had acknowledged to the paper he had abused the first two men named.

The statute of limitations for a criminal case was passed years age and expired or close to it for a civil complaint.

Butler noted that the letter also threatened that a lawsuit would be filed unless certain demands were met.

"In response, the district hired an attorney experienced in handling claims of sexual abuse," he said. "The demands were not met, and no suit has been filed by either of the two individuals."

After the initial claim, Butler said fewer than eight individuals contacted the district with similar stories of abuse regarding the former employee, in most cases anonymously. He said only four of those people spoke with district personnel and no legal action has been taken by those individuals either.

Butler closed his statement by saying the district did engage attorney Nancy Frankel Pelletier to provide advice in the event a claim was brought forward but her services were not needed.

"She was not hired nor asked to perform an investigation," he said. 


Tags: ACRSD,   sex abuse,   

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Hoosac Valley High School is Moving and Shaking

There have been some major shifts within the Hoosac Valley Regional School District recently, all of which have focused on enhancing the student experience to make it a place where ALL students can find their path.
 
In 2023, Hoosac Valley High School was designated an Innovation Pathway School by the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) and has since restructured the Program of Studies, utilized creative scheduling, and expanded internship opportunities. Part of this transformation includes participating in a "Portrait of a Graduate" cohort alongside four other Berkshire County schools to determine a collective vision for student success, in partnership with the BARR Foundation.
 
The Innovation Pathways at HVHS are designed to give students coursework and experience in a specific high-demand industry, such as technology, engineering, healthcare, or life sciences. Currently, Biomedical Science & Healthcare and Environmental Studies have received official state IP designation. In addition to the IP designated pathways, HVHS offers programs in Engineering & Technology, Business & Entrepreneurship, Arts & Entertainment, Education, and Sports Medicine. The result is that students have an opportunity for a transformative experience – enabling them to build essential skills, gain awareness of future career opportunities, and make informed choices about post-secondary education in promising fields.
 
Principal Colleen Byrd notes, "What makes our program special is that entry into the Pathway of your choice allows a student to access Advanced Placement and dual enrollment college courses, as well as internships in the community to set them up for success after high school."
 
The Portrait of a Graduate initiative consists of a team of Hoosac educators and students who exemplify the essential skills, practices, and beliefs that define learning experiences across the district. They work to outline the competencies, values, skills, and knowledge that define our vision for student success – keeping in mind that not every student's pathway will look the same. The District's goal is to ensure that all students graduate as responsible people, prepared individuals, lifelong learners, global citizens, critical thinkers, and thoughtful communicators.
 
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