Sexual Abuse Allegations at The Pingry School
Bernards Township, New Jersey
Founded: 1861
Location: Campuses in Short Hills and Basking Ridge
Grades: K through 12
Originally founded in 1861 as a boys' school, The Pingry School has been co-educational since the early 1970s. It is home to a student population that typically numbers about 1100 annually.
In May 2018, The Pingry School announced that it had settled 21 sexual abuse allegations against its former employee, Thad "Ted" Alton. Alton, who worked as a teacher and a Boy Scout leader, was the subject of 27 allegations of abuse over a six year period in the 1970s. After leaving The Pingry School, Alton moved to upstate New York, where he was arrested for sexually abusing fifty more students in 1989. He is now a registered sex offender as a result of that conviction.
In January 2020, The Pingry School announced financial settlements with another 13 victims of Alton.
According to an independent investigation conducted by a third party in 2017, at least two more former teachers had been accused of sexual abuse. Bruce Bohner was accused of molesting four students, all aged 10 or 11 years old, during the late 1970s. Antoine du Bourg, who taught at the school for 46 years, was accused of molestation and other inappropriate sexual conduct in "multiple instances," according to the final report.
Horowitz Law is a law firm representing victims and survivors of sexual abuse in the private schools of New Jersey. If you need a lawyer because you were sexually abused by someone working at a private school in New Jersey, contact our office today. Although many years have passed, those sexually abused in New Jersey may have legal options, but filing deadlines will apply so please do not delay in reaching out to us.
Contact us at (954) 641-2100 or adam@adamhorowitzlaw.com to discuss your options today.