Overview
- A Berkshire County grand jury returned an indictment on July 22, 2026 charging former headmaster Jeannie Norris with one count of reckless endangerment of a child.
- Former teacher Matthew Rutledge was indicted in March on three counts of rape for alleged assaults on former students and has pleaded not guilty in Berkshire Superior Court.
- A school-commissioned Board of Trustees summary found administrators were alerted to Rutledge’s “inappropriate relationships and interactions with students” in the late 1990s and into the 2000s.
- Two former students, Melissa Fares and Hilary S. Simon, publicly described years of grooming and abuse and say their reporting helped prompt the criminal investigation; they welcomed the indictment as a step toward accountability.
- Berkshire County District Attorney Timothy J. Shugrue said the investigation is continuing, that prosecutors treat alleged enabling as a crime, and he expects additional charges as the probe proceeds.