Investigation finds decades of abuse at American School for the Deaf

By Evan Simko-Bednarski, CNN

Updated 7:39 PM ET, Tue February 25, 2020

The American School for the Deaf educates students from pre-school through age 21.

The American School for the Deaf educates students from pre-school through age 21.

(CNN)Allegations of sexual and/or physical abuse leveled against nine former employees at the American School for the Deaf in West Hartford, Connecticut, have been found "credible," according to an independent investigation conducted at the school's request.

In an investigative report released last week, the 203-year-old institution published findings that the staff members engaged in "multiple instances of past sexual abuse, and physical abuse and/or corporal punishment from the 1950s through the 1980s."

"As a community, we are devastated," the school's executive director, Jeffrey Bravin, and president of the board of directors, Catherine Burns, said in a joint statement presenting the findings.

"The revelations exposed during this investigation are heartbreaking, and we are stunned by the realization that former trusted members of the ASD family abused their power to take advantage of innocent, vulnerable children in their care."

https://www.cnn.com/2020/02/25/us/american-school-for-the-deaf-abuse-investigation/index.html