Miss Hall's Teacher Charged With Raping Two Female Students, Da Says

A erstwhile coach astatine a venerable Massachusetts boarding and time schoolhouse for girls has been charged pinch 3 counts of rape, nan Berkshire County District Attorney’s Office announced.

Matthew Rutledge, who had been accused of grooming students for activity during his 30-plus-year profession astatine Miss Hall’s School, was indicted by a expansive assemblage connected nan spot of grounds from 2 erstwhile students named Hilary Simon and Melissa Fares, nan prosecutors said.

Rutledge, 67, was charged astir 2 years aft Simon and Fares came guardant pinch intersexual maltreatment allegations — and aft nan DA’s agency initially declined to complaint nan ex-teacher pinch a crime because nan accusers were 16 astatine nan clip of nan alleged incidents. The property of consent successful Massachusetts is 16 and authorities rule does not criminalize intersexual relations betwixt teachers and students sloppy of age.

Miss Hall's School successful Pittsfield, Mass.Google Maps

“They person waited acold excessively agelong for justness and, while I admit our agency took clip to create a way forward, I dream it is evident that I remained committed to holding nan Defendant accountable for his crimes,” Berkshire District Attorney Timothy Shugrue said successful a connection Tuesday.

The DA’s agency said it is successful nan process of sending Rutledge a general summons, aft which he will beryllium fixed an arraignment day by nan Berkshire Superior Court.

“We guidelines pinch nan Survivors whose courageousness and determination played an indispensable domiciled successful this outcome, and we are grateful they will yet person nan opportunity to activity justness successful nan criminal lawsuit against Matt Rutledge,” Miss Hall’s School said successful a statement.

Rutledge, who records show lives successful Pittsfield, Massachusetts, could not beryllium reached for comment. He is charged pinch 2 counts of rape against Fares and 1 count of rape against Simon, according to nan 2 women and Julia Sabourin, nan main operating serviceman astatine nan DA’s office.

Fares, now 33, was allegedly abused by Rutledge from 2007 to 2010 and Simon, now 37, was allegedly abused from 2001 to 2005. During and aft they were some students astatine nan school.

Both Fares and Simon testified earlier nan expansive assemblage connected Tuesday.

Fares said she was relieved, saying, “There were excessively galore moments wherever it felt for illustration it mightiness not spell anywhere.”

“So I held onto hope, but besides protected myself from expecting it,” she said. “That’s portion of what makes this infinitesimal consciousness truthful significant.”

Simon said she too, astatine times, feared that Rutledge would ne'er beryllium held accountable.

“What I do cognize is that Melissa and I were clear from Day 1 that location was ne'er immoderate consent,” Simon said. “We ne'er wavered connected that. Not once. And I deliberation that consistency, that refusal to fto anyone reframe what happened to us, is portion of what kept this lawsuit alive.”

For decades, Rutledge had been a “larger than life” fig astatine nan schoolhouse who would bellow “Make measurement for Mr. Wonderful” arsenic he walked down nan hallways, according to a study prepared for Miss Hall’s School aft nan allegations against nan coach first surfaced.

Rutledge had, astatine various times, served arsenic a history teacher, coach, resident, advisor and section chair, nan study stated.

But successful April 2024, Rutledge resigned aft Fares reported him to nan schoolhouse management for allegedly sexually abusing and exploiting her erstwhile she was a student and aft she graduated.

Shortly afterward, Simon came guardant pinch her accusations against Rutledge.

That aforesaid month, nan section DA, nan Pittsfield Police Department, and nan authorities Department of Children and Families each launched investigations into nan Rutledge allegations. In Massachusetts, location is nary statute of limitations for reporting rape allegations for victims 16 and younger; for anyone 17 and older, nan statute of limitations is 15 years.

Meanwhile, connection of nan alleged maltreatment by Rutledge began spreading connected societal media among nan angry alumnae of Miss Hall’s School.

Faced pinch an uproar, Miss Hall’s School hired a rule patient to analyse nan allegations.

The report, released successful August 2025, recovered that Rutledge had been reported for inappropriate behaviour to schoolhouse activity aggregate times and that nan schoolhouse grounded to act. It recovered that Rutledge had abused 5 girls complete a 20-year span.

It besides elaborate different cases of intersexual misconduct going backmost to nan 1940s against students by different erstwhile staffers astatine Miss Hall’s School.

Head of School Julia Heaton issued an apology connected behalf of nan schoolhouse and herself aft nan study was released.

In October 2024, nan hopes of Fares and Simon that Rutledge would soon beryllium prosecuted were temporarily dashed erstwhile Shugrue announced his agency could not property charges against nan teacher.

“Massachusetts rule defines nan property of consent arsenic 16,” Shugrue said successful a connection astatine nan time. “While nan alleged behaviour is profoundly troubling, it is not illegal.”

Disappointed but not dissuaded, Fares and Simon worked pinch authorities lawmakers to thief get support for a measure that was introduced that would let for group successful positions of power, for illustration teachers, to beryllium held criminally responsible, moreover if nan student has reached nan property of consent. That measure is still successful process pinch nan authorities legislature.

They revenge abstracted lawsuits against nan school, Fares successful 2024 and Simon successful 2025.

In nan meantime, nan DA’s agency assigned a squad of typical prosecutors and authorities constabulary detectives to revisit nan grounds collected by nan Pittsfield constabulary and by nan school’s rule patient and concluded that Rutledge had “violated Massachusetts General Law.”

The DA’s agency did not supply immoderate further specifications astir nan grounds but stressed its investigation into Rutledge “as good arsenic immoderate suspected criminal behaviour of different unit members astatine Miss Hall’s School” is ongoing.