WASHINGTON — No criminal charges have been filed following a police investigation into a teen’s report that she had been raped by her ex-boyfriend on the campus of Sidwell Friends School. And now the school is taking steps to prevent student sexual misconduct.
In March, the female student told police her classmate forced her to have sex on the grounds of the highly selective Quaker school, which is attended by the two daughters of President Barack Obama, and other children of high-profile Washington-area residents.
WTOP has learned that Metropolitan Police presented the case to prosecutors, but no charges were filed. A spokesperson with the Office of the Attorney General declined to acknowledge or discuss the case, citing juvenile privacy laws.
In their initial March report, police said the two students had a previous sexual relationship.
Sidwell’s Head of School Bryan Garman sent an email to parents on June 9 updating them on the case.
“We hired outside counsel to conduct an independent investigation of the incident, and a highly respected expert to review our curriculum, handbooks and disciplinary procedures,” Garman wrote in the email, obtained by WTOP.
Garman’s email did not mention the criminal prosecutorial decision, but wrote “our investigation and the resulting disciplinary process have only recently concluded,” without specifying whether either of the students were disciplined.
Sidwell’s Board of Trustees and school administrators are just beginning to digest the findings, Garman said.
“Preliminary recommendations call for the school to develop more explicit policies addressing student sexual misconduct and technology use,” Garman wrote.
He said the school is already considering program changes to “help students understand how to prevent sexual assault and to navigate the complicated landscape of sexual relations.” Health and wellness curriculum will also be re-evaluated for older students, the email said.
Additionally, the school has installed more security cameras and improved lighting to tighten campus security, Garman said.
The student had told police the assault happened during afternoon and evening hours, but police and the school have not specified where on campus it occurred.
Asked by WTOP to elaborate on the findings of the independent report, and the proactive steps the school is taking, Associate Head of School Ellis Turner declined.
“The School just received the report and recommendations from the independent consultant a few days ago. We are currently in the process of reviewing it and are unable to share any of its details at the present time,” Turner wrote.
Garman said changes in policies will be included in the school’s handbook, and will be shared with parents and students before the next school year begins.
Sidwell Friends has been called “the Harvard of Washington’s private schools,” and has educated the children of several politicians, including Chelsea Clinton, Tricia Nixon and Albert Gore III, plus the grandchildren of Vice President Joe Biden.
