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| President Barack Obama & teenage daughters |
In 2011, parent Arthur Newmyer sued The Sidwell Friends School and staff psychologist James Huntington for malpractice. The school allegedly allowed Huntington to have an “open sexual relationship” with Newmyer’s wife while he treated their 5-year-old daughter.
“Despite repeated objections from the husband (who is the child’s father) and from family members and parents of other students, Sidwell officials maliciously permitted the damaging conduct to continue for nearly a year,” the court documents, filed in May 2011, read. “Thereby depriving the student of educational benefits and causing severe emotional distress to her and, as a consequence, to her father.”
According to the documents, teacher Robert A. Peterson was fired for allegedly sexually abusing a minor in the middle of the 2009-2010 school year. Sidwell sent an email to parents encouraging them and the students to seek counseling from Huntington following the scandal.
Newmyer’s wife Tara contacted Huntington to treat her daughter, even though it wasn’t related to the sex abuse incident.
The day after Huntington’s first session with the 5-year-old, he met Tara for drinks to discuss her daughter’s evaluation. The two then began an “intimate, sexual affair” even though Huntington knew she was married.
Huntington and Tara would often schedule play dates for their daughters, even staying at a hotel twice.
“When checking into the hotel both times, they asked for adjoining rooms so that they could “fool around” while the children were asleep,” Newmyer claimed in court papers.
Huntington’s ex-wife informed Newmyer of the affair, and Terry admitted to it when her husband confronted her.
The staff member even emailed sexually explicit emails to Tara on the school’s server.
“Upon information and belief, Sidwell knew or should have known about these emails and still did nothing to stop Huntington’s relationship with Tara, or to appropriately discipline or terminate him,” the documents read. “Other school personnel also knew about the affair and it was being talked about in the Sidwell community.”
The school eventually fired Huntington in February 2011.
Newmyer sought to recover $10 million in “compensatory, punitive and special damages for the injuries suffered as a result of Defendants’ tortious conduct.”
However, the court threw out all the claims before it went to trial. But now, a new trial is set to begin, only with Huntington suing Newmyer for interfering with his ability to find work and for emotional distress.
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