CONCORD, NH. (AP) — A former prep school teacher in Pennsylvania who pleaded guilty to a sexual assault charge in 2015 involving a student is now facing charges that he sexually abused a camper years earlier when he worked as a counselor at a New Hampshire summer camp.
A lawyer entered not guilty pleas on Matthew Scavitto’s behalf Monday to two counts of aggravated felonious sexual assault in New Hampshire’s Carroll County Superior Court. The indictments allege the acts happened between 2001 to 2003 in Moultonborough.
“Matthew maintains his innocence,” his attorney, Jesse Friedman, said in an emailed statement Tuesday. “We have entered pleas of not guilty and intend to vigorously defend these allegations.”
Scavitto, 37, of West Chester, Pennsylvania, remains free on $100,000 bail and consented to return to New Hampshire to face the charges. In 2015, Scavitto, a former teacher and coach at The Phelps School in Pennsylvania, pleaded guilty to charges of institutional sexual assault and corruption of minors after two students at the school accused him of assault. He was sentenced to at least 11 months in prison, according to court records.
In the New Hampshire case, the alleged victim was only identified by his initials, but his lawyer recently identified him as the person who allegedly suffered the abuse at Camp Tecumseh in Moultonborough, a camp for boys age 8-16 that was founded in 1903.
The alleged victim, Will Addis, 31, of Nantucket, Massachusetts, filed a lawsuit against Camp Tecumseh in a New Hampshire court last year. He alleged that camp leadership and staff failed to protect him and others from Scavitto, saying he was assaulted by him “multiple times.” The case was settled in March and Addis withdrew his complaint.
The Associated Press does not typically name people who say they have been victims of sexual assault, unless they go public, as Addis has. He said he was assaulted from age 10 to 12 at the camp.
“What was done to me wasn’t right,” Addis said in an interview with the AP on Tuesday.
“I think when I came forward there was no debate about what happened to me,” he added. He said one reason he filed the lawsuit and went public was to encourage other possible victims to come forward.
The camp had released a statement when Scavitto was indicted last week saying it was “deeply sorry for the abuse our former camper experienced, and have had the opportunity to convey those sentiments directly. We have worked cooperatively with the Moultonborough Police Department since 2015, and we are deeply appreciative of law enforcement’s efforts to bring Scavitto to justice.”
The camp said it encouraged anyone with information about interactions with Scavitto to contact the police department or child protection professionals.
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