WAREHAM, MASS. (WHDH) - A staff member at a boarding school in Middleboro who was wanted for allegedly raping and sexually assaulting a teenager with an intellectual disability last month was ordered held without bail after he surrendered to authorities on Friday.
Phillip Houtman, 28, of New Bedford, was arraigned Friday in Wareham District Court on charges including two counts of indecent assault and battery on a person with an intellectual disability, rape, assault to rape, and open and gross lewdness.
Houtman is accused of carrying out the attack inside one of the Chamberlain International School’s private dorms on Sept. 29.
A warrant for his arrest was issued on Thursday.
In a recent letter sent to parents, the school wrote that there was “a serious allegation that a staff member engaged in inappropriate behavior with a student.”
The school serves students between the ages of 11-22 who have cognitive and developmental disorders and disabilities.
Houtman has since been removed from the school’s schedule and has been banned from stepping foot on campus, according to the letter.
The school told 7NEWS that Houtman started working there in May as an overnight staff member in the dorms.
School officials claim they will now “examine and make changes to school policies.”
The Massachusetts Department of Children and Families and the Department of Early Education are assisting Middleboro police with the investigation.
Houtman is due back in court on Oct. 16.
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