Particle.news
Download on the App Store
7 ARTICLES
·
yesterday

Former Miss Hall’s Teacher Indicted on Three Rape Counts

The charges mark a reversal after prosecutors initially cited gaps in Massachusetts consent law that long shielded teacher–student abuse.

Miss Hall's School in Pittsfield, Mass.
Image
Image
Melissa Fares, at her home with history teacher Matthew Rutledge, whom she says groomed and sexually exploited her beginning in 2007, while she was a student at Miss Hall's School in Pittsfield.

Overview

  • Matthew Rutledge, a former Miss Hall’s School teacher, was indicted Tuesday by a Berkshire County grand jury on three counts of rape.
  • The case rests on grand jury testimony from former students Melissa Fares and Hilary Simon, with two counts tied to Fares and one to Simon.
  • Prosecutors say the alleged abuse occurred in 2001–2005 for Simon and 2007–2010 for Fares, and the court set an April 22 arraignment.
  • The DA first declined charges in 2024 because Massachusetts sets consent at 16 and lacks a specific crime for teacher–student sex, and lawmakers are now pushing a fix targeting abuse of authority.
  • The DA’s office says its probe continues into Rutledge and any other staff, a state police tip line is active, and a 2025 independent report found the school ignored repeated warnings and patterns of staff misconduct.