Concord
The attorney, J.W. Carney, suggested in a bench conference with Judge Larry Smukler that Labrie’s roommate, Andrew Thomson, was engaging in similarly illicit relations with a 15-year-old girl, and that the school handled it internally.
“The girl’s mother checked (Thomson’s) emails and Facebook, and believed that this witness had had sex with the girl,” Carney said, according to the transcript. “She wanted there to be an investigation by the Concord Police. Ultimately the matter was resolved whereby if this witness agreed to stay away from the campus for three years while the first-year student completed her studies, that would be the (impetus).”
Thomson is the son of Lucy Hodder, Gov. Maggie Hassan’s former legal counsel and a member of the St. Paul’s Board of Trustees. Carney went on to imply that Thomson was essentially given a pass because of Hodder’s connections.
While Labrie’s trial focused on a specific encounter on May 30, 2014, it also centered on a then-growing tradition among seniors at the school, in which they competed for dates with underclassmen, sometimes to include sex. The school knew of the practice, called the senior salute, as early as 2013.
The development comes at a potentially important moment for St. Paul’s. Lawyers for the family of Labrie’s victim have been weighing a lawsuit since the trial ended in August, and have said that they ultimately want new reforms put in place at the school to ensure the future safety of minors.
Steve Silverman, one of the attorneys for the family, said on Tuesday that the claims against Thomson are “additional evidence of an irresponsible administration.”
Smukler ultimately barred Carney’s line of questioning from trial, agreeing with prosecutors that it lacked relevance.
On Tuesday, Thomson’s lawyer, Jim Rosenberg, called the accusations “unfounded.”
“Andrew did not engage in any inappropriate sexual conduct during his time at (St. Paul’s School) and there is no allegation that he did,” Rosenberg wrote in an email, adding that Carney’s remarks seemed to be entirely tactical.
Neither Thomson nor Hodder responded directly when asked to comment. St. Paul’s issued a brief written statement, denying that it ever made an agreement with Thomson “for him to stay off campus for three years.”
Merrimack County Attorney Scott Murray said police and prosecutors in Concord “thoroughly investigated the case” and “were presented with no evidence which would have supported sexual assault allegations against other individuals.”
Thomson, now a sophomore at Brown University, testified that Labrie boasted to him about his encounter with the 15-year-old girl at the center of the trial last summer (she was not the same girl with which Thomson purportedly had a relationship). The legal age of consent in New Hampshire is 16.
According to the transcript, Carney on cross-examination began to question Thomson about the freshman with whom he had been exchanging online messages. But Assistant County Attorney Joe Cherniske objected, and asked for both sides to approach the bench.
“I don’t know why this witness’s engaging with girls on campus has anything to do with why we’re here,” Cherniske said.
“Your Honor,” Carney replied, “it’s being offered to show them potential bias and prejudice of the witness in the favor of the Concord police.”
Carney explained that Thomson had agreed to cooperate with police early on, and would have had incentive because his alleged conduct “would have been the same crime that (Labrie) here is charged with.”
“He knew he was in the same situation,” Carney said, “and he knew that the mother of the alleged girl had wanted to begin an investigation because of this.”
Labrie, now 20, was convicted of statutory rape, endangering the welfare of a child and using a computer to lure a victim, a felony. He has appealed the convictions and separately petitioned for a new trial, claiming ineffective counsel.