Old Teacher Charged with Rape After School Investigation

Apr 24, 2026, 02:09

Introduction

Matthew Rutledge is 64 years old. He was a history teacher at Miss Hall''s School. On April 16, 2025, a court charged him with three counts of rape. Two former students, Hilary Simon and Melissa Fares, said he hurt them. At first, the district attorney did not want to charge him.

Main Body

Rutledge said he was not guilty in court. He can stay out of jail but must not talk to the women. The bad things happened between 2000 and 2010. The women said Rutledge started to be too friendly when they were 14 or 15 years old. The abuse started after they turned 16. Simon said the abuse continued for years after she left the school. In 2024, the district attorney said no to charges. The law says sex with a person 16 or older is okay. The women wanted to change the law. The school paid a law firm to investigate. The firm wrote a 60-page report. It said Rutledge abused at least five students over 20 years. It also said school leaders did not stop him. The report talked about other bad workers too. After the report, the district attorney gave the case to new lawyers and police. A grand jury then decided to charge Rutledge. The women spoke about their pain. Fares said the school knew about Rutledge and helped the abuse. Simon said she waited 20 years for a call from another survivor. The school said the court date was an important and painful moment. It said it was sorry for the harm. The district attorney said the new report helped them charge Rutledge.

Conclusion

Rutledge must go to court again on June 18, 2025. This case changed because of the school''s investigation and new legal work.

Vocabulary Learning

charged
Officially said someone did something wrong or illegal.正式指控某人做了錯事或違法的事。
Example:The police charged the man with stealing a car.
guilty
Having done something wrong or illegal.做了錯事或違法的事。
Example:The judge said the man was guilty of the crime.
hurt
To cause pain or make someone suffer.造成痛苦或讓某人受苦。
Example:Please do not hurt the little dog.
investigate
To look carefully to find facts or truth.仔細調查以找出事實或真相。
Example:The police will investigate the accident.
report
A written or spoken account of facts or events.關於事實或事件的書面或口頭報告。
Example:She wrote a report about the school trip.

Sentence Learning

Matthew Rutledge is 64 years old.
This sentence uses the verb 'is' to describe a person's age.本句使用動詞 'is' 來描述一個人的年齡。
He was a history teacher at Miss Hall's School.
This sentence uses 'was' to talk about a past job.本句使用 'was' 來談論過去的工作。
On April 16, 2025, a court charged him with three counts of rape.
This sentence uses 'charged him with' to say the court officially accused him of a crime.本句使用 'charged him with' 來表示法院正式指控他犯罪。
Rutledge said he was not guilty in court.
This sentence uses 'said' to report what someone spoke, and 'was not guilty' to mean he claimed he did not do the crime.本句使用 'said' 來報告某人所說的話，並使用 'was not guilty' 來表示他聲稱自己沒有犯罪。
The abuse started after they turned 16.
This sentence uses 'after' to show the time order of events, and 'turned 16' to mean they became 16 years old.本句使用 'after' 來顯示事件的時間順序，並使用 'turned 16' 來表示他們年滿16歲。