Two staff members at Mount St. Mary Academy in Little Rock were terminated for violating the conduct policies of the school, principal Diane Wolfe announced March 14. Prior to their termination, the two Mount St. Mary employees had been placed on administrative leave during police and school investigations.
“The termination action was taken by Mount St. Mary Academy upon learning of the findings of the investigation by the Little Rock Police Department,” Wolfe said.
A Little Rock Police Department incident report dated March 14 stated that a suspect employed at the school was accused of first-degree sexual assault for having a relationship with a former student. The former female student told her parents that she had been involved in a relationship with the suspect since 2010. The victim was a minor when the relationship began, according to the police report.
The suspect, later identified by Wolfe as “a member of the MSM faculty,” is one of the staff members terminated. A second staff member was terminated “for failure to adhere to state-mandated reporting requirements,” based on a statement to parents released by the school. The school informed the parents of its actions March 14.
“Mount St. Mary’s actions with regard to this situation were taken to protect the safety and security of our students, which is our foremost priority. In as much as this issue involves pending legal proceedings, and with respect to rights of individual privacy protected by law, Mount St. Mary will have no statements on the details of the allegations,” Wolfe said.
Mount St. Mary Academy was founded in 1851 and is sponsored by the Sisters of Mercy. The stated mission of this college-preparatory Catholic high school for girls is to build “a strong moral and intellectual foundation for our students in order to fully prepare them to meet the challenges of the future as women of wisdom, compassion and integrity.”
MSM responds to abuse allegation
