Howie Leung, a former teacher from Concord currently incarcerated in Massachusetts for sexually assaulting a student during a summer program, is set to face additional sexual assault charges in New Hampshire, as announced by Concord police and Merrimack County Attorney Paul Halvorsen on Thursday.
Prosecutors claim that Leung, a former special education teacher at Rundlett Middle School and Concord High from 2006 to 2019, repeatedly sexually assaulted a student in Concord, for which he has pleaded guilty to raping in Massachusetts.
According to court records, the incidents in Concord reportedly took place between 2014 and 2016, beginning when the girl was around 12 or 13 years old.
New charges have emerged in the ongoing Leung scandal, which significantly impacted the Concord School District following the teacher’s arrest in 2019. This situation resulted in the resignations of former superintendent Terri Forsten and principal Tom Sica.
An investigator found that the sexual relationship between Leung and the student, who has shared her experience publicly, started in Concord. However, the criminal case moved forward in Massachusetts due to stronger charges, as stated by Concord Deputy Chief John Thomas to the Monitor.
On Friday, both Thomas and Halvorsen, the Merrimack County Attorney, chose not to provide any comments. The public defender’s office for the state, representing Leung, has not replied to a request for comment.
Leung is serving a prison sentence of six to seven years in Gardner, Massachusetts, after pleading guilty to two counts of child rape last July. Incidents of sexual assault took place at the Fessenden School in Newton, Massachusetts, during a summer program where Leung was employed and the student acted as an unpaid assistant.
“He would take students from up here in Concord to go down there to assist with the program,” Concord police Lt. Sean Ford stated after Leung’s arraignment on the Massachusetts charges in 2019.
A 39-count indictment revealed on Thursday claims that Leung kissed a student and inappropriately touched her during the fall or winter of the 2014-15 school year, while she attended Rundlett. The majority of the allegations pertain to multiple instances of digital penetration and oral sex that occurred in the summer of 2015.
Leung faces charges for allegedly trying to persuade another student to provide false testimony during the investigation in late 2018 or 2019, as well as for removing files from his electronic devices.
Concord Superintendent Kathleen Murphy expressed appreciation for the ongoing investigation by the Concord Police Department and the Merrimack County Attorney’s Office, highlighting their commitment to pursuing justice regarding the serious misconduct of former teacher Howie Leung.
Murphy stated that the district has now implemented measures to prevent a recurrence of this issue.
Leung will appear in court to face the new charges on Oct. 7 at Merrimack County Superior Court.
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