Calling the head of a private school in Thornbury Township “every parent’s nightmare,” Chester County District Attorney Tom Hogan announced the filing of charges against him that include corruption of minors and indecent assault.
On Tuesday, July 7, Hogan and the Westtown-East Goshen Police Department said George J. Symonds, 62, of Wilmington, De., was arrested for allegedly fostering an illicit relationship with a male teenage student at the Concept School.
Symonds served as the head of school – the equivalent of principal – and a teacher at the time of the offenses, Hogan said. Symonds was terminated by the Concept School, which is cooperating fully with law enforcement, Hogan said.
The investigation began on June 29 when the Westtown-East Goshen Police Department interviewed the victim, who said Symonds communicated with him almost daily through text messages, emails, and telephone calls when he was in eighth and ninth grade, ages 14 and 15, according to the criminal complaint. The time frame was May 2014 to February 2015, the complaint said.
Among the inappropriate activities detailed in the complaint Symonds told the victim he loved him, arranged to meet the victim in his office and in the bathroom to “hug” on numerous occasions, made lewd advances and remarks, and told the victim “not to fight the love.” He also told the victim to delete all electronic communications between the two, the complaint said.
Three weeks prior to his interview with detectives, the victim told Symonds that “he did not want to be involved with Symonds and that what he did was wrong,” the complaint said. Symonds apologized and told the victim not to tell anyone about their relationship because “he could go to jail,” the complaint said.
Symonds, who holds a bachelor’s degree in history from the University of Delaware and a master’s degree in religion from the Lancaster Theological Seminary, had been a teacher at the Concept School since 2004 and the head of school since 2012; before that, he taught at the Delaware County Community College and the Delaware Technical Community College, as well as schools in Massachusetts, according to the Concept School’s website.
“This defendant had access to other children, both here in Chester County and in other locations,” said Hogan in the release. “As always with a case like this, we are concerned that there may be other victims.”
Anyone with further information is asked to contact Westtown-East Goshen Detective Jason Large at 610-692-9600.
Symonds, who waived extradition, was arraigned on Friday, July 3. After posting 10 percent of $100,000 bail, he was released to await a preliminary hearing on Thursday, July 9, in West Goshen district court, court records said.
The Concept School, located at the intersection of Route 926 and Westtown Road, specializes in teaching middle and high school students “who have difficulty focusing in class, struggle with reading comprehension, find social interaction difficult, or for those who seek a small school environment,” according to its website.
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