When a male teen allegedly rebuffed the advances of a female counselor and swim coach at Malvern Preparatory School, she tried luring him with the possibility of Harvard admission, authorities said.
On Wednesday, Aug. 19, Chester County District Attorney Tom Hogan announced the arrest of Emily Feeney, 40, of Wayne. Feeney faces charges that include institutional sexual assault, unlawful contact with a minor, and corruption of minors.
“As the director of college counseling and a coach, the defendant was entrusted with extraordinary access to and control over Malvern Prep students,” said Hogan in the release. “She betrayed that trust by trying to seduce a student, even when he asked her to stop. The fact that this was a female adult corrupting a male juvenile does not change the criminality of the conduct.”
Hogan said officials at Malvern Prep, which has cooperated fully with investigators, terminated Feeney, who had worked at the private high school for boys for two years. Previously, she worked at Princeton University, the release said.
According to the criminal complaint, the Chester County Detective Child Abuse Unit received a report on May 13 from the Chester County Department of Children, Youth and Families, stating that a male student had been receiving “highly sexualized” text messages and emails from Feeney, his swim coach and guidance counselor.
The victim told investigators that he had received inappropriate email and texts, one of which included a topless photo of Feeney and expressions of her devotion to him, such as “I adore you – always have, always will,” the complaint said.
When detectives executed a search warrant on Feeney’s computer, they discovered hundreds of emails between Feeney and the boy, many of which were sexually suggestive. Feeney sent the emails to the victim’s personal email account from her Malvern Prep email account, the complaint said.
Examining the communication, detectives found that the teen repeatedly asked Feeney to stop the communication. In one message, he said: ““I’m not interested in you end of story I’m 16 I’m not into you,” the complaint said.
But Feeney persisted, threatening to call the boy to her office if he ignored her and suggesting that she could use her connections to get him into Harvard University. Feeney even forwarded communication she received from Harvard officials in response to her recommendation of the boy, an email that called the boy “a likely letter candidate” and urged him to contact Harvard after Sept. 1 so that “he’d be on the top of our list,” the complaint said.
Feeney subsequently told the boy: “You owe me big time. And no high fives,” the complaint said. She also urged him not to shut her out. “It’s too painful,” the complaint quoted her as saying.
Malvern Prep's website says Feeney, who was hired in April 2013 to assist with the college counseling process, had experience in college admissions at institutions such as Princeton, Barnard and Columbia Business School. It said Feeney had already made structural changes to the college process by providing an “Essay Boot Camp” for Malvern Prep's juniors, ensuring that all college essays are reviewed, and by developing a college counseling curriculum.
According to court records, Feeney was arraigned on Wednesday, Aug. 19, and released on $75,000 unsecured bail. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for Wednesday, Sept. 2.
“As schools prepare for the start of classes, this serves as an important reminder that certain safeguards should be in place to protect students,” Hogan said in the release. “Schools should have policies to limit communication between teachers, coaches, and students to official school matters on school accounts that can be monitored. “
Hogan said no contact should occur between teachers or coaches and students on private email accounts or social media. “We have repeatedly seen cases where inappropriate communication between teachers/coaches and students have evolved into sexual assaults,” he said.
Feeney's case was investigated by the Chester County District Attorney’s Child Abuse Unit and the Malvern Police Department, and will be prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Megan King. Anyone with further information should contact Chester County Detective Jerry Davis at 610-344-6866, the release said.
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