Metro police are investigating three Montgomery Bell Academy students for allegedly raping an underage Harpeth Hall student last month. The elite all-boys institution, whose alumni include some of the city's most prominent attorneys and corporate executives as well as U.S. Sen. Bill Frist, is believed to have expelled the students earlier this week.
"An investigation is being undertaken by the Metro Police Department's Sex Crimes Unit," says police spokesman Don Aaron, who confirms that the investigation involves allegations of rape. "At this point it's unclear whether any charges will be placed."
Aaron says that the main subjects of the police inquiry are under the age of 18, but he adds that "there may be an adult involved in the periphery of the investigation." The allegations involving the adult are not of a sexual nature, he says.
Sergent Keith Elliott, who works in the Sex Crimes Unit and is one of the officers working on the case, says the police department is investigating whether a date rape drug was used. He declined to discuss other details about the case, including whether the drug was procured by the adult being investigated. He says the case is "nearly ready for the district attorney's office to review."
At least two of the boys under scrutiny have retained a pair of high-powered defense attorneys. John Hollins Sr., a senior partner at Hollins, Wagster & Yarbrough and himself an MBA alumnus, confirms that Pat McNally, an attorney with his firm, will be advising one of the boys, all of whom are believed to be minors. Defense attorney Roger May also confirms that he will be advising another one of the boys. Both attorneys declined to comment on the case.
Brad Gioia, Montgomery Bell Academy's headmaster, says that the all-boys school doesn't discuss disciplinary matters with anyone outside the school. "I have not announced anything to the school community," he says. "We have not made public internally or externally what the decision is.... The issue is still under discussion."
Ann Teaff, the head of school at the all-girls Harpeth Hall, declined to discuss the case. "I'm aware of the situation, but I have no comment on the matter out of respect for the privacy of all the individuals involved," she says.
Many allegations of rape can be difficult to prove, and this particular case may be no exception. That's because of what authorities say is the increasing presence nationwide of date rape drugs among young people, which may have been used in this case.
"The analogy that I use is that you're dead weight," Kelly Foley, the coordinator of intake at the Rape & Sexual Abuse Center, says of the drugs. "If somebody says move your arm, you're going to move your arm but not know that you are moving your arm."
In situations such as these, victims are often not able to remember, nor are they able to tell investigators what actually happened. That obviously puts the burden on authorities. "The drug only remains in your system for a maximum of 12 to 15 hours," Foley says. "That's why people use it."
And unfortunately, in this instance, the police department didn't immediately get wind of the allegations. "In this particular case we didn't get involved until some weeks after the alleged event took place," Aaron says. "We'll flesh out as much fact and detail as we can, prepare a report and, in this situation, submit it to the district attorney's office for review."
