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A former private school teacher, who was nicknamed “Mr. Wonderful,” has been charged with three counts of rape involving two of his former students.
Matthew Rutledge, 64, walked into Berkshire Superior Court in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, on Wednesday for his arraignment after Melissa Fares, 33, and Hilary Simon, 39, accused their teacher of abusing them when they were students at Miss Hall’s School. The abuse allegedly happened between 2000 and 2010. He pleaded not guilty.
The allegations include claims Rutledge groomed and repeatedly abused students, according to statements released by the Berkshire District Attorney’s Office.
“For a long time, I was living inside trauma without fully understanding it,” Fares said in a statement shared by the Berkshire District Attorney’s Office. “It was over the last several years that I began piecing together the truth of what happened to me: that Matt Rutledge had used me, abused me, and raped me. That I had been groomed and threatened into silence by a serial predator. That my youth wasn’t my youth at all.”
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Matthew Rutledge (pictured) was arraigned on Wednesday at Berkshire Superior Court in Pittsfield, Massachusetts. (ABC Affiliate WCVB/Handout via Reuters)
Simon said she was 15 years old when Rutledge first began “grooming” her, and that the abuse “continued for years” after she left campus.
“I fought this privately for 20 years,” her statement read. “I have been fighting it publicly for two. Before any of this, I was just a normal person. A lawyer. A wife and a mother. A woman trying to build a life on top of something I had buried. And then Melissa Fares called. I did not know Melissa. I picked up the phone, and I told her I had been waiting for that call for 20 years.”
According to NBC, citing a report prepared for Miss Hall’s School, Rutledge allegedly called out “Make way for Mr. Wonderful” as he moved through the hallways.
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Miss Hall’s School, an independent college preparatory boarding and day school for girls in grades 9 through 12, is located in Massachusetts. (Google Maps)
Fares and Simon said they discovered in 2024 that they had similar accounts of Rutledge’s alleged abuse and decided to pursue charges together.
Despite their allegations, the district attorney’s office at the time declined to move forward with the case, citing Massachusetts’ age of consent law at the time, which allowed for an adult to have sex with a person over the age of 16, according to the women.
The two women then pushed for legislation to close what they called a “legal loophole” and make it illegal for a teacher to have sex with a student.
Rutledge is now charged under separate rape statutes. Prosecutors have not publicly detailed what led to the decision to charge Rutledge.
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Two of Rutledge’s students attempted to press charges in 2024, but the Massachusetts age of consent law prevented the district attorney from proceeding with the case, the women said. (Getty Images)
Rutledge was indicted by the District Attorney’s office last month.
Speaking at a press conference following the arraignment, Fares claimed to reporters that Miss Hall’s School was aware of Rutledge’s alleged behavior.
“Miss Hall’s School knew,” she said. “This whole school knew. They enabled a culture of abuse for decades. They failed us, our families and every girl trusted them to protect her. They must also be held accountable.”
Miss Hall’s School said in a statement shared with Digital that it is cooperating with authorities and acknowledged the impact on its community.
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“Wednesday’s arraignment was an important and painful moment for our community,” the school said. “We will continue to cooperate fully with authorities. We are sorry for the harm that survivors have experienced and the impact on our community.”
A pre-trial hearing is scheduled for June 18, according to WCVB.
Digital’s Sarah Rumpf-Whitten contributed to this report.
