A former teacher at a New Hampshire prep school has been arrested amid an ongoing investigation into sexual misconduct at the school, according to the attorney general's office and state police.
David Pook, 47, of Warner, is facing two counts of witness tampering and two counts of conspiracy to commit perjury.
The AG said Pook's arrest came as the result of a 2017 report concerning sexual assaults by St. Paul’s teachers on their students, among other inappropriate behavior, including student sexual conquest rituals such as the "senior salute," a practice which led to the arrest and conviction of Owen Labrie in 2015.
Authorities said Pook taught at the Concord prep school for eight years but left under "questionable circumstances" in 2008. He has been employed at the Derryfield School in Manchester since 2009.
According to the AG, the investigation focused on Pook’s relationship with a female student at St. Paul’s School while he was a teacher there.
As part of the investigation, that former student and Pook were called before a grand jury. Based on testimony and other evidence, authorities were able to bring charges against Pook.
He is scheduled to be arraigned on the charges in the Merrimack County Superior Court on March 15.
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Officials at Derryfield School said they immediately suspended Pook, and that it will cooperate with the investigation.
St. Paul officials also released a statement on Wednesday.
"The school leadership at the time should never have given Mr. Pook a recommendation and the fact that it did not inform Derryfield of Mr. Pook's boundary issues was a failure for which we apologize," Michael Hirschfeld, the current rector of St. Paul's School, said.
