NH Teacher Charged As Part Of St. Paul’s School Sex Investigation

CONCORD, NH — A New Hampshire prep school teacher was arrested by the New Hampshire State Police after allegedly tampering with a witness as well as two conspiracy to commit perjury charges. David Pook, 47, of Warner, a teacher at the Derryfield School in Manchester and a former St. Paul’s School teacher was charged on Feb. 28, 2018, according to a press release from the New Hampshire Attorney General’s Office. Pook was charged after investigators began looking into the “senior salute” sexual assault allegations and initiated criminal investigations into activities at St. Paul’s School in Concord in 2017.

Editor's Note: This post was derived from info supplied by the New Hampshire Attorney General’s Office. It does not indicate a conviction. This link explains the name removal request process for New Hampshire’s Patch police reports.

The investigation by the NH AG's Office started after St. Paul’s School released an extensive report documenting accusations and other reports of inappropriate sexual contact between teachers and students as well as sexual assault allegations.

Pook – who taught at St. Paul’s School for eight years – reportedly “left under questionable circumstances in 2008,” according to Associated Attorney General Jane Young. A year later, he was hired to work at the Derryfield School, she noted.

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“The investigation focused on Mr. Pook’s relationship with a female student at St. Paul’s School while he was a teacher at the school,” Young alleged. “As part of the investigation, the female and Mr. Pook were called before a grand jury. Based on testimony and other evidence gathered, arrest warrants were issued charging Mr. Pook with witness tampering and conspiracy to commit perjury.”

The woman’s name is being held for 90 days “in order to protect the integrity of the ongoing investigation,” she noted. Pook will be arraigned in Merrimack County Superior Court on March 15.

The Derryfield School issued a statement on Feb. 28, 2018, stating that Pook was suspended immediately.

"Derryfield will continue to cooperate with the Attorney General’s investigation," the statement said. "The charges do not involve students of Derryfield School. We will continue to provide a caring and supportive environment for our students, alumni, parents, faculty and staff.”

Pook, according to posts online, came under fire back in 2014, for admitting during a discussion on Common Core at the New Hampshire Institute of Politics that he helped write the standards – specifically, English Language Arts – due to what he believed was his own white privilege.

"The reason why I helped write the standards, and the reason why I am here today, is that as a white male in society, I am given a lot of privilege that I didn't earn," stated in a talk that was posted on YouTube.com.

According to his bio on AchievetheCore.org, a Common Core advocacy site, Pook attended school at Penn, received a graduate degree from Indiana University, and his studies included the fields of cognitive science and art history leading to a Master's and PhD in philosophy. Before teaching at St. Paul’s, he worked at The Berkshire School and has received numerous teaching accolades, including a National Presidential Scholars Commendation.

NH DOJ image via Tony Schinella, Patch staff; St. Paul’s School image via Jim Cole/AP; David Pook image via YouTube.com.