A former pupil of the elite Choate Rosemary Hall boarding school has described the abuse she suffered at the hands of two teachers and how she helped expose it.
Cheyenne Montgomery began attending the Wallingford, Connecticut, school in 1989 as a then-15-year-old on a full scholarship.
Montgomery, sexually abused as a child by a family member, told PEOPLE she jumped on the chance to escape Randolph, Vermont, where she’d grown up in a ‘shack house’ with a dirt floor and no indoor bathroom.
Cheyenne Montgomery, a former pupil of the elite Choate Rosemary Hall boarding school (pictured, left, in 1990, and right, in 2017), has described the abuse she suffered at the hands of two teachers and how she helped expose it
Montgomery (pictured, left, unknown year) began attending the Wallingford, Connecticut, school in 1989 as a then-15-year-old on a full scholarship
Unable to afford many of the trips and excursions of her wealthier, affluent classmates, Montgomery (pictured, unknown date) stayed behind and buried herself into her books, feeling isolated and insecure
She soon confessed the isolation to her live-in dorm adviser, Angus Mair, then-27 years old and married. Their close bond soon became sexual (Pictured, Choate Rosemary Hall)
The school had educated the likes of John F Kennedy, Ivanka Trump, Michael Douglas, and Glenn Close.
Unable to afford many of the trips and excursions of her wealthier, affluent classmates, Montgomery stayed behind and buried herself into her books, feeling isolated and insecure.
She soon confessed the isolation to her live-in dorm adviser, Angus Mair, then-27 years old and married. Their close bond soon became sexual.
‘Kids get crushes on their teachers,’ Montgomery, now 43, told PEOPLE. ‘It was a horrible thing to do to a young person.’
In her senior year, Montgomery ended the relationship after Mairs moved away. Although, he told her not to tell anyone, she revealed what happened to her then-43-year-old dorm adviser and French teacher Björn Runquist, who was also married.
In a similar pattern, he too began sharing secrets with Montgomery and took advantage of her to begin a hidden sexual relationship.
‘A month before I graduated,’ Montgomery said, she and Runquist ‘did have sex in an empty classroom.’
The school educated very affluent students from the likes of John F Kennedy (left), Ivanka Trump (right), Michael Douglas and Glenn Close. This led to feelings of isolation for Montgomery
In her senior year, Montgomery (pictured, left, unknown year) ended the relationship after Mairs moved away. Although, he told her not to tell anyone, she revealed what happened to her 43-year-old dorm adviser and French teacher Björn Runquist, who was also married and they began a hidden sexual relationship
The school’s headmaster caught wind of the relationship after a teacher spotted the two together after Montgomery graduated.
Runquist admitted to ‘an emotional attachment’ but not a physical relationship, she said.
‘I shaved my head because I didn’t want to appear attractive. I became really paranoid I was going to die.” Montgomery said, who attended Reed College in Portland, Oregon, earning a biology degree.
After The Boston Globe published a series about sexual abuse at prep schools, Montgomery shared her own abuse on Choate alumni group’s Facebook page.
‘My classmates really rallied,’ she said.
In 2016, Montgomery (pictured, right, with wife April) shared her own abuse on Choate’s alumni group’s Facebook page after The Boston Globe published a series about sexual abuse at prep schools
Montgomery (pictured, right, with wife April) is currently writing a book based on her experiences. ‘If we keep secrets, it happens again and again and again,’ she said
The school launched an internal investigation in 2016. Released in April 2017, the report described abuse, stalking and, in one instance, a rape – tied to at least 12 named teachers at the school from 1963 to 2010 and involving 24 students
The school launched an internal investigation in 2016. Released in April 2017, the report described abuse, stalking and, in one instance, a rape – tied to at least 12 named teachers at the school from 1963 to 2010 and involving 24 students
Both Mairs and Runquist were cited by investigators as adults who engaged in sexual misconduct. Runquist and Mairs both denied a sexual relationship with Montgomery.
Today, Montgomery is a high school biology teacher in Portland where she lives with wife Amy, 44, and three kids from a previous marriage, son Sayer, 18, and 15-year-old twins Guthrie and Simone. She is currently writing a book based on her experiences.
‘If we keep secrets, it happens again and again and again,’ she said.
‘There’s no reason for a teacher to make that mistake. It’s predator. Your job is to help them, not to lean on them for emotional support or to make them your friend.’