PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — A series of sexual abuse scandals is forcing a reckoning at some of New England's most exclusive boarding schools and sending a shudder through similar institutions around the country that have long been training grounds for members of America's elite.
At St. George's School in Rhode Island, scores of alumni have come forward to complain of being sexually violated by teachers or schoolmates. At St. Paul's in New Hampshire, a rape trial revealed a tradition in which senior boys competed to have sex with younger girls. And at New Hampshire's Phillips Exeter Academy, several graduates have accused faculty members of sexual abuse and other inappropriate behavior.
Vanderbilt, the name synonymous with spectacular American saga, is once again the source of spectacle. A book, "The Rainbow Comes and Goes," and its companion HBO documentary "Nothing Left Unsaid" serve as manor-sized windows, granting those interested a voyeuristic glimpse into the lives of Gloria Vanderbilt and her son, Anderson Cooper.
