Londonderry High Teacher Arrested Over Sending Nude Photos to Student
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According to the affidavit, school officials were made aware of the photographs circulating among students shortly before noon on March 3, the first day back after winter vacation and the February wind storm, when several students reported the incident to School Resource Officer Adam Lane and Assistant Principal Greg Warren.
Later that day, Lane met with Assistant Principal Katie Sullivan and the unnamed student who'd received the photos.
"It came to the attention of our assistant principals and they took immediate action," Hart said last week, noting the local police were immediately notified.
The student alleged his relationship with Dennehy began approximately two months earlier and said she'd sent him a total of four nude photographs of herself to his Hotmail e-mail account, which he then shared with two of his friends.
The student told officials that Dennehy had kissed him on two occasions in a Londonderry High classroom, and that he had received many text messages from her, many of which contained sexual innuendos. In one such message, she reportedly offered to perform a sexual act on the student. The e-mails were sent from the account jdenneh@aol.com.
Last Friday afternoon, Hart and Londonderry School District Superintendent Nathan Greenberg held a press conference to answer questions pertaining to the incident.
"Due to this being a personnel matter, needless to say, we will continue to conduct our own investigation," Greenberg said.
He added that Dennehy has been placed on paid administrative leave of absence March 3, shortly after school officials were made aware of the charges. A private school board meeting held Tuesday evening, March 2, was not related to the incident, Greenberg noted.
"When allegations like this are made, we conduct our own thorough investigation," Greenberg said. "If there appears to be enough information to warrant disciplinary action, we hold an initial hearing."
Though the school board would have final say, Greenberg noted, "This could result in dismissal or non-renewal."
The Londonderry School District has a strict anti-fraternization policy concerning students and teachers, Greenberg said, and students wishing to contact their teachers outside normal classroom hours are asked to use their teachers' school e-mail addresses rather than using social networking sites, such as Facebook.
Hart said indecent exposure is considered a sexually oriented offense under state law and is a Class B felony punishable by a $4,000 fine and up to seven years in state prison.
According to Greenberg, Dennehy had worked in the district teaching sophomore-level English for the past three years. It was her first teaching job.
"We'd never had any complaints against this English teacher before," Greenberg said. "All of our staff members undergo extensive background and reference checks."
Dennehy's husband, John, is an attorney and is active at the Hampstead Congregational Church. The couple have two children.
On Monday, Hampstead Police Lieutenant John Frazier confirmed two police officers conducted a warranted search of Dennehy's Cambridge Road home on March 3, but declined to comment further on the nature or results of that search.
Anyone with further information on this case is encouraged to contact either Officer Adam Lane or Detective Kris Gore at 432-1118.
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Vote Saturday at Town Meeting for Town Budgetary Articles
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• Article 5, the Expendable Maintenance Trust Fund, $200,000, if passed would require town to raise $50,000 in property taxes, estimated tax impact of 1 cent in Fiscal Year (FY) 2011. Supported by the town council and budget committee.
• Article 7, Use Capital Reserve Funds to replace ambulances, highway heavy equipment, fire trucks and highway trucks, $325,000, if passed would require town to raise $175,000 in property taxes, estimated tax impact of 5 cents in FY11. Supported by the town council and budget committee.
• Article 8, Collective Bargaining Agreement between the town and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Association, $160,739, if passed would require the town to raise $104,980 in property taxes, estimated tax impact of 3 cents in FY11. Supported by the town council and budget committee.
• Article 9, Collective Bargaining Agreement between the town and the Londonderry Administrative Employees Association, $117,882, if passed would require the town to raise $117,882 in property taxes, estimated tax impact of 4 cents in FY11. Not supported by the town council or budget committee.
• Article 10, Collective Bargaining Agreement between the town and the Londonderry Executive Employees Association, $25,180, if passed would require town to raise $25,180, estimated tax impact of 1 cent in FY11. Not supported by the town council or budget committee.
• Article 11, Authorization of a special meeting if Article 7 is defeated, supported by the town council and budget committee.
• Article 12, Northwest fire station construction and associated costs, $163,456 (after town receiving $1.655 million ARRA grant), if passed would not require the town to raise property taxes in FY11. Supported by both the town council and the budget committee.
• Article 13, Establish Capital Reserve fund for Pillsbury Cemetery expansion, $210,000, if passed would not require raising property taxes in FY11. Supported by both the town council and the budget committee.
• Article 14, Fund special revenue account using sewer, cable and police outside detail fees, $3,504,311, would be funded via user fees and require no tax support. Supported by both the town council and budget committee.
• Article 15, Citizens' petition to place 20 percent of Land Use Change Tax funds into Conservation Fund (currently 100 percent), if passed would result in no tax increases, not supported by the town council or budget committee.
Results of the Tuesday, March 9, election can be found at www.nutpub.net and will be reported in the March 18 print edition.
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Bus Driver Faces Lawsuit, Criminal Charges for Conduct with Student
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In the civil suit, Merrill faces allegations stemming from alleged incidents that occurred from October 2008 through March 2009. The lawsuit was filed late last month in Rockingham County Superior Court in Brentwood.
According to court reports on the lawsuit, the student, a Londonderry resident who was then a 17-year-old minor, was attending The Brentwood School when he met Merrill, a bus driver employed by The Provider Enterprises of Fremont.
The Brentwood School serves high school students of average or above average intelligence with serious learning disabilities or emotional challenges, according to the school's Web site. Londonderry is among a dozen or so local school districts to refer students there.
Last month, the student, who is now 18 and lives in Londonderry with his parents, filed suit against both Merrill and the bus company, which is being charged with negligence.
The student alleged Merrill sent instant messages to him on his cell phone shortly after she took on his bus route. Soon afterward, Merrill allegedly drove the student and at least one of his friends to her Derry apartment, using a Provider bus, and served them both alcoholic beverages and gave them Klonopin pills, a strong prescription drug used to treat severe anxiety and epilepsy.
Asking the other minor to watch her two children, Merrill allegedly took the student into her bedroom, where they engaged in sexual intercourse. The victim alleged this took place on multiple occasions, at which times Merrill also supplied the young man with drugs including Xanax, Percocet, Vicodin and marijuana.
The victim was hospitalized in March 2009 after he cut his hand, struck out at family members and fractured his arm, an incident that led to inpatient treatment for drug addiction and emotional distress, which he reported had stemmed from his previous encounters with Merrill.
A court date has not yet been set. back to main news page
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