Ex-Christ School student claims sexual abuse by Asheville teacher, bullying by students

Warning: This story contains descriptions of child sexual abuse.

Thomas "Tom" Hill said he was 13 years old the first time his math teacher touched him.

It was 1974 and Hill was an eighth-grader at the private, all-boys Christ School, a Christian preparatory boarding school in Arden. Hill said he and the teacher were driving to a store in Fletcher to get hiking boots, when his teacher reached over and grabbed the inside of his groin.

The second time it happened, about six months later, Hill said, it wasn't just an inappropriate touch, but a rape.

This time, Hill was on a school camping trip in Murphy. He said the group was staying at a cabin owned by one of his classmate's parents, who were not home at the time. Hill said his abuser was also the chaperone, his math teacher, William Crutchfield.

Hill said his classmates were downstairs in the cabin, drinking alcohol they found in the owners' liquor cabinet, and he didn't want to participate so he went upstairs to sleep. Hill said he remembers sharing a room with Crutchfield that night. He said there were two double beds, and Crutchfield was already in bed by the time Hill came upstairs. Hill said he remembers Crutchfield crawled into his bed and raped him. Hill was 14 years old.

Now age 63 and living in Florida, Hill said he is speaking out publicly for the first time about what happened to him as a child. He contacted the Citizen Times after reading about similar allegations against faculty at Asheville School, another private, expensive prep school in Asheville.

Hill said his hope is that other boys who attended Christ School during the time Crutchfield worked there ― and might have also experienced abuse ― will know they are not alone and will feel empowered to reveal their own experiences with Crutchfield, who has since died.

Revealing alleged abuse 50 years later

Crutchfield held several positions at Christ School during the 1970s ― he was the dean of faculty, a math and geography teacher and was an adviser to the outing club — meaning he went on many camping trips alone with the students, according to yearbook photos Hill sent to the Citizen Times and past ACT reporting.

Hill, who now lives in Florida and works in real estate, came to terms with the trauma later in life but said it really came into focus for him when he was alone during the COVID pandemic shutdowns starting in 2020.

"You start to look back and reflect about your life and all the speed bumps that you had along the way, and you try to analyze, you know, why did you take that route? What made you do that? It traces back to the childhood trauma that happened to me," Hill told the Citizen Times.

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Hill said he struggles with obsessive compulsive disorder, anxiety, addiction and depression since attending Christ School. He drank alcohol excessively to help him cope with what he said happened to him when he was a boy.

He has been married and divorced two times, struggling to trust someone and build a life with another person, because of his experience at Christ School, he said.

"That's why it's important for me to share this now," Hill said. "I wasted basically 50 years of my life."

Jim Hopper, a clinical psychologist ― who has not treated Hill ― and teaching associate at Harvard Medical School, is an expert in the field who has studied trauma and sexual assault for more than 30 years.

“Sometimes people revisit their old trauma when they find themselves finally having a safe situation and safe relationships and where their work and living situation is safe. It allows them to start looking back at their past and some painful things that they used to rather not think about. But now they have the safety to go back and look at them because they have the support,” Hopper told the Citizen Times earlier in October.

Hopper said that being sexually abused as a male has many additional layers because of the stigma of how men are supposed to be in society, and the fear of not being a "real man."

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"Because of how masculinity and sexuality are constructed in our culture, that makes it very hard for men to think about these things within themselves, let alone go seek help from others, because there's all the shame and stigma associated with it," he said.

According to his death certificate, Crutchfield died by suicide in 1988 in a car in the woods on the Christ School property. He was 56. The document cited carbon monoxide poisoning as the immediate cause of death but listed depression as a factor.

Hill said he reached out a couple of years ago to Crutchfield's wife, who still lives in the area. He said he asked her about her husband's suicide and also disclosed to her that he was sexually abused by Crutchfield. The Citizen Times reached out to Crutchfield's wife, but she declined to comment.

Law enforcement, school response to allegations

In 2011, Hill filed a police report with the Buncombe County Sheriff's Office about the Christ School incidents. The report cited "indecent liberties with a child."

Sean Jenkins, who has been the head of Christ School since July 2021, told the Citizen Times in an Oct. 25 email that Crutchfield was not an employee of Christ School at the time of his death, and he did not live on campus.

"In 2011 and again in 2022, Thomas Hill contacted Christ School with allegations that he was abused by William Crutchfield when he was a student in the 1970s. Upon learning of the allegations in 2011, Christ School opened an investigation and self-reported the allegations to the Buncombe County Sheriff’s Office. The Sherriff’s Office did not take any action related to the allegations because Mr. Crutchfield died in 1988. In addition, Christ School’s investigation found no information to support Mr. Hill’s allegations," Jenkins told the Citizen Times via email.

He added that "Christ School has training and policies in place to help ensure the safety and well-being of its students."

Hill said he wasn't aware that Christ School opened an investigation or that they filed a report with the sheriff's office.

'He would start with the young ones'

Hill filed a more detailed report in November 2022 in South Carolina with the Charleston County Sheriff's Office, where Hill said Crutchfield assaulted him a third and final time, during the 1975-76 school year.

Hill was 15 years old. He was working on an “interim project," which was a long camping trip taken by students in upper grades, usually lasting from 10 days to two weeks. The boys at Christ School had the opportunity to pick a camping trip to attend — some boys went out of the country, but Hill stayed closer to home, and he said, so did Crutchfield.

While on his way to the trip in Capers Island, South Carolina, Hill got sick and stayed at a classmate’s parents' place for most of the time until he got better, he said.

He joined the group on the second to last day, but since it was later into the trip, all the other boys were bunked up, and the only open bunk was with Crutchfield.

That night, he said, Crutchfield was trying to force Hill to perform oral sex on him. Crutchfield was pushing Hill's head down near his penis, according to accounts from Hill.

He said he was saved when another teacher walked by and called out Crutchfield’s name. When Crutchfield heard the teacher, he let him go, and Hill turned around and curled up in a ball on the other side of the tent. Crutchfield didn’t try anything else the rest of the night, Hill said.

Hill got up early the next morning and sat by the water. He skipped breakfast.

The report, made by Deputy Serena Fae Smith with the Charleston County Sheriff's Office, stated that Hill was on a field trip to Capers Island when the assault happened, and the alleged abuser was Hill's math teacher.

Hill said he never told his parents, who lived in South Carolina, about any of the incidents of sexual abuse.

"Shame and embarrassment stopped me from telling them. I didn't want to say anything," he said.

Rita Sneider-Cotter, executive director of Our Voice, the nonprofit sexual assault crisis center in Asheville, told the Citizen Times Oct. 19 that a delay in reporting is common among sexual assault victims.

"A lot of people in our community are carrying the secret of childhood sexual abuse," Cotter said. "We know from national research that the average age of disclosure for childhood sexual abuse is 52 years old."

Hill remembers Crutchfield grooming his students, always starting with the younger boys first. Hill recalls Crutchfield being friendly with a lot of the first-year students, who were eighth-graders.

“He propositioned a lot of boys in my class, and he would start with the younger ones first,” Hill told the Citizen Times.

Claims of abuse by classmates

Sexual abuse wasn’t the only nightmare Hill said he faced at Christ School. He said he was also bullied by several classmates in the 1975-76 school year. He said the worst incident was when two other students set him on fire.

Hill reported this assault to the Buncombe County Sheriff's Office on Feb. 16, 2022.

Detective Ian Luther with the sheriff’s office spoke with two of Hill's former classmates, the two men Hill said witnessed him being set on fire. The two were roommates at Christ School, and they both denied knowing anything about Hill being lit on fire, according to the incident report.

The other two named in the report were the two boys Hill claimed set him on fire.

The boys involved were around 14-15 years old at the time of offense and are now in their 60s, according to the report.

“He was set on fire by the two males and was seriously injured to the point where he still suffers from scars, open lesions, and skin irritation at the age of 61 years old to this day,” the report said.

“Hill stated that one of them 'doused' him with a flammable liquid and the other lit him on fire. Hill stated that he fell to the ground and rolled around until the fire went out. Hill stated that he hid the injuries and never told anyone what happened.”

Hill told the Citizen Times he didn't want to get picked on more by telling anyone what had happened to him.

"I was embarrassed," he said.

Christ School was founded in 1900 as a mission of the Episcopal Church. According to its website, its mission is to "produce educated men of good character, prepared for both scholastic achievement in college and productive citizenship in adult society."

Its website says there are currently 290 students. Day school tuition is $33,000 a year, while tuition for boarding students starts at nearly $64,000 a year.

Hill described the culture of Christ School in the '70s as "toxic." He said he would get picked on for excelling in class, so he stopped trying, he said.

Hill said he witnessed teachers punch students and hit students with brooms and he said he once saw a teacher throw a student up against a wall.

The Citizen Times reached out to all the men named in the report. The only one who responded was a man who said that he remembered Hill, but said that the incident never happened. The Citizen Times is not naming any of the men since they have not been charged with a crime.

Detective Luther called Hill on Feb. 24, 2022, and asked why he waited to report this.

“Thomas stated he was in therapy, felt this injustice had been committed and seeking prosecution would help with his healing. Thomas stated there were other issues and childhood trauma from that school, resulting in him being diagnosed with depression and anxiety,” the report said.

Hill said that he still sees a dermatologist for the burns on the back of his head and uses medications to treat his ongoing injuries from what happened at Christ School.

“Those reports will show that the Sheriff's Office has spent a great deal of time investigating this matter. Both speaking with Mr. Hill and following up on the allegations he has made. The case was closed as there was not enough evidence to bring charges,” Buncombe County Sherriff’s office spokesperson Aaron Sarver told the Citizen Times in an Oct 10 email.

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Hill was at Christ School for three and a half years before he ran away at age 16. He recalls it taking five days before the school realized he was gone and called his parents. He returned with his father to get the rest of his things and said the person waiting there to see him go was Crutchfield.

With his dad by his side Hill recalls that moment in 1977, the last time he ever saw his alleged abuser. His dad never knew about the abuse. According to Jenkins, that was the same year Crutchfield left Christ School.

"It was three and a half years of hell," Hill said.

Allegations against Crutchfield at Asheville School

Hill isn't the first to make allegations against Crutchfield, according to previous Citizen Times reporting.

Crutchfield worked at Asheville School, a private boarding high school in West Asheville ― which was also an all-boys school until 1971 ― before he moved to Christ School in Arden.

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Walter Triplette, who was a student at Asheville School between 1965-70, claimed he was sexually abused by Crutchfield, a math teacher, and by Richard P. Woodhouse, who was a Spanish teacher. Triplette filed a civil lawsuit against Asheville School in 2020 in Buncombe County Superior Court, the first of four sexual abuse lawsuits now pending against the school, according to previous Citizen Times reporting.

“Asheville School created a toxic school environment, and was wanton, reckless, officially tolerant and deliberately indifferent to the abuse of Triplette by Woodhouse and Crutchfield,” according to Triplette's lawsuit.

These cases were brought under the "lookback" clause in the N.C. SAFE Child Act, legislation that allowed adult victims of child abuse, who were otherwise age-barred due to the statute of limitations, a two-year window to file civil lawsuits against their abusers. The window was open during 2020 and 2021. Now, adults can only file lawsuits for childhood sexual abuse until age 28.

Rachel Howald, a survivor of child sexual abuse at the hands of a teacher and coach at Ben Lippen, another Christian-based high school formerly located in Asheville, recently won more than $1 million in compensatory and punitive damages in a civil case against that staffer in what might be the first case successfully brought under the lookback window clause of the SAFE Child Act, according to legal experts.

More: Adult victim wins $1M against child sex abuser, coach at former Asheville Christian school

Howald, now 52 and living in the New York City area, sued Pamela K. Herrington in January 2021 for sexually abusing her in the 1980s while Howald was 16 and 17 years old. Howald also sued the Ben Lippen School for allowing Herrington multiple opportunities to victimize her. Ben Lippen, now based in South Carolina, settled with Howald in June 2022 under sealed terms.

Herrington now lives in Lufkin, Texas, where she worked as a teacher for the Lufkin Independent School District. She has never faced criminal charges. But after being alerted by the Citizen Times in September of Herrington's abuse, the Lufkin Independent School District banned Herrington from all campuses and events involving students, according to the Lufkin Daily News.

The Asheville School responded to its lawsuits saying the SAFE Child Act is unconstitutional. Those cases are now pending the outcome of McKinney v. Gaston County Board of Education, a sexual abuse case filed under the SAFE Child Act.

In September, a North Carolina Appeals Court ruled in the McKinney case that a section of SAFE Child that opened a two-year “lookback window” to sue for monetary damages is indeed constitutional. The Gaston school board filed an appeal Oct. 2 to the N.C. Supreme Court, which will likely hear the case, according to lawyers in the Asheville School and Gaston County lawsuits.

Asheville School is also under criminal investigation by the N.C. SBI for multiple allegations of sexual assaults of students by other students. Attorney General Josh Stein ordered the investigation in July 2021. SBI spokesperson Angie Grube said as of Nov. 6 the case is still open.

Child sexual abuse a national crisis

Sexual assault of children is a rampant public health problem in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which estimates 1 in 4 girls and 1 in 13 boys experience child sexual abuse at some point in childhood.

The Justice Department estimates that 86% of child sexual abuse cases are never reported. And those who do report often suffer from “delayed disclosure.”

A public health study cited by CHILD USA found that the average age of women and men who reported childhood sexual abuse was 52, and that up to 69% of adults who were sexually abused during childhood never told anyone about it when it was happening.

The study also stated that males are more reluctant to disclose abuse and will take longer to report.

"Credible accounts of child sexual abuse are constantly questioned because of a failure to understand that delayed disclosure is common for survivors," the study said.

The CDC estimates the economic toll of child sexual abuse is at least $9.3 billion due to a lifetime of medical expenses and lost income.

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Before the N.C. SAFE Child Act was passed in 2019, child abuse victims only had until age 21 to file lawsuits against individuals or institutions. During the lookback time period, according to legal experts, hundreds – if not thousands – of lawsuits were filed across North Carolina against individuals, including teachers, clergy and scout leaders, as well as schools, camps, churches and institutions like Boy Scouts of America.

Hill missed this short window of opportunity to sue Christ School for damages, according to legal experts.

"I don't understand why they did that, because a lot of people didn't know about it," Hill said of the law.

He said he was frustrated and upset that North Carolina only opened up the lookback window for such a short time. Hill said he hopes that by sharing his story, the school will take responsibility for what happened to him.

Hill said he is in the process of healing from what happened to him as a child and has started raising funds to place ads seeking other Christ School students who may have suffered similarly. He said he is sharing his story with the hope of helping others to heal as well.

Need help?

If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted and needs help or resources, contact:

Our Voice: (For ages 13 and older) 828-255-7576, www.ourvoicenc.org.

Mountain Child Advocacy Center: (For ages 17 and younger), 828-213-9824, https://mtncac.org.

RAINN: (Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network) 800-656-4673, www.rainn.org.

Family Justice Center: 35 Woodfin St., Asheville. 828-250-6900, buncombecounty.org.

Executive Editor Karen Chávez contributed to this report. Email KChavez@citizentimes.com.

McKenna Leavens is the education reporter for the Asheville Citizen Times, part of the USA Today Network. Please support this type of journalism with a subscription to the Citizen Times.

This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: Asheville Christ School former student claims faculty sexual abuse