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Additional claims of inappropriate touching from 70s surface at Carolina Friends School

The principal of Carolina Friends School in Durham says the school has received additional reports of abuse from students who say they were inappropriately touched by an administrator in the 1970s.

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Carolina Friends School
DURHAM, N.C. — The head of a Quaker school in Durham says he has received additional reports of abuse from students who say a school administrator inappropriately touched them nearly 40 years ago.

Carolina Friends School Principal Mike Hanas said Wednesday that he's shared those claims with local authorities, but he declined to comment on how many new cases there were. He deferred any public statements until detectives conclude their investigation.

Last month Hanas said five former students interviewed during an independent review revealed that the man who had been the school's principal between 1969 and 1975 inappropriately touched them.

One student also reported inappropriate touching involving a teacher in 1976. That teacher committed suicide last month after the school contacted him about the allegation.

Although authorities are investigating all the claims, an Orange County prosecutor said last month that charges are unlikely since the nature of the allegations was considered a misdemeanor at the time they occurred. The statute of limitations on such crimes is two years.

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