Tower Hill: 'No red flags' before child porn case

An internal investigation by the elite Tower Hill School found "no red flags of abusive conduct" before or after Christopher Wheeler, now convicted of dealing in child pornography, was hired to head the school a decade ago.

In a letter sent to parents and the school community Monday and posted on the school's website, school leaders summarized the findings of a six-month probe by Kroll Consulting, stressing that investigators found "no evidence" that the 55-year-old Wheeler "abused any student" at the $25,000-a-year institution on Wilmington's western edge.

Wheeler faces a mandatory 50 years in prison at his April 24 sentencing. Prosecutors said his computers had more than 2,000 images of child porn, many of boys engaging in sex with men, on a computer he kept in the music room at the school-owned mansion where he lived.

Wheeler's attorney said he plans to appeal Superior Court Judge Eric M. Davis' December verdict. "It's about what I expected,'' Wheeler attorney Thomas A. Foley said of the report.

Kroll investigators also concluded that no one affiliated with Tower Hill knew or "should have known that he was engaged in child pornography or any sexual misconduct," according to the letter from acting headmaster Harry Baejter, board chair Earl J. Ball III said.

Wheeler has not been charged with sexually abusing anyone, but in court documents made public in the child porn case, authorities wrote that Wheeler was suspected of raping a boy he adopted from Russia when he worked at a private school in Illinois in the early 2000s, and of sexually assaulting two boys whose family he befriended in the West Chester, Pa., area about three decades ago.

Wheeler, who took over Tower Hill in 2005, was hired after a search and vetting process that was "thorough, comprehensive and conscientiously executed," the letter said.

While the school found no red flags, one national advocate for abused children said Tower Hill should have been wary of Wheeler from the outset.

"Among people who deal with sexual abuse of kids on a regular basis, when they hear about a single man who adopts a kid from Russia, the alarm bells go off,'' said Grier Weeks, executive director of the Knoxville, Tennessee-based National Association to Protect Children.

"That might not be an appropriate reason not to hire anybody but the fact is that the real problem is that a predator's main weapon is camouflage. They are typically incredibly manipulative. They make a life's work of getting into positions, like headmaster, where they have access to children."

Cindy McElhinney, director of programs for Darkness to Light, a Charleston, South Carolina-based group whose mission is to end child sexual abuse, agreed that those who sexually abuse children or view images of abused children are masters at avoiding detection.

"The reality is that sex offender registries and background checks aren't foolproof,'' McElhinney said. "That's the reality."

Since Wheeler's arrest and ouster in October 2013, school officials have enhanced its child protection policies and procedures, the letter said. "This has been an exceedingly painful event in our school's history," the letter said. "We sincerely regret the fear and anguish this situation has caused our students, parents, faculty and staff, and our alumni."

In an interview Monday about the letter and Wheeler's tenure, Ball said officials were satisfied with Kroll's report, which was not shared with parents.

Asked why the adoption of a boy from Russia by a single man didn't raise concerns among Tower Hill officials or those on its search committee, Ball said, "We obviously did not see the adoption of a son from Russia as a red flag. He was quite open and understanding about it. I think they were impressed by his concern."

Ball added that officials, while disturbed that Wheeler kept child porn on his computer on school property, were "gratified that nobody was abused" at the school.

He noted that a new headmaster, Elizabeth "Bessie" Cromwell Speers, will start July 1. Speers most recently headed the The Ethel Walker School in Simsbury, Connecticut.

Founded in 1919 by du Pont family members, Tower's Hill's graduates include U.S. Sen. Chris Coons, former Gov. and U.S. Rep. Mike Castle, DuPont Co. chief executive Ellen Kullman and television personality Dr. Oz.

"It's an exciting time for the school," Ball said. "We're eager to build on that."

The child porn case against Wheeler stemmed from allegations by two brothers whose family Wheeler befriended when he attended Westtown Friends near West Chester in the late 1970s. Those men decided to confront their past after following the child sex abuse case of former Penn State University assistant coach Jerry Sandusky, according to an affidavit used to search Wheeler's Tower Hill-owned home, school office and his vehicles and private airplane.

In a letter to one of the Pennsylvania men who accused him of previous abuse, Wheeler wrote: "I did those things. I am the one responsible," according to court documents.

"I will not compound your pain by attempting to deny or in any way deflect responsibility for my actions 35 years ago," Wheeler wrote. "I'll wait to hear from you about further appropriate steps towards resolution and restitution."

Contact senior investigative reporter Cris Barrish at (302) 324-2785, cbarrish@delawareonline.com, on Facebook or Twitter @crisbarrish.