Poly Prep Country Day, an elite prep school in Brooklyn, offered its “deepest apologies” for the “horrible misconduct” of a former football coach accused of sex abuse in a mass email sent to students, faculty, and alumni on Friday.
First reported by The Wall Street Journal, the letter is written by headmaster David B. Harman and board chairman Scott M. Smith.
The coach, Philip Foglietta, was accused of groping boys between 1966 and 1991. The school forced his retirement, but they never publicly disclosed the reason for his retirement. Foglietta died in 1998, and school settled a lawsuit regarding the abuse allegations in 2012.
“The school should have investigated Foglietta’s actions more thoroughly, sought to identify his victims, and immediately reported the results to the appropriate authorities,” the letter reads.
The letter also details the steps the school has taken since 2012 to prevent abuse, including setting up a reporting hotline, a survey to all graduating seniors to uncover incidents of abuse, and the presence of a clinical psychologist on staff.
