Teacher From Amherst First To Face ‘Howie Leung Loophole’ Law Charges

BRENTWOOD, NH — A teacher from Amherst, indicted in Rockingham County, is the first to face sexual assault charges due to changes to New Hampshire law to ensure teachers, psychologists, and others with authority do not have sex with students.

Bridgette Doucette-Howell of Amherst and Merrimack was indicted in March after a 10-month investigation into accusations she had sex with and kissed an 18-year-old male student in both Exeter and Kingston between April 26 and May 13, 2021, while she was an employee, contractor, or volunteer with a primary or secondary educational institution where the person was a student.

Doucette-Howell is being prosecuted via changes to the state's sexual assault and related offenses to eliminate the “Howie Leung loophole.”

The law was amended in 2020 in the wake of the Primo “Howie” Leung teacher-student rape and sexual assault case after students reported seeing him kissing an adult student on East Side Drive in Concord in December 2018. While it was frowned upon and would often cost teachers their jobs, it was not against the law for educators to have relationships with students 18 or older. After many months of wrangling and a push by both Republicans and domestic and sexual violence advocates, the statute was amended with the addition of the sentence: “When the actor is an employee, contractor, or volunteer at a primary or secondary educational institution and the victim is a student and up to 10 months after the student's graduation or departure.”

Leung was never charged in New Hampshire; he faces multiple felony counts in Massachusetts based on accusations of rape at a camp in Newton, MA — a case that never would have come to fruition had the students not accused him of kissing the student in Concord.

Amanda Grady Sexton, the director of public affairs for the NH Coalition Against Domestic & Sexual Violence, said the Legislature saw the need to approve the changes because “it’s never appropriate for a teacher to engage in sexual contact with a student.” She said these types of relationships were inherently abusive because teachers hold power over students.

“Our K-12 educators are in a position of trust and authority over students — they are not peers regardless of the age of the student,” she said. “The power teachers hold creates a situation where students cannot truly consent to any type of romantic or sexual relationship.”

The change, along with the updated educator Code of Ethics and Code of Conduct, approved in 2018, was expected to alleviate educator-student sexual abuse and misconduct issues in the state.

Limited Information About The Case

Patricia Conway, the Rockingham County Attorney, said she could not comment on the facts of the case, like the timeline of the investigatory process or how the allegations came to be. However, she did say investigations of this nature “can take months” for various reasons.

“For instance, most cases involve gathering facts and information from witnesses as well as applying for search warrants for items such as cell phones and other electronic devices,” she said. “Gathering information can take months depending on the cooperation of witnesses, the number of witnesses that need to be interviewed, and the time it may take investigators to go through the results of a forensic examination. As you can imagine, electronic devices can hold a voluminous amount of information and a thorough investigation requires investigators to go through this information with a fine-tooth comb, so to speak. Completing all of these tasks can take multiple months.”

These types of investigations can be “as detailed and thorough as possible in order to hold perpetrators accountable and obtain justice for victims and our community,” she said.

“As you know, the state’s burden is proof beyond a reasonable doubt,” Conway said.

Doucette-Howell was the theatre director at Sanborn Regional High School in Kingston at least two years ago. Not long before the alleged sexual activity, the school’s troupe was featured on WMUR-TV for putting together a post-pandemic performance.

Neither Thomas Ambrose, the superintendent of the SAU 17 school district, nor Brian Stack, the principal at the school, responded to a question about the length of time she worked at the school.

Finalist For Teacher Of The Year

According to posts on Patch, her LinkedIn account, and other information, Doucette-Howell grew up in Newton and was drawn to teaching special needs students due to her own experience in the eighth grade being told she was “too stupid” to graduate from high school.

"That only helped me by solidifying my determination to overcome my own disability — I have a hard time putting combinations of letters together — and understand that it is possible,” she said in 2015. “And if people tell you it's not, it's because they just can't see it."

This experience led her to become a teacher while dabbling in theatre, her first love. Education though led to accolades and her becoming a finalist for 2016 Teacher of the Year by the New Hampshire Department of Education after a few short years of being an educator. For nine years, doucette-Howell taught history to special needs students at Regional Services and Education Center, five private schools in Amherst and Deerfield.

"Bridgette has an incredible amount of creativity, professionalism, and ability to organize," Judy Koch, RSEC's executive director at the time of her nomination, said. "Not only does that benefit her students, but she also helps parents who don't understand their child's potential by resetting their expectations and refusing to let them lower their standards because of their child's learning disability or special need."

Two years after not winning the teacher of the year, she was described as a “standout educator” at the school.

“Doucette Howell is a champion for teachers and students, and is instrumental in helping RSEC build stronger relationships throughout the community and professional development programs for other schools,” the school said in a statement to Patch.

She was also featured in a Ted Talk in October 2018.

Doucette-Howell holds a Bachelor’s in musical theatre and a Master’s of Art in teaching-secondary education and teaching, both from UNH. She worked for the Springboard After School program in Massachusetts and the Seacoast Repertory Theatre in Portsmouth.

Criminal Charges

Before being indicted, Doucette-Howell held an experienced educator license and endorsements in theatre and social studies.

The education department moved to suspend her credentials on March 8 after learning of her indictment on the sexual assault charges. The suspension became effective on March 25.

“The department’s top priority is always ensuring the safety of children, and this agency takes all allegations of educator misconduct seriously,” the department said in an email. “(The department) will continue to work diligently with its partners to address any and all such allegations swiftly and with fairness to all involved.”

In late 2021, she left RSEC and began working as a career and academic advisor at Rivier University in Nashua, where she was actively employed at least until earlier this month, according to LinkedIn. Karen Cooper, the vice president for University Advancement, said in an email, “this individual is not employed at Rivier.”

Despite the commendations, Grady Sexton said the accusations against Doucette-Howell were serious. Too often, educators accused of rape who are women tend to be treated differently than teachers who are men.

“Children and teens who are abused by female teachers report the same long-term effects of abuse, including poor mental and physical health, higher rates of substance use disorders, and difficulty maintaining healthy relationships,” she said. “Sadly, victims of female educators may be more reluctant to seek help because of societal double standards. These victims believe that the abuse will not be properly understood or taken seriously.”

Conway said the statute's purpose was to protect children at learning institutions from employees of schools who may use their position of authority to manipulate children or teens into engaging in sexual acts.

“We intend to prosecute this case to the fullest extent of the law just as we would any other aggravated felonious sexual assault case,” she said. “Students can be particularly vulnerable to teachers and other employees of the school due to the level of trust that is inherent in a teacher/student relationship. It is wrong for a teacher of other employee of a school to use this trust to manipulate and harm students.”

On her Facebook page and Twitter account, Doucette-Howell espoused a number of left-of-center political viewpoints, including showing support for defunding police. She was critical of actions taken by Gov. Chris Sununu and Frank Edelblut, the commissioner of the New Hampshire Department of Education, in creating alternative opportunities for students, including learning pods. Doucette-Howell was also critical of a bill changing the definition of an adequate education in New Hampshire and of criticism toward teachers’ unions who were attempting to preserve lockdowns due to the coronavirus pandemic when parents were demanding their children be put back into classrooms, especially as the pandemic waned.

Doucette-Howell did not return an email seeking comment. She was due to be arraigned on Friday and is back in Rockingham County Superior Court for a dispositional conference on May 24.

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This article originally appeared on the Concord Patch