In a New York Times article from April 13, it was revealed that a report was published by Choate Rosemary Hall, a private boarding school in Wallingford, CT saying a dozen faculty members committed sexual misconduct against students.

Charles Timlin is one of the 12 teachers to be named in the report, and although University representatives could not confirm that Timlin was the professor in question, he appears in the University directory as a Practitioner in Residence at Lyme Academy, the Fine Arts College at the University of New Haven. He also has a Rate My Professor page for the University and Southern Connecticut State University.

An email was sent to students on April 15 from Provost Daniel May describing the situation and what was being done on the University’s end. May acknowledged that the University is investigating the situation and that the instructor has been placed on administrative leave pending our investigation.

“Although we conduct a background check prior to hiring faculty and staff and comply with all industry standards and legal provisions, such processes are necessarily limited to public records,” he wrote.

Lyn Chamberlin, vice president for marketing and communications at the University said that the administration cannot comment on personnel issues, but added that it is an ongoing investigation.

“We’re doing all of our due diligence and we’re looking into it and we’re getting as many facts as we can,” Chamberlin said.

May concluded his email saying that they perceive “no active threat to student safety,” of which is the highest priority.

Chamberlin echoed his comments by saying, “Our primary concern is student peace of mind and student safety.”

Timlin worked at Choate from 1981 to 2010 and was described as “an extremely popular and effective teacher who had strong friendships with many people in the school’s administration and faculty,” according to the report.

The report outlines the allegations against Timlin saying, “Student 23 reported to us that, in 2003, Timlin tried to kiss her and groped her. Student 24 reported to the school in June 2010 that a few months earlier, Timlin had on one occasion intimately kissed her and made inappropriate sexual comments to her.”

Students were not named in this report. In an interview, Timlin acknowledged that the incident with Student 24 was accurate, and the report said, “he denied any other incidents with Choate students and told us that he “paid dearly for the mistake” with Student 24, which he regretted.”

When allegations from Student 24 were brought to Choate faculty, it was decided that Timlin had to step down. According to the report, “Timlin’s last day was September 10, but by signed agreement, he was to be paid his normal salary through the end of the school year; the school confirmed to us that Timlin was paid his salary for the remainder of the 2010-11 school year.”

The University declined to provide further information on the investigation.