3 Dartmouth Professors Are Target of State Attorney General’s ‘Sexual Misconduct’ Investigation

Updated (10/31/2017, 4:52 p.m.) with a statement from lawyers representing Mr. Heatherton.

When it was reported last week that three Dartmouth College professors had been placed on leave, the institution was mostly mum as to why, saying only that the faculty members were being investigated for “serious misconduct” and had been restricted from coming to the campus.

Now some information has come out about what happened. The New Hampshire attorney general’s office released a statement on Tuesday saying it was investigating the tenured professors’ involvement in alleged “sexual misconduct” as a criminal matter.

“This office has engaged in a dialogue with Dartmouth College, and we have learned from the college that it has received allegations of sexual misconduct,” the statement said. “Based on the information provided, this office, along with the Grafton County attorney’s office, the New Hampshire state police, the Grafton County sheriff’s office, and the Hanover police department, will be conducting a joint criminal investigation into this matter.”

The statement went on to provide details on how to contact investigators, but not much else about the case. The suspended professors are Todd Heatherton, Bill Kelley, and Paul Whalen. All three work in the department of psychological and brain sciences, and have been placed on paid leave.

Also on Tuesday, Dartmouth released a statement on the investigation. In it, a spokeswoman for the college said it was cooperating with the attorney general’s investigation. According to the statement, the college’s president, Philip J. Hanlon, informed students and faculty members of the inquiry in an email on Tuesday morning. “It is important to remember that investigations are ongoing, with no official findings yet produced,” he wrote. “However, we take these allegations very seriously and are pursuing our own independent investigations in coordination with law-enforcement officials.”

Last week the Valley News, a New Hampshire newspaper, reported that a lawyer who said he represented Mr. Heatherton asserted that the professor was cooperating with the college’s investigation. Emails to the three professors were not immediately answered on Tuesday.

On Tuesday, lawyers representing Mr. Heatherton said in a statement that he had not been told he was a threat to campus safety. “We have repeatedly reached out to Dartmouth to gain a better understanding of the investigation, and whether it relates to an out-of-state incident about which Dr. Heatherton was previously questioned,” the statement says. “Dartmouth has failed to respond. Dr. Heatherton is confident that he has not violated any written policy of Dartmouth, including policies relating to sexual misconduct and sexual harassment. He has engaged in no sexual relations with any student.”