A HOUSEMASTER at prestigious Ampleforth College has been placed on leave following an allegation of impropriety involving a sixth-former more than a decade ago.
Benedictine monk Father Christian Shore was sent on administrative leave by the independent Catholic school this week while an investigation was launched into the alleged incident.
A spokesman for the north Yorkshire school said: “Suspicions have been raised concerning events affecting a sixth-form student which are said to have taken place more than a decade ago.
“We have a very clear policy which requires that any suspicion of this kind must be immediately and thoroughly investigated, regardless of the period that may have elapsed.
While the investigation takes place it is, of course, necessary for the person concerned to be away from the school.”
The spokesman confirmed that no other reports of this nature had been received at the school. He also confirmed that social services have been informed.
Students at Ampleforth College, which charges fees of pound;16,908 a year, are assigned to one of its 10 boarding houses.
The school was previously hit by scandal in 1995, when housemaster Father Bernard Green confessed that he had entered a dormitory and “touched a boy in a manner which he now recognises was inappropriate”.
Headteacher Father Leo Chamberlain has been open about making embarrassing announcements in the past.
He has been supported by the school’s public relations consultancy, Chelgate. The company, which is run by old boy Terence Fane-Saunders.
Alumni of the school, which this year celebrates its 200th anniversary, include the actor Rupert Everett and the late writer Frank Muir.
