Former teacher at Old Colony High School in Rochester charged with raping student

A former teacher at Old Colony Regional Vocational Technical High School in Rochester is accused of raping a student. 

In police reports, authorities outlined how two female students came forward with stories about how Andre Arsenault attempted to “groom” them and the sexual encounters that ensued. 

Arsenault, who worked as a culinary arts teacher at the school, faces charges of rape and indecent assault and battery connected to his alleged interactions with one of the students. He was arraigned in Wareham District Court this week and pleaded not guilty. 

Old Colony did not immediately return a request for comment Wednesday. Arsenault is not currently listed on the school’s staff directory. 

In the fall of 2022, a recent graduate of Old Colony told Rochester Police about her interactions with Arsenault over multiple years. When she was a 14-year-old freshman, Arsenault gave her “constant compliments” in an attempt to make her feel special and good about herself, according to a police report. 

Arsenault began talking to her about his personal life the following year, when she was a sophomore. During this time he appeared “cautious,” leading her to believe that he was pursuing a relationship with another student, according to the report. 

The victim started to believe that something was “weird” about her interactions with Arsenault as a 16-year-old during her junior year. Arsenault allegedly asked the victim and one of her friends to visit him at a butcher shop where he worked, telling co-workers that the girls were his cousin and a friend, according to the report. 

Conversations between the victim and Arsenault became more personal during a summer program, and he began to give her “little gifts” during the fall of 2021, when she was a 17-year-old senior at Old Colony. The victim told police that she suffered from anxiety attacks during this time, sometimes being forced to miss school and getting physically sick due to the anxiety. She was diagnosed with an eating disorder, and Arsenault volunteered to cook her food during class, according to the report. 

The victim and a friend would often stay after school with Arsenault, who would sometimes become angry that the victim was not alone. He allegedly kissed her in February of 2022. Throughout that spring, the girl would often stop by Arsenault’s classroom, where he would kiss her and have personal conversations. She told police that she felt like she had to keep seeing Arsenault to prevent other students from being put in her position, according to the report. 

“Victim 1 would always tell herself ‘if it’s not me, it’s someone else.’ Victim 1 felt she had to keep him entertained long enough,” Rochester police wrote in the report. 

These encounters sometimes involved sexual acts, and Arsenault allegedly asked the victim to make sexual videos on her phone for him, police wrote in the report. 

During April break, Arsenault led a cooking class that the victim took part in. At one point, he allegedly touched her upper thigh and caused her to have an anxiety attack in a nearby bathroom. The next day, Arsenault allegedly got the victim alone in a storeroom and assaulted her. She told police that she tried to leave but eventually “gave up,” according to the police report. 

After hearing that the victim was coming forward with her allegations, another former student at Old Colony told police about a “relationship” she had with Arsenault when she was a student in 2017 and 2018. She did not describe any physical abuse or forcible actions by Arsenault, but did describe consensual sexual encounters.

She told police that she felt like she needed to move far away after graduation because “she felt like she couldn’t escape” Arsenault, according to the report. 

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