Man named in Choate sexual misconduct report worked part-time at local colleges
[naviga:img class="img-responsive" alt="Charles Timlin" src="/Assets/news2015/0426DayTimlin.JPG"/]
Charles Timlin
One of 12 former Choate Rosemary Hall faculty members named in an April report detailing past cases of sexual misconduct with students is a man who has been teaching part-time at multiple state colleges, including two local ones, for several years, officials confirmed this week.
Authors cited former Latin and English teacher Charles Timlin in two separate alleged incidents of such misconduct in the report, which was the result of an independent investigation launched in October 2016.
In one, a former student of the Wallingford boarding school alleged that Timlin asked her to come to his house in the winter of 2002-03, while she was his student. She said he appeared to have been “tipsy” and groped her and tried to kiss her while she was there, the report states.
In an interview with the investigators, Timlin said he did not remember any inappropriate incident in the early 2000s and denied it ever happened.
In the second incident, a female student reported to school officials in June 2010 that Timlin had “intimately kissed her and made inappropriate sexual comments to her” during the 2009-10 school year. She was 16 at the time.
Internal documents from the independent investigation revealed Timlin admitted to then-Headmaster Edward Shanahan that he had exchanged several “intimate kisses” with the student on one occasion. In an email message Timlin sent to Shanahan four days after their meeting, Timlin wrote that the student “initiated (the kisses) more than I did” and that “this moment of indiscretion took somewhere between 12-15 seconds total.”
According to the report, Timlin resigned from Choate Rosemary Hall in September 2010 after a nearly 30-year career. Just prior to his resignation, Shanahan struck a deal with Timlin, the report states: If Timlin would meet with a psychiatrist, move out of the girls' dorm — where he was an adviser — and sign a resignation letter that could become effective immediately should other allegations emerge, Timlin could keep working at Choate.
The report's authors said they learned Timlin was "an extremely popular and effective teacher." That he was so well liked played into Shanahan's decision to cut Timlin some slack, the report states.
But after reporting the incident to the state Department of Children and Families in September, however, Shanahan decided Timlin needed to go.
Timlin went on to teach at several Connecticut colleges as well as at least one summer academic program after his resignation, including the Lyme Academy College of Fine Arts and Three Rivers Community College. The report states Choate officials helped him obtain at least two of those jobs.
According to the report, the DCF indicated in November 2010 that the allegations against Timlin "will be substantiated."
Timlin in March 2017 told investigators of the report that he “paid dearly for the mistake,” which he regretted.
Timlin didn't immediately return email messages The Day left for him. A phone number listed for Timlin went straight to a voicemail box that was full.
Upon learning of the report — The New York Times ran an April 13 article on it — University of New Haven officials placed Timlin on administrative leave, Director of Media Relations Karen Grava confirmed earlier this week. The Lyme Academy College of Fine Arts is part of the University of New Haven.
According to the website of Southern Connecticut State University, a man named Charles D. Timlin is employed in the English Department as an adjunct faculty member. A spokesman there, however, said Timlin has resigned from his position with the university. He was teaching a course this semester, the spokesman said.
Ratemyprofessors.com also lists Timlin as having taught at Gateway Community College in New Haven and Three Rivers Community College in Norwich. The reviews for Gateway came in 2011 and 2012, while the lone review for Three Rivers was written last May. All of the reviews paint Timlin in a shining light.
A spokesman for Gateway said records indicate Timlin has not taught at the college since 2012. She could not say whether the Timlin who taught there then is the same Timlin named in the report.
Kathryn Gaffney, director of marketing and public relations at Three Rivers, said Timlin, an adjunct professor, taught this semester at the college and resigned Wednesday from the position.
As for Lyme Academy, Grava said the department chair stepped in to finish up the English course Timlin was teaching this semester.
“Clearly we are concerned about not only student safety but also student peace of mind,” said Grava, who added that the university typically does not discuss personnel issues.
In an April 15 email to students, Provost Daniel May wrote, “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.”
Grava confirmed the email’s validity.
Timlin also had been scheduled this spring to lead a four-part seminar at Essex Library, which was to examine the social satire "Persuasion" by Jane Austen. In a release about the course, library officials said Timlin had brought his teaching skills to the library several times in the past and was “back by popular demand.”
Officials confirmed this week that the seminar, which would have spanned April 18 to May 16, has been canceled.