The woman was on the phone, and she wasn't happy.
"He's back," she said. "He's at another school."
Fifteen years ago, Winsor Copeland resigned abruptly from his teaching position at Indian Mountain School, a private junior prep school in Lakeville, Conn., after being accused of molesting a boy there in the early 1980s. Copeland was never charged and then, as now, denied any wrongdoing. But, according to news stories at the time, a Connecticut State Police report indicated he was not charged because the five-year statute of limitations had expired.
Citing that police report, The Hartford Courant reported in 1995 that several former students had implicated Copeland in having sexual contact with students, and that Copeland was suspended from Indian Mountain for two weeks in the mid-1980s for inappropriately touching a boy visiting campus. Again, Copeland denied the allegations.
After resigning from Indian Mountain in April 1993, Copeland left the country, working at schools in Brazil and Romania before returning in 2003 to his native Williamstown. There, he began volunteering at Pine Cobble School, a preschool-to-ninth-grade school from which he graduated in 1958 and where he taught in the late 1960s and early 1970s.
"It's outrageous," the woman on the phone was saying. "Does anybody at Pine Cobble know what happened at Indian Mountain?" She said that Copeland had abused her son, allegations that were the subject of the old police investigation.
When I called Nick Edgerton, the Pine Cobble headmaster, he was quick to minimize Copeland's current role. "He is not working here," Edgerton said. "He is an alumnus. He has nothing to do with the school in a formal capacity."
I called Copeland separately.
"I'm not involved with students," he said. "I do some alumni contact work. I do clerical work. I send messages to my classmates, to help raise money for the school. I have nothing to do with the students at all."
The fall 2007 issue of "The Cobblestone," the Pine Cobble School's newsletter, paints a considerably different picture. In it, there is an article entitled "Winsor Copeland, Master Teacher of Math, French and Life's Lessons."
The article describes Copeland's past teaching days at Pine Cobble and notes that he left Indian Mountain in 1993 "on the verge of academic burnout," but mentions nothing of the circumstances. The article suggests Copeland is more involved in the school than either he or Edgerton acknowledged.
"Now a new generation of Pine Cobble students is under his influence," the article about Copeland says. "The former PCS student, teacher, and board member is back on campus, this time as a volunteer."
The article quotes Copeland as saying, "Hearing the chatter of the students as they move from class to class - it's pretty much the same as when I was a student."
The woman whose son said he was abused by Copeland was appalled when she saw Copeland's photograph on Pine Cobble's website.
"Either they don't know what happened, or they don't want to know what happened," she said.
Copeland told me Pine Cobble administrators know about the circumstances under which he left Indian Mountain.
"They are very aware of that," he said. "I grew up in this community. They know me well."
Edgerton told a different story. Informed of the allegations at Indian Mountain, he said, "This is news to me." He also vowed, "I'm going to look into it."
Copeland told me he sees no reason why he should not be allowed to volunteer at Pine Cobble. After all, he says he's innocent and was never charged with a crime. His family has strong ties to Pine Cobble. His late mother was once headmaster. He has deep roots there.
The woman whose son said he was molested isn't persuaded by that rationale. She was not amused to learn that Pine Cobble's motto is "Nosce Te Ipsum," Latin for "Know Thyself."
"That's ironic," she said. "Isn't it?"
Kevin Cullen is a Globe columnist. He can be reached at cullen@globe.com.
