Sense of betrayal emerges in Vt.

BRADFORD, Vt. - Despite reassurances from school officials, sixth-grade students at the town's elementary school feel betrayed in the aftermath of the arrest of a teacher on charges he sexually molested two former students, an official said.

Richard A. Foster, 51, is charged with four felony sex crimes following a discovery by the parents of a 12-year-old boy that Foster sent sexually explicit photos of himself to the boy's cellphone, police said.

Foster remained hospitalized yesterday after a suicide attempt in which he slashed his wrists, authorities said.

"The kids have expressed a collective sense of betrayal," said Superintendent Wendy Hovey. "They wonder if the compassion for students that teachers show is fake in some way.

"We talked about that and assured them, 'No, it isn't fake and it probably wasn't fake in Mr. Foster,' " she said.

One of students' biggest concerns is about school dances and a unit in their medieval studies class many had been looking forward to, Hovey said.

"There isn't anything that you guys have been looking forward to that isn't going to happen," Hovey said they were told.

Hundreds of parents and community members packed the auditorium of Oxbow Union High School last night to talk about their concerns and fears.

"Unfortunately, this week we are the community you see on the news and are so thankful you don't live there," said School Board chairman Mark Johnson. "In the end, the measure of our community will be how we respond to this crisis and how we undertake the healing process."

The first reaction of people and former students in Bradford, an Orange County town of about 3,000 along the Connecticut River, was disbelief. The school has about 250 students in kindergarten through grade six.

"He never came off as the kind of person who would be like that," said Robert Plante, 18, who had Foster for a teacher in sixth grade and whose younger brother had him as well. "I didn't believe it."

But at yesterday's meeting, parents said Foster had focused too much attention on - and spent too much time with - young boys. Those signs were apparently ignored or downplayed by parents and not relayed to school officials.

"For everyone to sit here and say, 'This was a complete and total shock; nobody saw it coming,' is not the truth," said Dan Kelly, a father of four.

Kelly said many people in the community knew Foster was taking a special interest in boys and was having them visit his house, sometimes over night.

"We let our kids down, myself included," Kelly said.

But Hovey said no member of the school staff had concerns about Foster before Friday, when they were contacted by State Police.

"It is tempting for us, at this point in time, to go back and connect all kinds of dots," she said. "I think we've probably all done that on some level."

Yesterday Foster remained at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon, N.H., where he was listed in fair condition, a hospital official said.

If convicted of the most serious charge, Foster could be sentenced to life in prison.