An elite London school has been drawn into an FBI-led international child abuse investigation after a former teacher confessed to drugging and molesting more than 90 boys before taking his own life. William Vahey, 64, an American who taught at Southbank International School in Westminster from 2009 to 2013, killed himself in Minnesota in March after being confronted with evidence of his crimes.
Vahey was found with a memory stick containing sexually graphic images of at least 90 boys, who appeared to have been drugged. The images were catalogued with dates and locations corresponding to overnight field trips he led, beginning in 2008 when he taught at Escuela Campo Alegre in Caracas, Venezuela. The FBI said Vahey had been jailed in California in 1969 for child molestation, but Southbank's chair of governors, Sir Chris Woodhead, said criminal record checks and references revealed no cause for concern.
Scotland Yard is assisting the FBI in assessing intelligence about potential offences in London. The school, which caters to foreign executives and diplomats, is planning to meet with parents or write to them within 24 hours, and is offering psychological counselling. Woodhead described the revelations as 'completely shocking' and confirmed the school is cooperating fully with the international police inquiry.
Vahey also taught in Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Greece, Spain, and Lebanon during his career. The FBI has urged anyone who believes they may have been a victim to come forward. Vahey confessed to molesting boys his entire life, giving them sleeping pills before the abuse, and died by suicide days after being exposed.
