Kriti Mehrotra
Hulu’s ‘Leave No Trace: A Hidden History of the Boy Scouts’ is an original documentary that can only be described as equal parts harrowing and influential owing to the subject matter at hand. After all, it essentially delves into the covered-up history of the ways in which the once-revered national organization served as an easily accessible breeding ground for pedophilic predators. Amongst those to have been accused of the same by quite a few former members (including John Humphrey) is Thad Alton — so now let’s find out everything there’s to know about him, shall we?
Who is Thad Alton?
From what we can tell, Thad Alton is not only a former Boy Scout troop master but also a former educator, counselor, and assistant principal, who’d embarked on his teaching career in 1972. He was initially hired by New Jersey’s Short Hills Country Day School, where he remained even after it merged with the elite preparatory Pingry School in 1974, just to part ways with them in 1978. During this period, Thad had taken up the responsibility of serving as the soccer coach, band coach, and counselor at Maine’s Camp Waganaki as well, where many students spent their summers.
It was the year after Thad had left the institution that he was first indicted on any criminal sexual charges for his misconduct against minors, but he never served time behind bars for them. This is because he received just a suspended sentence and five years of probation in exchange for pleading guilty to three counts each of “private lewdness” as well as “impairing the morals” of a child. He admitted in court that he played strip poker and then masturbated with three 12-year-old boys from his class at Pingry while on a scouting trip in 1978, yet he didn’t even get registered as an offender.
Thad later relocated to New York to work as a program administrator at the private Clarkson University in Potsdam, but he didn’t let go of his ways and was thus arrested again in 1989. This time, though, in 1990, he was found guilty of first-degree sexual abuse as well as second-degree sodomy against boys aged 10 and 12, for which he received a 2 to 6-year sentence. The whitewater kayak and canoeing club owner served around five years in prison before being released, as per state records, and he has since been listed on the New York State Sex Offender Registry.
Where is Thad Alton Now?
Over the past six or so years, several more men have come forward to accuse Thad Alton of taking advantage of them during his stint at Pingry while they were students, leading to an internal and external investigation. A 44-page report published by T&M Protection Resources in 2017 actually verified almost all of these allegations by revealing that he purportedly assaulted at least 27 of his students, most of whom were between 10 to 12 years of age. Moreover, there were supposedly undeniable signs that should’ve raised alarms, yet other faculty members and school officials practically overlooked it, as per reports.
Coming to Thad’s whereabouts, as he has not been officially arrested or charged with any additional offense, he continues to lead a free life in New York City at the moment. He did pen a few workbooks for the therapeutic programs taught in prisons following his last release back in 1995, but it appears as if the 77-year-old currently prefers to keep away from the limelight. We should mention that he’d successfully petitioned for a reduction in his Sex Offender Registration Risk Level in the early 2010s, so he is now under the reclassified Level 2.
Read More: Where is Stuart Lord Now?
