Babylon School District teacher, coach Timothy Harrison charged with raping student in 2013
BABYLON, N.Y. -- A Suffolk County high school teacher is charged with raping a former student.
Police say Thursday's arrest comes after several alumni accused a handful of Babylon school coaches of sexual grooming and manipulation
Babylon High School teacher and former girls lacrosse coach Timothy Harrison is now charged with two counts of third-degree rape.
Suffolk County Police arrested the 46-year-old Thursday morning.
"The rape occurred off school grounds, however the victim indicated there was inappropriate physical contact while at the school," Suffolk Police Commissioner Rodney Harrison said.
Investigators say the alleged rape occurred in 2013 when the victim was 15 years old.
"I'd like to commend the victim in this case who has exhibited so much bravery coming forward years after she was preyed upon," Rodney Harrison said.
Police say the unnamed victim came forward after an explosive Babylon school board meeting last fall when former student Brittany Rohl publicly accused another Babylon school coach of abusing and grooming her.
"I really didn't think anything would come of it. I thought that I would just be ridiculed by the town because I'd seen it happen before to other girls," Rohl told CBS2's Ali Bauman on Thursday.
Instead what followed was a cascade of alumni alleging similar sexual abuse from at least five different Babylon school coaches, Harrison included.
Rohl attributes it to a culture of complicity and coverup within the district.
"The damage inflicted on this is, like, incomprehensible," she said.
In a statement, the Babylon schools superintendent says the district suspended Harrison last fall upon learning of the allegations, "removing the individual from his classroom, reassigning him to his residence, removing all privileges, and immediately notifying law enforcement authorities."
Harrison was also a volunteer coach on his daughter's team at Legacy Lacrosse until last November.
"We hope this arrest brings the victim some sense of peace and that she knows that her voice was heard," Rodney Harrison said.
Meanwhile, Rohl's alleged abuser has not been arrested, but she says the arrest of Harrison is an encouraging first step in a long-needed change.
"There's still so much there and so much misconduct and inappropriate things that happened that we have to get a handle on and get an understanding of how it was allowed for so long," she said.
Harrison is in police custody pending his arraignment on Friday.
Earlier Thursday, CBS2 incorrectly reported that Brittany Rohl is the alleged victim in this case. Rohl has accused a different coach of sexual assault. We do not know the identity of the alleged victim in the case against Timothy Harrison. We regret the error.
