Douglas Agyeh, who lived in Pittsfield, used to work at the Brookside School in Great Barrington, which is a care center for girls who have behavioral or mental health problems.
In 2021, Agyeh worked at the private school for a few weeks. He was in charge of keeping an eye on the girls and keeping them safe while they slept. Court papers show that he did use this power for bad, though.
A victim told police that Agyeh was a “trusted” employee with whom she felt she could talk about personal issues she didn’t feel safe sharing with other employees, according to court records looked at by the Montreal Gazette.
She told the cops that Agyeh started to sleep outside of her dorm room at night.
“She didn’t like it when he tried to hold her hand and touched her breasts and “private area.” The records show that she knew what he wanted to do because he always gave her a dirty look before touching her.
Between August and September 2021, he sexually attacked her more than once. The Gazette says that some of the abuse was caught on the school’s video system.
The Berkshire County District Attorney’s Office said that Agyeh was also charged with sexually abusing a girl while calling himself a laundry helper.
After being caught in January 2023, Agyeh tried to avoid punishment by running away to Canada. Agyeh, who lived in Ghana, was sent back to the US to be tried there.
His confession included five counts of rape and abuse on a person over 14 years old, nine counts of rape of a child with force, and nine counts of rape of a child, made worse by age.
The prosecutor said that he was just given a sentence of 10 to 12 years for rape and 3 to 5 years for indecent attack, which he will serve at the same time.
DA Timothy J. Shugrue said that predators like Agyeh use the trust and silence of their victims as a tool.
Teacher Arrested after Sending Shower Pics to 17-year-old High School Student in Missouri