President of College Linked to Sex Scandal

The Westfield State College sex scandal continued to build today with President Francis J. Pilecki implicated as the previously unnamed “senior official” who allegedly assaulted students sexually.

A professor at the school has said 22 students have complained of sexual assault over a three-year period.

Thomas R. Kiley, first assistant to Atty. Gen. Francis X. Bellotti, identified the college president in a letter defending the payment of $10,000 to a student to settle civil liabilities.

Kiley did not identify Pilecki by name in the letter, but spoke of “an allegation of criminally assaultive conduct by the president of Westfield State College upon the student who signed the agreement.”

The letter also stated that “the complaining student alleged not only some type of sexual misconduct, but also contended he was the victim of educational malpractice.”

Grand Jury Testimony

The Boston Globe reported today that a student and a former student at Westfield State testified before a county grand jury that Pilecki had indecently assaulted them in separate incidents.

Dist. Atty. Matthew J. Ryan Jr. declined comment on the report but did deny an allegation that his office dragged its feet in pursuing evidence presented to it on the case.

The Westfield State controversy surfaced early this month when newspaper accounts publicized the $10,000 settlement--which also included free tuition for the complaining student’s final three semesters at the school.