James Scott Dwight III, 48, of Eldridge Road, has been charged under Pennsylvania law on two counts of corrupting a minor. Both are misdemeanors. The incident is alleged to have taken place in Dwight’s Lancaster, Pennsylvania, home in June 2006. The alleged victim, identified as “LC” in court documents, was 17 at the time and a student of Dwight’s at Lancaster Catholic High School. Dwight was 38.
The case is currently pending in the Lancaster Court of Common Appeals. Dwight has not pleaded either guilty or not guilty. A status hearing has been scheduled for July 13 before Judge Howard F. Knisely.
Dwight is the husband of Harvard Superintendent of Schools Linda Dwight.
In a statement released to the press Tuesday evening, June 23, Superintendent Dwight wrote:
“Some members of the community may have heard that my husband is a party to legal proceedings in Pennsylvania stemming from an incident alleged to have happened nine years ago. My husband is not an employee of the Harvard Public Schools. He is working with counsel in Pennsylvania to resolve the matter. When the court charge was first issued in February, I promptly advised the Harvard School Committee and my administrative team as I am aware our first concern as educators is establishing and maintaining public trust. As the court process is ongoing and this is a family matter, I will have no further comment.”
In a separate email, School Committee Chairwoman SusanMary Redinger confirmed that Superintendent Dwight had immediately informed the School Committee of the allegations against her husband. “The School Committee has full confidence in Dr. Dwight’s ability to fulfill her accountabilities as the Harvard Schools’ superintendent and considers this to be a private, family matter,” she wrote.
The accusation of sexual misconduct was first brought to the attention of the Lancaster police by the alleged victim in February 2014, when she was 25, but it wasn’t until a year later, on February 12, 2015, that a criminal complaint was filed by Lancaster City Bureau Police Detective Aaron Harnish. A week later, on February 19, Lancaster Magisterial District Court Judge Mongiovi Sponagle issued a warrant for Dwight’s arrest. He was arrested at his Eldridge Road home in on February 26 by U.S. marshals and the Massachusetts State Police, and was transported to Clinton District Court where he was charged with being a “fugitive from justice.” Although the Pennsylvania warrant called for his extradition, he was released on bail and ordered to appear in Lancaster District Court. At his appearance there on March 2, bail was set at $20,000 and Dwight returned to Harvard to await further hearings.
News of Dwight’s arrest did not appear in the Harvard police log and officers say they were unaware it had happened. Police Chief Edward Denmark said he would not expect to be informed of arrests made by U.S. marshals or state troopers, though sometimes they did so as a courtesy.
But the arrest was widely covered by Lancaster, Pennsylvania, media. Lancaster Online quoted Lancaster Catholic High School officials as saying they “were saddened by the allegation of sexual abuse by a former teacher.” According to Lancaster Online, Dwight had been a teacher of English at the high school during the 2005 to 2007 school years.
Dwight is currently an adjunct professor at Mount Wachusett Community College where he continues to teach English composition.
Dwight’s attorney, Barry Goldman of Lancaster, did not respond to requests for comment.
