Shanghai American School (SAS) alumni have penned an open letter to the school\u2019s administrators responding to backlash over the sexual misconduct allegations made against high school English teacher James Mikkelson.<\/p>\n
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Photo:\u00a0nextshark<\/p>\n
Haeryun Kang, a former student at SAS, one of the top international schools in China<\/a>, posted the letter on her\u00a0Facebook account\u00a0to shed light on the matter. The post was initiated partly\u00a0\u201cby the backlash and doubt aimed at the victim(s), whose stories are in \u2018Survivors of James Mikkelson\u2019 blog.\u201d<\/p>\n \n The aim of the letter is Twofold: to increase pressure on SAS administrators to\u00a0\u201ctake steps toward preventing Mikkelson\u2019s hiring at other educational institutions,\u201d\u00a0and voice their support for the victims of the sexual abuse by the hands of Mikkelson, a veteran English teacher of the school who is believed to be from Washington state.<\/p>\n \n The movement and open letter comes weeks after an investigation conducted in November found that Mikkelson, who taught at the school for 13 years, showed inappropriate sexual behavior towards some of his students.\u00a0Investigators found porn on Mikkelson\u2019s school computer as well as messages that he reportedly sent to students,\u00a0Shanghaiist\u00a0reported.<\/p>\n \n \u201cI am writing<\/a> to let you know that James Mikkelson, high school English instructor on the Puxi campus, will no longer be teaching<\/a> at SAS. Due to choices Mr. Mikkelson has made that are inconsistent with SAS standards for integrity and professionalism, we have dismissed him, effective today. We recommend that students at SAS have no further contact with him,\u201d\u00a0Head of School, Marcel Gauthier, said in a letter to the parents.<\/p>\n \n Shortly after Mikkelson\u2019s termination, a\u00a0blog\u00a0focusing on the survivors of his sexual misconduct was published online. There, some of Mikkelson\u2019s former students shared their stories about how the teacher molested them, sent them extremely inappropriate sexual messages and explicit pictures.<\/p>\n \n \u201cJames Mikkelson sexually abused me while I was a minor.<\/p>\n Photo: Shanghaiist<\/p>\n \u201cSoon after I became his student, Mikkelson initiated explicit conversations with me about sex. These conversations occurred in person as well as through text, email, and chat. They soon escalated to expressing sexual desire for me and describing sexual fantasies involving me. While talking explicitly with a child about sex is in fact sufficient to constitute child sexual abuse, the abuse did not stop there. Mikkelson groped me at a school event. He sent me explicit<\/a> photos and videos of himself. He invited me to locations outside of school where, after coaxing me into a relaxed state with alcohol that he purchased, he coerced me into performing sexual acts on him. He touched me sexually behind the closed doors of his classroom, on school property, in the middle of the school day. He had sexual intercourse with me. I was his student. I was a child,\u201d\u00a0the creator of the blog wrote as a response to an SAS alumnus who expressed their doubts regarding the whole purpose of the blog.<\/p>\n \n Photo:\u00a0Shanghaiist<\/p>\n The Survivors of James Mikkelson blog has received more than 60 comments since it launched in early November. More students came forward to tell their own story, but what\u2019s even more surprising is that one of Mikkelson\u2019s former co-workers from Italy also found the blog and said the following:<\/p>\n \n \u201cI work with Mikkelson in Milan many years ago. He was made to resign after many female students complained about his inappropriate behavior. In Milan the parents wanted him put in jail. In China<\/a> they do not think the same I guess. We hear about this in Italy and call things what they are. This man is a child molester. Nothing more needs saying.\u201d<\/p>\n \n<\/p>\n
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