A sweeping investigation from a private law firm into allegations of abuse at a prestigious northern Michigan arts academy and camp found 47 adults accused of sexual misconduct.
But Interlochen Center for the Arts President Trey Devey only names five in a letter to the center community: three who held powerful leadership roles and are dead, along with one convicted in association with the abuse in 2025.
The other is notorious financier Jeffrey Epstein.
Devey told the Detroit Free Press the organization thoroughly reviewed the findings and worked with another outside law firm to decide whom to publicly identify.
"It's an important question, and it's one that we wrestled
with for some time," Devey said.
"We asked an external group to basically give us guidance on this particular matter, to help us determine who might be named and who wouldn't. They basically looked at the number of first-hand accounts that reflected repeated and pervasive conduct."
The Free Press is publishing everything released in Devey's letter and the full investigative report. We summarized the findings involving those named in the report below.
‘What did you expect to happen tonight?’
Devey’s letter names four people accused of misconduct who are now dead. Chief among them is Byron Hanson, an arts teacher and administration from 1960 to 2015. Allegations against him reported by a former attendee to administrators in 2024 prompted the entire investigation.
Seven female attendees accused Hanson of sexual misconduct; five specifically said this happened while they were at the camp and he was in a leadership role. The alleged conduct ranges from holding a student’s hand while driving to multiple girls describing intimate sexual encounters.
One former student said Hanson lavished praise on her after listening to her play an instrument. Later, after he gazed into her eyes, she told investigators she developed a crush on him and thought he loved her.
“[The former student] said that she and [Hanson] arranged to meet up and that they were in his car drinking and driving around campus. [The former student] stated that during this encounter, [Hanson] unzipped his pants, exposed himself to [the former student], and asked her to touch him,” the report states.
“[The former student] stated that she said, ‘No, no.’ [The former student] stated that [Hanson] said, ‘What did you expect to happen tonight?’ and then he told her to get out of his car.”
None of the former campers who said Hanson assaulted them said they were sure other administrators knew about the conduct. However, one person said a staff member responsible for signing her and others in and out of dorms at night pulled her aside at one point and “gave her ‘some word of caution.’ ”
The camp told investigators it no longer had Hanson’s personnel file.
Hanson died in 2021. At the time, Interlochen posted condolences to his family in a social media message.
“Byron was a dear colleague and mentor to many students, having begun his work at Interlochen in 1960 after attending as a camper in the High School division in 1958-59,” the post states.
“After serving many roles over the years including accompanist, conductor and Director of Music, Byron retired from Interlochen in 2015 as the institution’s first official Archivist.”
A separate media report about Hanson after his death said he worked at Interlochen longer than anyone else.
Charles McWhorter attended Interlochen in his childhood, returning to the school as a trustee after making a name for himself. The Board of Trustees helps oversee the administration of Interlochen, similar to a Board of Regents for a public university. McWhorter worked as a lawyer for AT&T and also as a legislative aide for then-Vice President Richard Nixon. In 1987, a piece in the Washington Post described him as a prolific national politico.
“McWhorter has known everyone who counts from the national level down to the state legislatures and county-chairmen ranks in Republican politics − and a remarkable number of their Democratic counterparts as well. He has introduced more of them to each other − and journalists to them − than any other person alive,” the author wrote.
The report states two former campers told investigators McWhorter met them separately at Interlochen and subsequently invited them to his home in another state. One said the conduct happened in the 1970s, the other the 1980s.
The first told investigators McWhorther “groomed” the former camper.
“[The camper] stated that he froze whenever [McWhorter] engaged in sexual conduct,” the report states.
The other said McWhorter forced him to sleep in the same bed. The former camper once awoke to find McWhorter’s ejaculate on his body and on the bedsheets.
A former board member told investigators in the 2000s he saw McWhorter leaving a room on campus with someone who appeared to be a student. This same board member said before joining the board he’d heard rumors of McWhorter engaging in relationships with students that went beyond financial support.
McWhorter died in 1999 after a car accident in Cape Cod,according to an obituary in the New York Times.
John “Jack” Hood was Interlochen’s first instructor of ecology. He held various other roles from 1963 to 1980, returning as a camp staff member from 2001 to 2004. He died in 2015, accordingto a social media post from the center at the time.
Four people said he acted inappropriately toward them, including back rubs or inviting them to his home to use his bathtub.
One said Hood took her into the basement of his home, locked the door and unzipped his pants, the report states. She felt “aghast” and left, according to the report. Investigators said Interlochen’s personnel file for Hood included a letter this student wrote to center leaders in the 2000s describing what she said he did. It was not clear in the report if the center received the letter before or after Hood rejoined as a camp staff member.
The Free Press is reaching out to the families of Hanson, Hood and McWhorter. Interlochen indicated their families are aware each is named in the report.
In the fourth case, Interlochen reported the conduct of then-art teacher Thomas Clower to authorities in 2005. He was accused of sexually touching a student’s genitals. He was fired, arrested and ultimately pleaded guilty to fourth degree criminal sexual conduct. He was sentenced to 90 days in jail,according to the Traverse City Record-Eagle.
Epstein money stopped after student ‘did not engage in requested conduct’
Investigators spoke with two Interlochen alums who said they met Epstein and had sexual contact. Both said the conduct occurred while Epstein was still a donor; he attended the camp in the 1960s and donated to the school from 1990 to 2003.
Many Interlochen alums told investigators donors and other people not directly employed by the school had too much access to campus and students.
One told investigators Epstein and his compatriot Ghislaine Maxwell offered to pay her tuition at the pricy camp, but stopped footing the bill, “after she did not engage in requested conduct.” The former student said Epstein touched her over her clothes while at Interlochen, and flew her to New York while she was a student at least three times.
“She said that every time he was ‘handsy’ with her, she would freeze until he would stop. She also described being in Epstein’s home and massaging his feet and rubbing his back. This alum said that on occasions when she and Epstein were crossing the road, he put his hand on her crotch,” the report states.
The second former student said she met Epstein while she was a student but he flew her to New York after she graduated. While in New York, the former student told police Epstein gave her a tour of his home, took her to a massage table, asked for a massage and may have asked her to remove her shirt. After that, she said she never saw him or Maxwell again.
But the former student told her mother what happened, and her mother called Interlochen. The mother told investigators she believes she specifically named Epstein when she called, yet the person who answered the phone didn’t take her seriously.
No current or former staff member told investigators they were aware of misconduct by Epstein.
“There were no records provided to the Investigative Team reflecting notice to Interlochen of misconduct by Epstein,” the report states.
Interlochen is encouraging anyone not already interviewed who was abused to reach out. They can contact Elizabeth Sanghavi at elizabeth@sanghavilawoffice.com or 617-505-3010 before October. After that time, reports should go to investigation@interlochen.org.
Dave Boucher is an investigative reporter at the Detroit Free Press. Reach him at dboucher@freepress.com.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Epstein, others named in scathing Interlochen review. See full report
