The Grand Traverse County Sheriff's Office is not investigatingthe report from Interlochen School of the Artsdetailing decades of sexual abuse accused by dozens of students, according to the sheriff.
Sheriff Michael Shea told the Free Press on Wednesday afternoon that he has the same redacted report that was released to the public. If the sheriff's office were to get more information about the perpetrators or victims in the report, or if a victim were to make a report to the sheriff's office directly, then police would investigate, he said.
More: Interlochen alumni speak out about abuse
"The sheriff's office, in conjunction with the prosecuting attorney, will attempt to utilize that report with additional information that hopefully will be provided
through the investigators to identify any viable victims and/or complaints to be investigated moving forward," Shea said. "If we can find a victim and the victim wants to file a complaint, we will investigate it."
The Grand Traverse County prosecuting attorney's office confirmed on Tuesday that it received a copy of the report but had not yet fully reviewed it. The prosecuting attorney did not immediately respond to a Free Press request for comment on Wednesday.
On July 28, the school released an extensive report on sexual abuse involving students.
Here's what to know:
The report found thatnearly 50 adults in leadership roles are accused of sexually abusing and exploiting at least 70 students. The accusations were gleaned from approximately 180 interviews with former students and staff. The allegations range from holding a student’s hand or making lewd comments to grooming and rape.
Contact Natalie Davies at ndavies@freepress.com.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Why Grand Traverse County Sheriff is not yet investigating Interlochen report
