Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Frischling: Firefighter, Snowboarder... and Abuse Victim

Warning: Try not to lose your lunch, please. If we thought there were even a tiny chance of this being true, we would not post the following.

Some of the photographers who can't stand Steven Frischling alerted us to his wildest, most inappropriate tale ever on the SportsShooter message board: a confession that he was sexually molested at a boarding school in high school.

Here is his story on the message board:
I went to boarding school for 12 months in the 9th grade. My dorm counselor was a monster.

This dorm counselor was let go from the USCG after a few "incidents" while he was involved in the USCG's civilian boys group.

This monster then went to Homer, Alaska where he was a firefighter, he became involved in the Fire Department's boy scout troop, there were allegations, but since his brother is also a firefighter in Home (and still is) he was advised to leave town quickly. My request for all interaction between the Homer PD and this man have been met with a sense of being rebuffed by the PD Chief.

From Alaska he went to Oregon where he worked in a Church outreach program. Up on his wall was a newspaper article on how he was found innocent on all allegation that he has sexually assaulted a boy in the outreach group....and that how the boy was being helped for his "troubles." What a way to flaunt it , eh?

From Oregon he landed at the Eagle Hill School, in Hardwick, Mass for about 4 years. I was there from June 89 to June 90. His actions started on the first night , I moved to a different dorm in Sept only to have him convince my parents and the school that it was in my best interest to be in his dorm, so less than a month later I was back in his dorm and he was relentless to many of us until we left the school. He was a master manipulator and was good at keeping students silent.

He moved on to Maine, near where his family lived. While in Maine he was involved in a community church where four boys filed charges. Nearly 50 charges. Two boys dropped the charges and he was allowed to plead guilty to somewhere around half-a-dozen minor sex offender charges. He was found to not be a threat, and unlikely to pursue sex offenses in the future, given a light sentence and probation.

He is now on probation in a remote town on the Canadian Boarder....I am sure hurting young children away from the eyes of the law.

....

I have tracked at least 80 victims to the pedophile I lived with by doing heavy leg work on my own. All are out of the time limitations, most won't discuss it, others just want to forget it, some can't be tracked down, but evidence of the incidents exist in sealed records (which are hard to get a hold of) ........and this guy got off by pleading guilty to seven minor-sex offender chargers for a light felony sentence.
Notably, even though this individual is supposedly a registered sex offender somewhere, Frischling does not identify him. So we shall refer to this unnamed individual as Chester.

Frischling provided a large number of details to work with, thinking it would make his story more credible. So let's go through them:
  • First, we have confirmed that he attended Eagle Hill School from 1989-1990. However, he claimed he was there "for 12 months." This is impossible as Eagle Hill School is not open year-round. According to an administrator who has been there for 28 years, they have a five-week session that begins in July, but school does not resume again until September.
  • He claims that Chester's "actions started on the first night." Possible, but highly dubious. Even we've seen enough "Law & Order: SUV" episodes to know child molesters in positions of power typically take awhile to build up trust with their victims and to secure their silence.
  • There was never any lawsuit involving the Frischlings, or any families, against the school for employing a child molester. Certainly if Chester were there for four years assaulting everyone on their first night, somebody would have filed a big fat lawsuit. Eagle Hill is an extremely pricey school (currently $57,000 for annual tuition!) and you can bet there would have been at least one very, very hefty lawsuit in the millions of dollars.
  • Frischling claims Chester had been fired from the U.S. Coast Guard after "incidents" with the USCG's "civilian boys group." We could not find anyone at the U.S. Coast Guard who had heard of such a group.
  • The statute of limitations for child molestation in Massachusetts was 15 years until 2006 (it is now 27). Why did nobody file criminal charges?
  • Additionally, the U.S. Coast Guard is a branch of the military along with the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines. Someone serving in the Coast Guard would not simply be "let go" for "incidents" of child molestation! This individual would go through a military trial and if found guilty, would serve very hard time in a military prison.
  • After Chester got back on shore, he moved to a small town called Homer, Alaska, where "he became involved in the Fire Department's boy scout troop." We called the fire department in Homer (population: ~5,000). We were told theirs is a volunteer fire department that is not, and has never been, associated with a scout troop. There are scout troops in the area, but they are not affiliated with the fire department.
  • Chester then apparently went to Oregon to work at a church group, and had a newspaper clipping on the wall to show off that he had been aqcuitted of assaulting a boy at the same church. Again highly dubious and plus, how would Frischling possibly know what was on this guy's wall at his former job, on the other side of the country, before he even met him?
  • Frischling, being the crimefighting superhero that he is, tracked down "at least 80 victims" all on his own! Conveniently, nobody will discuss it, everything is past the statute of limitations anyway, and other evidence is "sealed." He claims some of the victims he tracked down "can't be tracked down." Huh?
  • Chester moved to Maine where he got involved in another church, molesting boys right and left until he was facing 50 charges. He was eventually charged with six "minor-sex offender chargers (sic)." What the hell is a minor-sex offense charge?! Yet Chester, apparently the Teflon Don of child molesters, was "found to not be a threat" and "unlikely to pursue sex offenses in the future" - are you kidding?

What do you think? Do you buy the story?

8 comments:

  1. Surprising but not really. There are people all over the internet who claim to be victims. I saw something about people who hang out in cancer support forums lying about having cancer.

    Why is he home alone with three children?

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  2. It seems he is home with 3 kids because he can't find a job. Who would hire him with this site up and refreshed a few times each week?

    His "wife" works nights (apparently) so she is probably sleeping all day.

    The weird thing is, this site adds to his "fame" every day - but at least it is unvarnished. No fantasies here.

    If only he would respond - the spin would be fantastic.

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  3. I guess he never considered that someone might, or could, go back and fact-check his story. He simply assumed nobody would cross-check to see any of the background information would be true. Really good sleuth work you have done!

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  4. What's the scoop on his obsession with firefighters? Is he also a pyromaniac?

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  5. http://knowyourmeme.com/i/000/039/080/original/5008_9c00_420.gif?1265669754

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  6. Has anyone introduced you to a word called literacy? We said the school has a five-week program that starts in July. The school year ends in May and is closed most of August and early September. Therefore his claim of being there 12 months (June to June) is dubious.

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  7. Eagle Hill School has many incidents and secrets. For example sexual assaults that are put on the victim and/or go unreported. My child was sexually assaulted on the Eagle Hill campus. Most learning disabled kids have emotional issues which the school is poorly equipped to handle or monitor. Keep in mind that the school used to be just for boys, but is now co-ed. The lack of appropriate supervision allows for many social and emotional problems (including bullying, substance abuse, depression, sexual misconduct and assaults) There have been suicide attempts and an actual suicide on campus. A young man hung himself a few years ago. The place is corrupt and poorly supervised and nothing in the running of it matches the glowing propaganda the school puts out. Never send your child there.

    As for the comments about the Eagle Hill School year, the 2014 - 2015 academic year ran from including 1st year orientation of a day Sept. 6th to June 6th 2014 and camp began June 29th and ended July 31st. So one could consider the 3 weeks prior to camp a vacation break and the month of August a break. Some students are selected for LIT (Leader in Training - otherwise known as CIT) which requires them to be on campus for training and preparation in the summer the week before camp begins and possibly after as well.

    Were it not for my family's personal experience w/ the school and discussions with other parents who are or were equally disappointed, I might doubt that the Eagle Hill commentary, but having been there the scenario described is not out of the realm of possibility at all. As I said, never send your child there.

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  8. After posting previous on 1/19/16, I was extremely curious and did some actual fact checking and research. The individual molester in question is Erich Pfiel. There is extensive information on his conviction, trial, and that he is a child molester and that claims on his resume included working as a residence counselor responsible for 17 students at Eagle Hill School in Hardwick, MA.

    This is the link to Maine Court records for Pfeil.
    http://www.courts.maine.gov/opinions_orders/opinions/documents/98me245p.htm

    This is the article from the Bangor Daily News where Pfeil was jailed on charges of molestation. It should make a good read for you doubters out there.
    http://archive.bangordailynews.com/1997/06/10/accused-molester-makes-town-nervous-richmond-residents-wonder-whom-to-trust/

    Lastly, if this individual assaulted this man when he was a student at Eagle Hill which seems quite probable, the nonbelievers just cause further shame and pain for the victim and further perpetuate the crime. I'm just sayin' . . . those who speak out many times are criticized, ostracized without warrant. It is not uncommon that many do not chose to go through litigation.

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