Houseparent Charged In Second Church Farm School Sex Abuse Case

EXTON, PA — A dorm parent at Church Farm School in Exton is charged with sexual abuse after a student reported he was repeatedly sexually assaulted in the boiler room of a cottage at the boarding school and in other situations, hundreds of times.

Daniel Rowley, 70, of Ft. Meyers, Fla., is being extradited from Ft. Meyers to Chester County. Rowley is charged in connection with the alleged sexual abuse of a student between 2003 and 2007 when he was a houseparent and a coach at Church Farm School, the Chester County District Attorney’s Office and West Whiteland Police announced today

Rowley is charged with 10 counts each of involuntary deviate sexual intercourse and statutory sexual assault, 20 counts of indecent assault of a person under 16, and related offenses, according to the D.A.'s Office.

Church Farm School, 1001 E. Lincoln Highway, in West Whiteland Township, is a boarding and day school that says it is "in the Episcopal tradition."

Rowley is not the first employee of Church Farm School to face charges of sexual abuse against a student. In another recent case, Marc Spera, 58, of St. Petersburg, Fla., pleaded guilty earlier this year to one first-degree felony count of involuntary deviate sexual intercourse and two first-degree felony counts of unlawful contact with a minor, related to the sexual abuse of a student. The abuse happened between 2008 and 2010 when Spera was a teacher at Church Farm School, the Chester County District Attorney's Office said.

Spera was sentenced on March 31 to 15-30 years in prison.

In the Rowley case, the District Attorney alleges Rowley sexually abused a former CFS student during the student's freshman, junior, and senior years between 2003 and 2007, hundreds of times.

An investigation began after West Whiteland Police received information in November 2018 about the alleged abuse. Earlier in 2018, the victim revealed the abuse to his guidance counselor — a mandated reporter, required by state law to report suspected sexual abuse discovered in the course of their work. The victim, however, was not ready to speak with law enforcement about the abuse at that time, the D.A.'s report said.

In January 2021, West Whiteland Police were able to speak with the victim. Police said the victim told them that he lived in the cottage where the defendant was a houseparent when he was a freshman at CFS, the 2003-04 school year.

Houseparents are adults who live in residence halls with students and oversee the day-to-day living of boarded students. During that school year, Rowley brought the victim into his living area three times a week, where he orally and anally sexually abused the victim, the criminal complaint alleges.

When the victim was in seventh or eighth grade, on a school-sponsored trip to Florida with CFS baseball team members, Rowley walked in on the victim while he was showering, according to the complaint.

The victim did not attend CFS as a sophomore but returned in 2005-06 as a junior, where he again lived in the same cottage as the defendant. That year Rowley sexually assaulted the victim in his residence and as many as 20 times in the cottage's boiler room located in the basement, the complaint alleges.

The D.A.'s report alleges Rowley's sexual abuse continued during the victim's senior year. In total, the defendant abused the victim hundreds of times while he was a student at CFS, the District Attorney's Office alleges.

Rowley left CFS in 2010 after an internal investigation, police reported.

Chester County District Attorney Deb Ryan said, "The sexual abuse of students and children is pervasive and needs to stop now. My office will root out any adult, wherever they live, who abuses or has abused children."

Ryan added, "It took many years for this victim to have the courage to reveal what had happened to him, and then more years to have the fortitude to speak with law enforcement. His bravery should be an example for other children and adults to come forward and seek help."

West Whiteland Police Chief Lee Benson said, "Thank you to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement for their assistance in apprehending the defendant. Inter-agency collaboration such as this shows child predators that no one is out of our reach."

West Whiteland Police and Florida Department of Law Enforcement are investigating. Deputy District Attorney Erin O’Brien is the assigned prosecutor.

If you have any information about this case, please call Detective Michael Buchmann at 610-363-0200. Call Childline at 1-800-932-0313 if you suspect a child or student is being abused.

Read a related report on the Spera case here.

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