Ex-Gilford teacher, acquitted of sex assault, dies after Texas authorities initiate probe

GILFORD — William Crowley was by all accounts admired for his abilities as a teacher and cherished as an individual. But a dark chapter in his life weighed on him.

Crowley, a former teacher in the Gilford school system, was found dead in his vehicle in a church parking lot outside Austin, Texas. Authorities have been tight-lipped about how Crowley died, saying only that foul play is not suspected.

Soon after his death word came out that Texas authorities were investigating Crowley after receiving a complaint from a juvenile. That revelation had a haunting echo to that dark chapter when Crowley was a teacher at Gilford Elementary School 15 years ago.

In April 2005, Crowley, who taught fourth grade, was arrested for sexually assaulting an 11-year-old boy he had been baby-sitting the previous December while the child’s mother was out of state.

In September 2005, a jury found Crowley innocent of all the charges against him. The jurors concluded the evidence did not even warrant conviction for the misdemeanor charge he was facing, much less the two felonies of sexual assault.

Minutes after the three "not guilty" verdicts were read, a shaking, tearful Crowley, surrounded by his mother and brother, told reporters he could not have made it through his ordeal without his family's support. "This is when you really find out who your friends are," he said.

Crowley’s lawyer, John Gillen, noted that despite the jury’s acquittal, Crowley would not really come out of a "big-splash case like this" as the winner. "It's a very sad case," said Gillen. "There are no winners. . .(Crowley's) been harmed."

The Gilford School District suspended Crowley immediately after his arrest. He left the school district altogether soon thereafter — even before his trial.

His New Hampshire teaching credentials were never revoked, based on a state Department of Education list of revocations and suspensions going back to the 1990s.

It was not long after his acquittal that he moved to Texas, where he sought to re-establish his teaching career.

“He was a phenomenal teacher who cared about all of his students,” said Wendy Oellers-Fulmer who taught with Crowley at Gilford Elementary and wrote a letter of recommendation on his behalf for his job in Texas.

“He was exonerated,” Oellers-Fulmer emphasized when talking about the 2005 charges. She added that she never believed the allegations made against Crowley, who was 49 years old at the time of his death.

After settling in Texas, Crowley got married and with his wife was raising two sons.

Reacting Friday when she first learned of Crowley’s death, Oellers-Fulmer said, “Knowing what he went through I’m not surprised. … (The arrest and trial) were a nightmare for him, and for everybody.”

The head of the Baldwin Elementary School in Southwest Austin where Crowley taught also noted his abilities as a teacher.

“Mr. Crowley has served the Baldwin Elementary community and inspired many students and staff with his love for learning and his dedication to all children,” Principal Jennifer Murray wrote in a note to parents. She also told parents that school officials were cooperating with the police investigation into the allegation against Crowley.

Austin school district police said during a parent meeting Wednesday that any record of (the 2005 charges) had been expunged and did not show up in a background check, according to parents who attended a special parents’ meeting, the Austin American-Statesman reported Wednesday. Murray also said she did not learn of the investigation opened in Austin into Crowley until after he died, parents told the paper.

According to the paper, Austin school district Superintendent Paul Cruz said at the meeting that he and other officials were looking into the possibility of incorporating Google and social media searches into their vetting process for teacher applicants, parents said.

Jack Baker of Austin, whose son was in Crowley’s fifth-grade class during the 2011-12 school year, said Crowley was a good teacher and that his son had benefited from being in Crowley’s class. He said it was only this week that he learned of Crowley’s past.

“At no time did we ever feel (my son) was in jeopardy of being harmed,” he said.

Postings on a GoFundMe set up to benefit Crowley’s two young sons contain numerous tributes, Including: “Mr. Crowley was impactful in each of my sons’ lives,” “He was a great teacher with an understanding for youngsters and my children. He knew what to say. .. We all need a teacher like him in our lives,” and “... my family and I loved him very much. He was the 5th grade teacher for one of my sons. He has taught him to be a responsible young man and inspired not only him but the whole family.”

According to the Texas Education Agency, Crowley received a provisional one-year teaching certificate in 2006 and in December of that year he was granted a standard six-year certificate which was renewed again in 2012 and 2018. He also held a separate certification as a teacher of English as a second language. Agency spokesman DeEtta Cubertson said as of Friday there were “no flags” on Crowley’s certification to indicate complaints or investigations.

Days after Crowley’s arrest in 2005, then-Gilford Superintendent Paul DeMinico said in a statement published as a letter to the editor in the Laconia Daily Sun, “Gilford school officials conducted a thorough interview process, as well as doing extensive reference checks of his previous professional experience, as is Gilford's practice. In addition, Mr. Crowley completed a criminal background check, including fingerprints reviewed through both the New Hampshire State Police and the FBI national files, as required for all employees of the school district. There was absolutely nothing to indicate any sort of problem, especially a problem of this nature.”

“He was portrayed as this horrible person,” said Oeller-Fulmer. “But those of us who knew him and worked with him remember him as an innovative and caring teacher.”