Man Sues Sidwell Over Wife's Affair With School Psychologist

The father of a student at the exclusive private school President Barack Obama’s daughters attend is suing the school over a relationship between his wife and a school psychologist.

Sidwell Friends Academy allowed psychologist James Huntington to carry on an affair with Tara Newmyer, the mother of a 5-year-old student Huntington was treating, according to Terry Newmyer, the girl’s father. The school allowed the affair to continue for a year after he brought it to their attention, Terry Newmyer said.

The $10 million lawsuit says the affair caused “severe emotional distress” to Newmyer's daughter, a pre-kindergarten student. Huntington sent sexually explicit emails from his Sidwell account while serving as a sixth-grade sexual education teacher, the complaint says. Obama's older daughter, Malia, was in sixth grade at Sidwell at the time.

The lawsuit is without merit and the school intends to defend itself, Sidwell associate head of school Ellis Turner said.

Huntington was fired in February.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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