From the Nashua (NH) Telegraph:For Massachusetts chess lovers, Severine E. Wamala was a beacon, organizing local tourneys that drew internationally ranked masters to play the game that the Ugandan immigrant revered.
Lowell High School students knew the 45-year-old math teacher as a nattily dressed taskmaster who insisted on excellence and could explode in rage when he caught students slacking off. Earlier this month, he was named head of Lowell High's math department.
But for three young women, New Hampshire police and prosecutors said yesterday, Wamala was a terror.
Authorities allege he repeatedly sexually assaulted and molested the women, who range in age from 15 to 23. One victim said Wamala began assaulting her when she was 10, police and prosecutors said....
Wamala, who recently moved to Nashua from Lowell, told police he gave the alleged victims "special hugs" and extra affection, but never engaged in sexual activity with them, according to court documents....
Court documents say some of the alleged assaults happened at an August 2005 chess conference in Phoenix....
...Wamala had a misdemeanor conviction in 1993....
Wamala also has an extensive history of arrests for "serious family-related charges" in the early 1990s in Lowell including stalking and restraining order violations, police prosecutor Eden Gallant told Judge Paul Moore....
"His family is in fear," she said....
Wamala asked to apply for a court-appointed lawyer, and said he will dispute the current charges, describing himself as "a law-abiding person."
"I know I’m going to be vindicated," he said....
Wamala’s 16-year-old son called police later Monday night, soon after one of the victims disclosed the alleged abuse to him, according to police reports filed in court. The victim later told police Wamala first raped her when she was 10 years old, police reported.
As detectives continued to investigate, two other victims also described frequent assaults, police reported....
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