Our Michigan office is fifteen miles from the Interlochen campus. The independent investigation released on July 28, 2026 describes some 70 instances of sexual misconduct by 47 former faculty, staff, and trustees, spanning the 1950s through the 2010s. If the Interlochen Center for the Arts or its Arts Camp is part of your story, we will listen in confidence, tell you exactly where the law stands, and take it to the institution. Our trauma informed team is here to help.
Investigators conducted roughly 180 interviews over two years. Interlochen has sent the names of those accused to the Grand Traverse County Prosecutor’s Office.
Read the full reportInvestigators found abuse in every one of these decades for almost 70 years. The passage of time does not mean nothing can be done, and it does not mean no one will believe you.
In 2016, Rachael was the first woman to publicly accuse Larry Nassar of sexual abuse. Her courage sparked a movement, empowering 265 survivors to join her pursuit of justice. Their collective voices ultimately led to Larry Nassar’s life imprisonment. Rachael was instrumental in securing a $500 million dollar settlement with Michigan State University, and a further $380 million dollar settlement with the USA Gymnastics in 2021. She forced these institutions and the U.S. Olympic Committee to answer for what they had allowed.
She knows first-hand what an institution does when someone finally reports. That is what she brings to every survivor this firm represents.
Meet Rachael
Doug established the only national legal practice representing victims. He is a nationally recognized attorney with 30 years of experience handling sexual abuse cases against schools and institutions.
Meet Doug
Bailor has extensive experience representing victims and their families harmed or killed in notable cases across the nation and at Interlochen. He has achieved unprecedented results in civil cases involving sexual abuse.
Meet Bailor
Iliana represented sexual abuse and human trafficking victims in a historic compensation fund on behalf of sex trafficking victims on Backpage.com. She has represented hundreds of survivors of abuse and exploitation.
Meet IlianaUnwanted kissing, touching, fondling, rough or violent sexual activity, rape or attempted rape, threatening, pressuring or coercion of any sexual activity.
The act of building trust or a relationship with a victim who may be at risk for the purposes of manipulating or abusing them.
Sexual contact is intentional touching by another person’s genitals, mouth, hands or any other object, either directly or over the clothing, of the victims’ intimate body parts, for the purpose of sexually gratifying oneself or sexually humiliating or intimidating the victim.
Persuading or coercing a victim to engage in sexually explicit behavior for the purpose of photographing, filming or recording that behavior. Recording, displaying, sharing, producing, advertising, distributing sexually explicit behavior.
About one third of the 47 people named as perpetrators in the report have died. For many people reading the news this week, they may feel like a door just closed.
The institution still exists and you may still have options. Educational and custodial institutions have a legal duty to provide a safe environment and protect students from harm. Fellow faculty members, special guests and visitors may also have legal options.
Although some claims may be time-barred, your story and information could be invaluable in the pursuit of justice and liability.
We will explore every legal avenue to make things as right as we can.
We will investigate your case and the evidence available to us. Survivors can usually proceed under a pseudonym (alias name) to protect their identity.
Your personal story is evidence and it always has been.
In 2024, a former student reported sexual misconduct by a longtime member of the music faculty. Interlochen’s board commissioned an independent investigation, then widened it twice as more alumni came forward: first to every year of the Academy, then to the summer camp programs.
Byron Hanson, on the faculty from 1960 to 2015 and a former music director, is Respondent 1. Seven alumni gave firsthand accounts involving him. John “Jack” Hood, a faculty member and administrator, and Charlie McWhorter, a trustee from 1970 to 1999, were also named. All three are deceased. Thomas Clower, on the arts faculty from 2003 to 2005, was convicted of criminal sexual conduct in 2005 after Interlochen reported him.
About sixty pages of the report consist of firsthand accounts from unnamed alumni about unnamed adults. Details were deliberately kept general, assigned to decades rather than years, to protect the privacy of the people who came forward. If you recognize your own experience in that report without seeing your name, you are exactly who this page is for.
Epstein attended camp at Interlochen in the 1960s and was a donor from 1990 to 2003, with a lodge on campus bearing his name. It was torn down in June. New in this investigation: two alumni reported sexual contact with him, one of them at that lodge, five years before his first conviction. Ghislaine Maxwell was present during those interactions.
The school published the report rather than burying it, referred the names to the county prosecutor, and says it will fund counseling costs for those affected. We say so plainly because it is true, and because you deserve every avenue available to you, including the ones that have nothing to do with us. What matters now is what follows the apology.
The Detroit Free Press covered the report’s release and spoke with attorney Bailor Bell about the paths still open to survivors — from Michigan’s discovery rule to the statute-of-limitations reform now before the Legislature.
Read the coverage
Local 4’s ClickOnDetroit told the story of an Interlochen survivor who says the school looked away when he tried to come forward. Firm attorney and nationally recognized survivor-advocate Rachael Denhollander weighs in on what real accountability looks like — and what survivors can still do now.
Watch the coverageOften, yes. In institutional cases the claim that matters is usually against the school, not the individual. Interlochen exists, its records exist, and its insurers exist.
Some survivors may have options they were told they did not have. Contact our trusted team so we can evaluate your individual situation.
Yes. In Michigan, you do not need to have filed a police report or have a criminal case in order to pursue a civil claim.
In most cases, survivors can pursue a claim privately, using a pseudonym or initials. We will explain exactly how that works in your situation before you decide anything.
Nothing. The conversation is free, confidential, and there is no pressure. You tell us what happened, and we tell you whether we can help.
If you are a survivor or if you have spent years questioning what happened to you, please reach out to our trauma-informed team. You deserve to be heard. When you contact us, you will speak with an experienced member of our team. What you share is confidential, and every decision about what comes next remains entirely yours.
