The mysterious fall of Antonio Lasaga

COURTESY THE YALE BANNER Former Saybrook Master Antonio Lasaga.

Where in the world is Antonio Lasaga?

According to Yale College Dean Richard Brodhead, BR '68, GRD '72, the former Saybrook Master met with administrators at 3:00 on the afternoon of Fri., Nov. 6. No one has seen him since. Some of the Lasagas' belongings remain in the Saybrook Master's House, according to new Saybrook Master Harry Adams. Lasaga's wife, Evelyn, has not been to her job at Catholic Family Services all week, the charity confirms.

Nor have the Lasagas been seen at the Cheshire, Conn., home where they spent weekends and summers. Neighbor Claudia Davison, a high-school teacher who used to cat-sit for the Lasagas, said, "I haven't seen anyone go in or out of there all week." Though the porch and driveway lights are on, the brown and white two-story has been silent as a tomb, its curtains drawn, its driveway empty.

Say what?

On the morning of Fri., Nov. 6, federal agents arrived at the High Street entrance to the Saybrook Master's House around 6:30 a.m. to carry out a search warrant. Gary, a Yale locksmith who refused to give his full name, said that when he was called to repair the lock at about 12:30 p.m., the door near the Master's garage "was kicked in, and the lock was totally beyond repair. It was definitely forced in."

The New Haven Register reported that the FBI left the premises with two computers and several boxes containing hundreds of images of child pornography, as well as paper records and other materials. According to the National Law Center for Children and Families, child pornography is defined under federal law as "an unprotected visual depiction of a minor child (under the age of 18) engaged in actual or simulated sexual conduct, including a lewd or lascivious exhibition of the genitals."

On Friday afternoon, University President Richard Levin, GRD '74, called former Trumbull Master Adams to tell him that Lasaga, who was appointed Saybrook Master in 1996, had resigned and taken a leave of absence from his teaching duties in geology and geophysics (G&G). "The President called me on Thursday," Adams recounted. "I went down to his office, and he said a college Master--he didn't say which one--might be leaving, and he asked if I might take the job. On Friday he called to say it was Saybrook." Adams said he was told nothing else.

On Friday night, Brodhead announced Lasaga's sudden resignation to Saybrook students in a hastily scheduled meeting. Although Brodhead admits he had known about the investigation since "early in the week," he told the students only that their Master had stepped down "for personal reasons" and would be replaced by Adams.

"Since the contents of the investigation were to some extent uncertain at that time, and since it was ongoing, there was the danger that anything we said about it would be imperfectly truthful," Brodhead said. He admitted, though, that "on Friday, we knew enough to know that it was appropriate for Master Lasaga to separate himself from his faculty responsibilities and his duties to students."

Yale Legal Counsel Dorothy Robinson says the University, not the FBI, decided what it would tell the Yale community. "We, the relevant officers of the University, made our own decision about what was best under the circumstances," she said. Robinson refused to define "relevant officers." Brodhead was told about the investigation last week, but Dean of Student Affairs Betty Trachtenberg was not. "I found out on Friday," she said.

Late Tuesday, Yale broke its silence and released a terse, one-paragraph statement: "We now confirm that an investigation of former Master Lasaga is being conducted under the direction of the United States Attorney's Office." The University's statement said nothing about the probe's details and scope: "Since the investigation is in the hands of the law enforcement authorities, they are the only authoritative source of information about the investigation."

One anonymous police source believes Yale administrators handed Lasaga an ultimatum: step down or be fired. Administrators declined to comment on this allegation.

This source also reported that Yale police let federal agents search Lasaga's Saybrook quarters again on Mon., Nov. 9, and the agents left with computer hard drives and disks. Acting University Police Chief James Perrotti denied that a search occurred Monday.

As details have continued to surface this week, the FBI has maintained its silence and kept investigating. According to Delcie Thibault of the U.S. Attorney's Office, which oversees the FBI, no charges have yet been brought, which means there is no warrant for Lasaga's arrest.

According to the Register, the case began when two Saybrook students tipped off the Yale police about potential illicit activity involving Lasaga. The Yale police, in turn, alerted the FBI. Federal agents are also allegedly investigating a middle school student to whom Lasaga was a mentor. The child, who is about 13, was often seen with Lasaga at Saybrook events and even in his classes.

After the fall

In the aftermath of Lasaga's mysterious departure, the Yale community is picking up the pieces. On Wed., Nov. 11, the G&G department held an emergency meeting to decide how to handle Lasaga's absence. According to one unidentified professor, Lasaga's duties were divvied up between badly shaken faculty members. Like the students, they knew nothing more than they had read in the papers.

A popular lecturer, Lasaga, who came to Yale in 1984, taught Physical and Environmental Geology, also known as "Rocks for Jocks." Kelly Pagan, SY '02, recalled, "Considering geology is not exactly my favorite subject, Professor Lasaga managed to make it pretty interesting."

Although the class was cancelled on Fri., Nov. 6., guest lecturers have substituted this week, and G&G Chair Danny Rye, who co-taught the class with Lasaga, plans to cover the rest of the syllabus.

For Lasaga's graduate advisees, filling the gap won't be so easy. "The department has been really good about trying to find someone to help with my research, but this is obviously going to set me back," Aaron Taylor, GRD '00, said.

Administrative concerns aside, Lasaga's departure has had a profound emotional impact. Harvard geochemist Daniel Schrag, TC '88, was Lasaga's student as an undergraduate. "Tony is a warm and kind person. I'm personally very surprised," he said. "The Harvard [geology] faculty is concerned. We know Tony and this surprises us because it doesn't seem like the Tony we know."

Ezra Stiles Master Paul Fry said, "I'm shocked. It just tells you how little you can know about people."

On the evening of Wed., Nov. 11, Adams held an open meeting for Saybrook students to share their feelings. About 25 students passed through to talk to Adams, Trachtenberg, and Mental Hygiene counselors. "It was Saybrook coming together as a community," Trachtenberg said.

The students themselves are still reeling from their beloved Master's departure. "The reaction was first disbelief, then shock," freshman counselor Adrian Delmont, SY '99, said. "The majority of us really liked Master Lasaga. I received a phone call from Betty [Trachtenberg] around 5 p.m. on Friday. I know Master Lasaga pretty well. I still hope this pans out in the best possible way."

Dan Fingerman, SY '00, a Master's aide who knew Lasaga well, added, "Everything he was doing last week was gearing up to put more into the college. Nobody expected him to let up."

The crystal ball

So far, the pieces just don't fit. "The theory that two Saybrook students [turned Lasaga in] mystifies me," one unidentified Yale professor said. He speculated, "Maybe there was just a confluence, meaning there was a national probe and some people on campus contributed as well. Maybe two Yale students found out about it by playing on the Internet. Or maybe Lasaga really is an isolated event that doesn't connect with the national and international world."

Special Agent Pete Gulotta, press representative for the FBI's Baltimore Division (the hub of the department's child pornography investigations), noted that these cases are often simple. "Sometimes people under investigation who know it just flee," he said.

Adams, who plans to move into Saybrook on Monday, expects Levin will form a committee of fellows and students to appoint a new Master next semester. The Council of Masters will meet as scheduled tomorrow, and Rye will hold a special meeting with G&G undergraduates next week. No action has yet been taken with regard to Lasaga's tenure--he could return to teaching next year.

Many questions remain. Has Lasaga fled, or is he in custody? Will he be charged or arrested, or will the investigation be dropped? Was he simply downloading and storing explicit images, or was he involved in something larger? And where in the world is he? At press time, these questions had not been answered.

Sangeetha Ramaswamy contributed to this article.

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