He's being held on one million dollar bail because of numerous priors, including stalking and violating restraining orders.

I can't imagine being a parent of a girl in this guys class. I can't believe he is suspended with pay.


NASHUA, N.H. -- The head of the Lowell, Mass., high school math department and prominent chess player was ordered held on $1 million bail Wednesday when he was arraigned on 30 felony rape and incest charges.

Severine Wamala, 45, of Nashua, was arrested Tuesday on 19 counts of incest and 11 counts of aggravated felonious sexual assault. Wamala was put on paid administrative leave from Lowell High School, where is a teacher and head of the math department, said school Superintendent Karla Brooks Baehr.

In court, Wamala admitted to scores of previous court appearances as he tried to persuade a judge he could be trusted to be released on lower bail.

"I had to show up over a hundred times in court, and I didn't miss any," Wamala said via a TV hookup.

Court records show the previous arrests were on charges including stalking and violating restraining orders.

Detective Lt. Richard Sprankle said each of the 30 new charges carries a maximum of 10 to 20 years in prison.

Wamala is accused of sexually assaulting three young women, two now in their teens and one in her early 20s. Police said one of the women reported Wamala began assaulting her five years ago when she was 10.

More charges could be on the way. Sprankle said Lowell police also are investigating and the court documents say some of the alleged assaults happened at a chess club conference in Phoeniz, Ariz.

In addition to teaching, Wamala organizes NorthEast Chess tournaments around the region, and runs the high school's chess club. His daughter and two sons all are nationally ranked chess players, according to various chess Web sites.

Wamala is a native of Uganda who became a U.S. citizen after immigrating in 1988 to get his doctorate at the University of Massachusetts in Lowell.

Lowell police and school officials will hold a news conference Wednesday to discuss the case.

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