Summary - Jan 10, 2008

The Mansfield News Journal had the same reaction we did when Dustin Powers was finally sentenced to prison.

But the fact is there are crimes that deserve prison time, pure and simple. In this instance -- a school teacher taking advantage of his position of authority to start a sexual relationship with a junior high student -- prison time was a must.
It would have given Powers time to reflect on his crime.

It would have given counselors time to work with him in a closed environment in a sex offender treatment program. It would have been a shock to Powers' system to see and hear the prison doors swing shut and realize he had committed a horrible crime.

Most importantly, it would have protected the victim from exactly what happened -- becoming a victim again.

Read the whole thing.

PRE-TRIAL CONFERENCE
In Arizona, Stephen Charles Hume, 60, has asked for 3-4 weeks to consider a plea agreement. He is accused of secretly videotaping students as they changed clothes for art projects last October. It was a Rant of the Day when he was being investigated for the incredible postings of some of his supporters.
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Endangering the Welfare of a Child charges
When Fulton, NY special education teacher Gracia Thompson was arrested and charged with with two counts of endangering the welfare of a child for alleged abuse of two special needs students, her lawyer accused the two teacher's aides of "some kind of vendetta."

The newspaper had to modify the story when they found out the aides didn't turn the teacher in. The two aides were contacted by police after the call to a child abuse hotline that started the police investigation. The paper then added the full text of depositions and accusatory instruments filed with the court. They are available at the story. [If you're having trouble opening them, right click open them in a new window or new tab.]

The school district investigated in May and did not notify police.
TT - Link for Thompson

CHILD PORNOGRAPHY
A 39-year-old Texas teacher was sentenced to 10 years in prison, followed by 7 years of supervised release. There is no probation for federal sentencing.
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A Florida elementary school principal was arrested again on child pornography charges. Arrested in December, the new child pornography charges are the result of computer forensics.
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In Wisconsin, a retired teacher who admitted he had a sexual interest in teens his entire life, will be going to trial. His son turned him in when he found child pornography on his father's computer.
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Summary - November 15, 2007

TOP STORY
A labor consultant at a teachers strike in Ohio was charged for not telling the truth in his report that a security van for the school ran over his foot on the picket line. The reporter wasn't quite candid either. John Avouris isn't a labor consultant. He's the Ohio Education Association (OEA) representative at the labor talks and described elsewhere as a union president. Don't miss the videos of the thuggery at the picket lines and intimidation of children on the school buses.
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SENTENCED - Sex with student
She's officially our Teacher Trash of the Month. Kirsten Kinley, 27, was sentenced to three years in prison, with all but 18 months suspended. She pleaded guilty in August to one count of a third-degree sex offense involving sexual relations with a 15-year-old boy. Charges of improper sexual conduct with a second boy were dropped after he refused to cooperate with prosecutors.
She will be required to be a sex offender for life.
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Note: Two other teachers in Howard County, Maryland schools are awaiting trial for - sex with students.

GUILTY VERDICT - Murder
In Houston, coverage of the trial of David Temple, accused of killing his 8-month pregnant wife was intense. The jury found him guilty of the 1999 killing.
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Another teacher, Carla Hughes, is on trial in Mississippi for the murder of her husband. This is the second trial. The first jury found her guilty. A judge ordered a retrial because the jury wasn't "race neutral." TT - Link

GUILTY VERDICT - Sex with student
Michael Ashley, 41, was found guilty of third-degree rape and third-degree sodomy for sex with a 14-year-old girl. The jury recommended a six-year sentence. (Kentucky)
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ACQUITTED (Partially)
A New Jersey history teacher was acquitted by a Pennsylvania jury on 17 charges after a knife fight at an underage drinking party. They couldn't decide on another 7 charges against Christopher Davis, 35. It's a USA Network Story-of-the-Week material.
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RETIRED
An elementary school teacher in Pennsylvania agreed to retire and never teach again in Pennsylvania after an elementary student saw a sexual image on his computer. He was acquitted in 2001 of lewd conduct at the Catholic school. It's a convenient solution for the school but he's still going to have a teaching license.
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CHARGED - Sex with student
Thirty-nine-year-old Brenda K. Baillargeon was charged with having sex with a 16-year-old male student. The mother of the boy obtained a harassment restraining order against the teacher in October. Maybe she should have bought a gun. (Wisconsin)
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CHARGED - Grand larceny
A technology teacher at an Edison school in Rochester, New York, was charged with stealing the school's robot worth about $5,000. The robot is used in competitions.
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ARRESTED -
In Charleston, S.C., Scott Knight, 38, was arrested, accused of harassing a student.
In North Charleston, Larry Smith, 40, was arrested for assault of a high and aggravated nature against a student.
In Lakewood, CO, Frank Lee Pierce, 30, was arrested in sex internet sting.
Kerry McJunkins, 38, was arrested in Kentucky on sex charges in Arizona that date back to the 1980s.

IN OTHER NEWS

Getting rid of bad teachers
Is how the blog at the New York Times described the latest plan by Mayor Bloomberg to rid New York City schools of incompetent teachers. It all sounds great on paper, but even Bloomberg confessed it was an impossible task in a speech earlier this year. Just after he gave the teachers a 43% pay raise. And then there were those retirement consessions.
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Teacher shortage
While Bloomberg reforms New York schools (kinda), there's a teacher shortage in Maryland. At least, in Anne Arundel County public schools. They're hiring foreign teachers and in a new policy that is aimed at helping the new teachers, the district wants to sponsor their permanent residency in the U.S.
THE USUAL CAUSES of teacher shortage are cited: low pay and benefits.
THE REAL PROBLEM: The problem is teachers who can't pass competency exams after attending expensive American colleges and universities.
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Summary - November 14, 2007

SENTENCED - sorta
In Arizona, Rebecca Kelley, 24, was sentenced to three years' probation for failing to report an offense involving a minor and three separate charges of contributing to the delinquency of a child. The male student was 17-years-old. The judge said he believed probation was appropriate given Kelley’s remorse, acceptance of responsibility and age. (Arizona) We looked up the judge's qualifications.
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SENTENCED - for child pornography
Not only did James Mircovich possess pornography, he distributed it. When he was teaching he was accused of inappropriate conduct or contact with female students. Sentenced to 12 years for possession and distribution of child pornography, including pictures of a 20-month-old baby being sexually abused by her father.
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SENTENCED - Sex with student
In Georgia, Richard Whitehead, 34, will have a lot of time to wonder if maybe sex with a 17-year-old student was a good idea. He was sentenced to 30 years. And after that, he'll be a registered sex offender.
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ARRESTED - Child pornography
A teacher's aide in an elementary school was arrested for possession of child pornography. The aide is James Leonarczyk, 40, and investigators are now looking into his interactions with students at the school. (New Jersey)
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See our list of teachers and administrators who have been sentenced for child pornography and those who are awaiting sentencing.

OTHER NEWS

Sentencing Reform
They are talking about sentencing reform in Massachusetts to require mandatory sentences for child rapists. The average sentence for child rape in Massachusetts is three to five years. One of the witnesses at the hearing was a victim of a Massachusetts teacher who got a suspended jail term and probation after pleading guilty to child rape and child pornography. A MEASURE of the teacher's remorse was that the teacher broke the conditions of his probation and ended up being sentenced to the two years. They ought to investigate the judge. Oh, we already did.
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Ghost Employees
Even while giving stump speeches and writing articles about how there aren't enough jobs in Pennsylvania, former Representative Frank LaGrotta hired his sister and her daughter for ghost jobs. They got paid but did no work. He was charged with conflict of interest in the corruption investigation. His sister is a third-grade teacher. Both she and her daughter were also charged. And that's just the beginning of the scandal in Pennsylvania.
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Understandably Upset
Parents at an elementary school are understandably upset after they found out the school counselor was arrested for indecency with a child in 2004. A jury acquitted him of the charge. Authorities say another charge against him was dropped after a second student who'd accused him of a sex crime previously couldn't be found to testify in court. (Texas)
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Drunk in the classroom
"I'm trying to think why they wouldn't even mention that," one mother commented when she heard from reporters that a teacher her children's elementary school was sent home for being drunk and having a bottle of liquor in his classroom. (Wisconsin)
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Lawsuit
A judge ordered a Pennsylvania school district to turn over the names of 19 students whose names were redacted from documents turned over to an attorney whose client is suing the school district. The lawsuit? The parents of a girl who a victim of Donald James Rosie, 56, contend the school failed to investigate Rosie's involvement with female students. The girl was 16-years-old.
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Summary - November 13, 2007

SENTENCED - Child molestation
In Florida, David L. Mindick, 61, a substitute teacher, was sentenced to 225 days in jail - not prison - and five years' probation for for lewd and lascivious molestation of victims younger than age 12. The six girls were 8-years-old.
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SENTENCED - Sex with a child
Geometry teacher Julio Polo, 36, was sentenced to seven years in prison, followed by five years' probation after a jury found him guilty of two counts of lewd battery and one count of having sex with a child. He is married and the father of two children. He turned down a plea offer of two years. His defense was that it was his nephew, not him. The student was 16-years-old. (Florida)
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SENTENCED - Sorta
In Maine, Christopher Dumaine, 39 an English teacher, pleaded guilty to two counts each of gross sexual assault and unlawful sexual contact and one count of violating a condition of release for contacting the victim against court orders. He was sentenced to to four years in jail - not prison - with all but the nine months suspended.

The girl was 16-years-old. She wrote a letter to the judge asking to see Dumaine when she turned 18. Dumaine will be a registered sex offender for 10 years.
[Ten years sex offender registration but only 9 months in the local jail????]
(Maine - as a poster said, breeding ground for Jerry Springer episodes.)
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INDICTED - Lesbian sex with student
Arrested in May, Heather Thornsby, 34, was indicted by a grand jury on seven counts related to an alleged inappropriate relationship with a female student. She is charged with three counts of statutory rape by an authority figure, two counts of sexual battery by an authority figure and two counts of exploitation of a minor by electronic means. (Tennessee)
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INDICTED
Paul M. Knutson, 58, currently a teacher in Arkansas, was indicted by a grand jury on 13 felony counts of sexual conduct with a minor and drug-related charges. The charges date back to between 1983 and 1985 when he taught in Scottsdale, Arizona. The newspaper reports that at least six cases in which employees of East Valley schools face sexual-related charges involving minors are moving through Maricopa County Superior Court. (Arizona)
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ARRESTED - Vehicular
A technology teacher at a middle school led police on a chase after they were called to the school following a meeting between the teacher and school administrators. The subject of the meeting wasn't revealed, but they would not allow him back on campus and two schools were locked down. It sounds to us like a mental health issue. (Illinois)
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ARRESTED - Suspicion of lewd acts with a child
A 62-year-old teacher's aide was arrested in Alta, California, suspicion of committing lewd acts with a child. John Erickson, 62, is a retired teacher. He is accused of exposing himself to one child. (California)
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ARRESTED - DUI, Drug possession, trafficking in drugs
Arrested at a traffic stop for DUI, police searched the car of middle school teacher Jesse Mockler, 30, and found the painkiller Roxicet, a combination of Tylenol and Oxycodone. They also found three muscle relaxant pills called Flexeril in Mockler’s car. Both drugs require a prescription. He's charged with DUI and drug possession and trafficking in drugs. [That last is because of the schedule and quantity of drugs, not because he was selling.] (Florida
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ARRESTED - Lesbian sex with student
In Pennsylvania, Erica L. Baker, 24, a student teacher, was arrested on charges that she had sexual contact with a 16-year-old female student.
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ARRESTED
A registered sex offender was arrested in Illinois working as a temporary worker for a food service company contracted by the school district. He worked two days at a middle school, one day at a high school and was arrested on the fourth day at the middle school. The company was supposed to conduct background searches on all employees. His previous conviction was molestation of a 9 year-old girl. Taxpayers pay top dollar for this?
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OTHER NEWS

COURT NEWS
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court upheld the conviction of a court clerk who tried to get a husband's criminal record cleared so he could be a teacher. She prepared an order to dismiss all charges against her husband, but an employee at the state police records unit got suspicious.
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SHODDY CANADIAN TEACHER DISCIPLINE
Newspapers in Canada are starting to look closely at the teacher disciplinary records and, not surprisingly, are finding the same lack of discipline found in most U.S. states. In British Columbia, the review panel consists of -- get this - one staff lawyer representing the parents and two former union officials. Predictably, the cases are resolved in consent agreements so no one is the wiser. And since, Canada also reports teacher discipline to NASDTEC ("National Association of State Directors of Teacher Education and Certification") the records don't quite reflect reality for Canadian teachers either.
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SHODDY U.S. TEACHER DISCIPLINE
USA Today had a similar theme. In an editorial, they want confidentiality agreements eliminated. They also want school districts to quit passing abusers on to other districts. They also report that some states are making it hard for teachers to get away with sexual abuse. In Maine, where state officials refused to release teacher disciplinary actions to the AP reporters, the governor has vowed to change confidentiality laws. In Missouri, legislators are considering a bill that would ban confidentiality agreements in sexual abuse cases. And in Florida, legislators are debating a registry of teacher offenders.
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DRUG SWEEP A drug sweep in an Ohio school was noteworthy for the lack of drugs. Two students were arrested when drug sniffing dogs found drugs in one of their lockers. However, the real story is how the school provided garbage bags in every classroom and teachers told the students they would step out of the room for 90 seconds and students could put whatever contraband they had inside with no questions asked. What did that accomplish? (Ohio)
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Summary - November 1, 2007

TOP STORY
A music teacher in Maine was arrested, charged with misdemeanor touching of students. It is a case that perfectly illustrates how a popular teacher is shielded by that popularity from serious scrutiny even by the parent of a victim. An earlier story of his arrest was filled with accolades gleaned from the newspaper archives, leading to widespread support for him and an accusation that the victim made up the story because of grades.

A second story today shocked readers when they learned that the teacher had admitted his attraction for very young children, had a previous complaint reported against him, and is under suspicion of buying child pornography. The self-examination by readers is thoughtful and serious and very informative.

It also illustrates how communities are torn by their loyalties and how devastating that is to the victim and their families. Some comments from the site are below.
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I imagine the mother must have felt the weight of the teacher's popularity - not an excuse, but that's the way it often is. Some of the first reactions yesterday smacked of what folks fear to face when they speak up. It's been seen before that people with these tendencies ingratiate themselves with the community even while they groom their victims. I don't know if it's intentional camouflage or some kind of subconcious compensation - the good feelings they get from the praise for what they publicly do assuaging to some degree any guilty feelings they get for what they privately do? Maybe a little of both. It might seem like sensationalism to some, but the more these stories are reported the easier it will be for victims to come forward and the harder it will be for perpetrators to continue. Good job, SJ. - Graylady

AND,

I am still reeling over yesterday's comments. My, how everyone changed their tune overnight, and suddenly stopped defending the scumbag teacher. - justme

AND,

Another Park Ave. parent here. Obviously the students he touched were victims, but I think the whole school community: parents, teachers, and students are victims this week. Our trust has been betrayed. It's really easy for outsiders to blurt, "lock up the scumbag", but not so easy for those who worked with him daily, developed a friendship, and have had your child look up to him. Now I make sure my 8 year old doesn't see the news on TV or this site, because I'm just not sure how to explain it to him. As angry as I should be for what he has done, I still can't help feel bad for the guy when reporters are banging on his door and showing his house and address on statewide TV. It's just hard for some to mentally "flip the switch" and change their view from "happy, nice guy" to "horrible criminal". It's just a bad situation all the way around and hope the school can recover and move on as best they can. -DW

AND,

I think cameras in every classroom would be a deterrent to a lot of this behavior. -william

From JohnBerry:

JaneDoe, Please let your niece know that many of the members of this community greatly admire her strength and courage. We are proud of her. ----- Please let your sister know that she did the right thing. She looked at the whole circumstance and made a decision with the facts she had at the time. It is easy to look back and pass judgment as many are taking the opportunity to do. Their statements about what they would have done or what the mom should have done can be seen as people taking an opportunity to discuss the difficulties that face every parent and caregiver. A conversation like this (without the criticism) can be healthy. Through this we will all learn to better deal with these problems. ----- My best wishes and prayers are with this girl, her mom, and all of the families in our community.

AND,

I think if you want to be teacher ,They should have some kind of test before to see if they like children,And yes have camers in every room of the school, - Annie

From a student,

am a 15 year old student at Franklin School and happen to be family with one of the little girls that stepped forward. I am very proud of her and have told her this. I do however believe this man should be away for life. If we pay good enough attention to how this man is talking he feels no remorse, he feels what he's done has to do with mental illness..BS! I have a mental illness and I was just taken off my medication. I've been doing well and you don't see me going out and sexually harassing/touching little boys or girls. I believe the schools should be at fault. They were getting reports and handling it very unprofessional. The mother of this little girls is just as hurt nd feels the same fault as the other parents. What if she had made the report? Do you honestly think it would have blown up this quick? Do you really think this man would have been investigated this quick. I don't believe so. I think it would have been another in-house incident. They would have kept it from the press and this man would not only be walking tall but he'd still be teaching and hurting these little girls. The schools all over America need to do something about this. The schools put cameras in the high schools to watch for drugs/alcahol/tobacco and you dont see the teachers there touching the kids. Maybe it's time to realize we need to do everything we are capable of to protect these innocent children. It's time for security, for cameras, micraphones anything that's going to keep these men/woman from scarring these children. I don't blame the mother. I blame the schools, the police departments, the feds. "Protect and Serve?" I'm not so sure anymore... - AmyLee

From another parent,

had a 15 year old son who was 'frisked' at the urinal in the high school men's room by a teacher with the Vice Principal and the Principal present in the bathroom! They thought it was hiliarious! My son, who is a quiet and modest person was very upset and embarrassed, not mention in a very vulnerable position unable to cover himself. When I found out about the incident, I went to the school to request an investigation and the vice principal said, "I was there! It was no big deal, in fact, it ranks this low on my problem-o-meter!" (he held his two pinched fingers together). I was so upset at this lack of concern or willingness to see the incident as a serious matter and one of sexual harassment. I went to the principal who assured me he would 'talk' to this teacher. I wanted the incident documented in his file and proof that training had taken place regarding sexual harassment. (It never happened) I called my attorney and he offered to write a letter on my behalf to the school but said there was little I could do... I guess I can see where that Mom was coming from with her, 'wait and see approach'- but I didn't 'wait and see', I 'went and said' and got nowhere! The 'good ole boy club' watches it's back and the schools don't even adhere to basic employement law. It is frustrating, wrong, and sickening! The school had another teacher who taught keyboarding at the high school level and he would come behind the girls and put his arms around them to 'show them how to do something on the pc'. While he was showing them, he'd look down their shirt or place his hand over theirs and move the mouse around in a more than suggestive way. My adult daughter told me this after she graduated. It is happening even with our older children-not just 5-7 year olds! Mon Dieu! - MoreSkoolin

There are pages and pages of comments. They will be lost when the story is archived, but they reflect the same experiences and concerns in letters we get daily, in stories that are abundant daily. They are pained communities, families, friends and victims. And we place the burden on correcting the problem on that last - the victims.

It's their testimony that results in conviction. It's their courage that leads them to complain. It's their violation that is denied most often by the schools, fellow teachers, then friends of the accused, in open courtrooms with aggressive lawyers and most sadly of all, by fellow students, children they grew up with who can't imagine themselves as victims and let their fondness for popular teachers sway their opinions.

Why must children have to be burdened with changing the system? Why should they have to wait for laws that make sexual abuse by teachers a felony with automatic registration as a sex offenders? Why must children wait for cameras to be required, mandated, for classrooms where there has been one complaint, one whisper, one indication of a problem?

The first blog I ever had was about teacher misconduct. It was in 2002 and for one month I tracked stories about teachers who were arrested for sexual abuse of their students. In one month there were two stories a day on average. That was five years ago. That was when there were significantly less newspapers online and fewer, less effective, search engines. It took 5-7 hours a day to find the stories and no hope of following up.

With the exception of laws that criminalize teacher/student sex in several states, not much has changed. There are discipline records online in many states, but few list the details of the criminal charges or explantion of how a teacher can have their license revoked for sex with a student when no criminal charges can be found. And there is no explanation why teachers convicted of a crime against students haven't had their license revoked even two years later. In other states it never happens.

Some things need to change.

Summary - Oct 31, 2007

If it's not lawyers, it's their clients. link
We're never quite sure why some lawyers let their clients testify.

HOSPITALIZED
Tampa, Florida teacher Christina Butler has been hospitalized because of "emotional stress, " according to her lawyer.

[Her attorney, Tom] Fox did not discuss the allegations but said there could be problems with statements Butler made to police last week based on her "long history of mental disorders."

Uh, Yeah. She is accused of having sex with a ninth grade student. Butler is 33.
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SENTENCED (sorta)- Lewd and lascivious molestation
A Florida teacher was sentenced to a year in jail - not prison - for lewd or lascivious molestation of a 15-year-old boy. The prosecution wanted 51 months in prison, but the judge said she departed from a prison sentence for reasons including a doctor's testimony that Goodbrad was at a low risk to reoffend, and because he showed immediate remorse. She also sentenced him to community service. We are going out on a limb by saying she's a crackpot and ought not to be a judge and feel immediate remorse for the statement.
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SENTENCED - Child molestation
A judge sentenced teacher Kenneth Lang, 60, to 7 1/2 to 15 years for molesting a boy from 1983 to 1986, starting when the boy was 7. As part of the plea agreement, Lang gave up his right to ask for a sentence review or a sentence reduction after serving two-thirds of his time. The judge praised the the victim for having remarkable inner strength and coming forward.
Lang faces charges in two other states. (New Hampshire)
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SENTENCED - Indecent exposure to a minor
In North Carolina, teacher's assistant Travis Thompson, 39, was sentenced to two years' probation, ordered to pay a $200 fine and ordered to submit to a mental health assessment. He also must register as a sex offender. He pleaded guilty to indecent exposure to a minor. AFTER HIS ARREST, he went on WTVD Channel 11 news and admitted acting inappropriately. He said the girl had given him a lap dance, which she vehemently denies.
She is 13-years-old.
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SENTENCED - sexual abuse of students
Found guilty by a jury of 15 counts of sexual abuse of two students, Curtis Buell, 25, was sentenced to two years in prison, followed by five years' supervised probation. He will have to register as a sex offender. At the blog entry here, people who knew him were not too surprised.
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GUILTY - making threats
"Don't take the stand," is what his lawyer should have advised. Patrick Knoble, 36, was found guilty of making threats against a school board member and the school superintendent. His performance on the stand seemed to be the convincing factor. The state revoked his license in March. (Amazing how fast they can do that when they want to, without waiting for the outcome of any legal proceedings, hearings, grievance processes, appeals and rights to further appeals, etc etc etc.) (Ohio)
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ARRESTED - Electronic enticement of a minor
A University of Hawaii professor was arrested, accused of trying to seduce what he thought was a 15-year-old girl on the Internet. It was, as so many of these chats are, with a police officer. He agreed to meet the 15-year-old because,
"I was trying to help the girl," Fossorier told KHNL television while the police escorted him to a cellblock. "I was trying to meet her and say that what she was doing was wrong."
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ARRESTED - to the delinquency of a minor
A special education teacher's aide was arrested after she helped a 16-year-old leave a group home. It wasn't because she was mentoring him. (South Carolina)
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ARRESTED - Sexual abuse by a parent or guardian
The guardian is the band director, but the story is sketchy. The school also rates a 1 at GreatSchools.net and 1 doesn't mean it's tops. Maybe schools that are academically rotten should not have band or drama or things like movie theatres or hockey rinks or television studios. We have no idea if this school has such features but we know of one in New Jersey that does that rates almost as low.
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PRELIMINARY HEARING
The defense witness today in a preliminary hearing to determine whether there is enough evidence to go to trial wasn't a spectacular choice.
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ON TRIAL
In Louisiana, 60-year-old Charni S. Dodson, a middle school teacher, is on trial on charges of cruelty to a juvenile, false imprisonment and obstruction of justice for treatment of an adopted boy. She lost custody of one of the boy’s sisters in 2002 after keeping her locked in a windowless room.
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INEPT
"Inept" might be the wrong word, but when you are charged with the safety and education of children, what can you think when they allow a teacher arrested for selling methamphetamine back into the classroom because the crime he was charged with was not violent in nature?

It's Guam and parents complained to a news outlet. The superintendent reversed the decision. TT - Link

Crisis of the Week
MRSA is a staff infection resistant to the broad-spectrum antibiotics commonly used to treat it. Widely quoted in articles about infections in schools is the figure from CDC that 18,000 people died of it in 2005, compared to 16,000 who died of AIDS. Only it isn't quite what the Centers for Disease Control said. Those are deaths related to healthcare. The community-associated MRSA accounts for only a small percentage of that number. Serious? It can be. But, not the 18,000-dead -in-one-year epidemic found in news stories. Wash your hands, don't share towels, cover wounds to prevent infections. Basic hygiene. Link to CDC page at blog entry.
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Say what???
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Updated - October 30, 2007

Much of the work at the blog is following up on stories. We do this daily but do not re-date the stories until there is a final finding and/or sentencing. Usually we don't even add them in this space either. A few were ones we got inquiries on or were following closely.


INDICTED
Erin Baker, 25, female, an Ohio coach, was indicted on 55 charges of having sexual contact with a player during the past two years. The charges include 38 counts of sexual battery and 17 counts of unlawful sexual conduct with a minor. The age of the girl was not given. (Ohio)
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MOTION TO DISMISS VERDICT
In one of those curious cases that makes little sense,the attorney for Albert Scerbo has filed a motion to dismiss or retry Albert Scerbo. Scerbo is a music teacher at an Onondaga Indian school who was arrested in Dec 2006. What is so curious is the pre-trial "racism" charge by the New York Times who termed a small girl who referred to Scerbo as a "white cracker" as "bristling racial tensions." Overblown rhetoric - again in the New York Times - called the case, "an emotionally charged case that has touched on differences in race, class and religion.."

Scerbo was found guilty by a jury on two of the charges and not 17 other charges, after pre-trial coverage that included headline after headline in the newspapers reporting that charges were dropped as four victims were eliminated from the case by the judge . It was a bizarre display of media involvement that seemed out of place with the story, especially since we got tons of e-mail from people asking, "What racism???" We searched for evidence of it online in other local media but found no "bristling tensions" in their coverage of the story. Or the community.

And then, surprisingly, a day or so before sentencing, the local paper ran two stories that resulted in the lawyer asking for a delay in sentencing. After contacting jurors, they allege that two jurors convinced other jurors of the guilt. Bizarrely, the legal motion stated that the two jurors were both educators who told jurors that teachers were trained not to touch children. Teacher training wasn't a part of the prosecution presentation and it's an interesting question whether jurors, whether they are teachers, doctors, lawyers or policemen are allowed to bring their expertise to a trial.

None of which explains the peculiar interest in the case by the media. Can someone tell us who Scerbo is related to? Or what the big deal is?
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TRIAL POSTPONED
The trial of a teacher described as a "great guy and fun. He had a crazy sense of humor," by the PTA president has been postponed. Greg Westhoff, 60, will go to trial in March. In the meantime, more details are emerging about his background that included previous charges of harassing a female student for which he was fired, and a guilty plea to second-degree harassment of a male student in a physical dispute in the cafeteria, an incident for which he was reprimanded and removed from the classroom. He was sentenced to one year conditional discharge in that case.

The school district is being sued by one victim, but the PTA president - someone who you would expect would respect the children who are the alleged victims in the case - said that many students in the class believed that Westhoff's accusers made their allegations because they were failing the class.

She said that to a newspaper. That she said that before the release of information that the teacher was fired for harassment of a female in 1997 doesn't excuse the thoughtlessness. In defending the teacher, she cast doubt about children who have yet to testify, reinforcing the reaction of children in the school who nearly always side with "popular" teachers.

Whether the teacher is ultimately convicted of the charges, there is no excuse for repeating the poor and uninformed judgement of other students. Schools are there to teach children how to think, not to react emotionally. But, even worse, imagine how the victims feel with that stunning condemnation of their motives from an alleged adult. From their school, no less.
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TRIAL to BEGIN (finally)
Arrested in 2004, Jesus Rivera, 45, has been on bail for two years. He is accused of sexually abusing five male students. The abuse dates back to 2002. A jury was selected and the trial is scheduled to begin this week. (California) No idea why the case has taken so long.
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NEW OR COMPLETED CASES
PAROLE DENIED (AGAIN)
For Brian Floss, 44, a third-grade teacher in Arkansas who was sentenced to ten years for sexual assault of an 8-year-old girl. It was the second time the family has had to testify. Floss has served five years.
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SENTENCED
To 90 days in jail for sending lewd text messages to a female high school student and discussing inappropriate topics with her. The high school wrestling coach apologized and called it stupid and irresponsible. The judge corrected him. "It was was more than stupid and irresponsible, it was criminal,” and "extremely concerning." (Minnesota)
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SENTENCED
A boys soccer coach in Michigan was sentenced to 270 days in jail for using a computer to accost a child for immoral purposes and using a computer to disseminate sexually explicit material to a minor. Turns out the two 14-year-old girls were police. The coach will have to register as a sex offender.
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SENTENCED
In Alabama, a teacher pleaded guilty to bringing a loaded gun to school. He was sentenced to a 10 day suspended sentence. He will keep his job. The school had suspended him for three days.
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GUILTY PLEA - child predator
The judge described him as a "manipulative, cunning, deceptive con-man extraordinaire who is a classic child predator" in court after Thomas 'Truck' Harris, 52, admitted molesting a 13-year-old boy in 1991 when he was the boy's baseball coach.

Harris was found guilty by a jury in June on sexual assault, endangering the welfare of a child and criminal sexual contact in connection with the abuse of another victim . Evaluators at the Adult Diagnostic and Treatment Center at Avenel found him to be a repetitive and compulsive offender.

Interpol is investigating him in connection with cases in the Philippines.
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ARRESTED - child molestation
School bus driver Scott M. Bender, 44, was arrested for investigation of first-degree child molestation. Reportedly, when interviewed by Pierce County sheriff's detectives, the documents say Bender initially denied all of the allegations but later admitted to exposing himself to the girl. She was four-years-old.
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CHARGES DROPPED and RECORD EXPUNGED
For a teacher arrested in Florida in 2006. It was a case we never discovered and did not cover and can't find in archives.
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CORRUPTION, FRAUD, RESIGNATION and MONEY
The Feds are looking into corruption in Memphis Schools and have convened a grand jury to look into $50 million contracts for three schools. Several board members testified. Details won't be available until the grand jury completes their task. In other news, the Memphis Schools have conducted an internal audit into their cafeterias. No criminal charges have been filed as of this date but the preliminary audit is a clue to big problems. It cost them $9,000 just to haul away the 343 tons of food to the dump. And 343 isn't a typo. (Tennessee)
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In New Jersey, the school director of facilities was indicted and he wasn't even the subject of the investigation. Search New Jersey labels for other corruption cases in the "Garden State" that we've started to dub "The Corruption State." Online Resources - links to the U.S. Attorney Office in New Jersey and other states. Fascinating reading.
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We're not sure what is happening in theDelaware Valley Regional High School District in New Jersey, but the school district has forwarded information to the prosecutor's office and the Superintendent has resigned.
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REVENGE?
A school board in North Carolina released the confidential personnel records of a teacher who was fighting a forced transfer to another school. The fact that they only released a few records that would bolster their decision was countered by the teacher who has released many of his records that show he was an exemplary teacher for 18 years.

It appears that they just didn't like him appealing his transfer and embarrassing them.

Confidential personnel records are sacrosanct for teachers accused of criminal conduct, which is making us wonder if the schools aren't using the "confidential personnel record" as a screen to shelter someone other than accused teachers.
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