SENTENCED - (sorta) Statutory rape and two counts of assault by offensive touchingIn Tennessee, Gabriel Sanchez, 31, pleaded guilty to statutory rape and two counts of assault by offensive touching of a 17-year-old female student. He was sentenced to three years, except -- he is eligible as for alternative sentencing. A hearing will be held Nov 8 to determine if he will receive the alternative sentencing, which could range from probation to the community corrections program. (Good thing he doesn't shoot migratory birds.)
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NO CONTEST PLEA - Murder
Retired Fresno Pacific University professor Clinton Pusey, 74, pleaded no contest to first degree murder of his wife. He beat her to death with a baseball bat and a hammer in their home in 2006. It's unlikely he will do any time. Both the defense and the prosecution agree Pusey was not aware of his actions when his wife was killed. A judge, however, will make the decision after a last round of mental evaluations.
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UPDATE on Stephen Bolesky
Bolesky, a Vermont teacher, was scheduled for trial on murder charges for the death of his wife. Before he could be tried, a judge released him into a long-term medical facility where he was expected to receive end-of-life care. He died in June. His wife's sister, however, has a wrongful death suit against the estate and a judge has frozen the estate.
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CONVICTED - Drunk Driving third offense
Because of a technicality, a Massachusetts teacher avoided jail time for his third drunk driving offense. We won't go into the reasons except that it take a particularly forgiving judge to side with the attorney's arguments. It's Massachusetts and we won't go into the health teacher who had five drunk driving arrests and couldn't be fired.
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INDICTED - failure to register as a sex offender
He now lives in Canada, but Robert B. Johnson, 41, was convicted in 2004 and sentenced to four years for endangering the welfare of a child by videotaping a 14-year-old female victim naked in the bathroom of his house with a camera hidden in the heating grate of his basement After his release, he failed to register and failed to get approval for his living arrangements. He was indicted which means that should he return to the U.S., there is an active warrant out for his arrest. Johnson was a teacher at a private school in New Jersey for infants to the second grade.
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ARRESTED - Cocaine
In Pennsylvania, fourth-grade teacher Joseph R. Abraham, 53, was arrested after he bought cocaine. The story was brief and short of facts, but it is alleged that he has been buying for five months.
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ARRESTED - Sex with 17-year-old male student
It's a great way to start your life in your first job. Jessica Kahal, 22, was arrested on suspicion of having sex with a student. The previous assistant band director at Helix High School in La Mesa, California, was sentenced to five years' probation in April for sex with a student. Maybe the school thought they were safe with a female band director.
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ARRESTED - Sex with female student
A New Jersey P.E. teacher, Victoria Blevins, 23, was arrested sexual assault of a female student and official misconduct. The mother of the victim found an instant message on a computer suggesting that the student and teacher were having an inappropriate sexual relationship.
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ARRESTED - Sexual assault of a student - a Class A felony.
It is alleged that Charles Harger, 45, had a sexual relationship in 2006 with a 16-year-old female student at Vilonia High School, where he was employed as a teacher. The assault case is still under investigation. (Arkansas)
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CHARGED - felony homicide by vehicle, misdemeanor involuntary manslaughter
Pennsylvania school board member Ricky Lee Smiley, 42, was charged with felony homicide by vehicle, misdemeanor involuntary manslaughter and five summary offenses for a bus crash in 2006 that killed an elementary school teacher's aide. A bus driver for 18 years, Smiley was elected to the school board in Nov 2005. It's a human tragedy.
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INDICTED - Gross sexual assault and unlawful sexual contact
Christopher Dumaine, 39, an English teacher in Maine, was indicted on on charges of having sex with a 16-year-old female student. He pleaded not guilty. He resigned from the school in September.
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MOMENT OF SILENCE - is a lovely thing
You would think the world was coming to an end the way activists are reacting to the Illinois Legislature approval of a moment of silence at the beginning of each school day. Gov. Blagojevich vetoed the measure, but the Senate overrode the veto last week and the House voted 74-37 to override the veto. The bill was introduced by Rep. Will Davis (D-Homewood).
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LAWSUIT
A Seabrook, New Hampshire middle school teacher who refused to stand for the Pledge of Allegiance is, with the help of the NEA, suing a the school district and the school principal for alleged retaliation for her actions. They didn't fire her outright, which was probably their second mistake. The first may have been to hire her.
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THE STAPLER INCIDENT
A teacher's aide in Indiana was allowed to resign after he stapled a Post-It note to the forehead of a 9-year-old girl. No news story names the man because he is not under criminal investigation. The girl complained that her head hurt to the school nurse.
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BIZARRE
In North Dakota, the Standards and Practices Board is considering action against a teacher who was sentenced to 18 months of probation after pleading guilty in June to the hunting violations. We've known teachers who had sex with 14-year-olds who receive less harsh sentencing.
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