Summary - October 15, 2007

SENTENCED - sexual abuse
In Utah, Alan Roy Willey, was finally sentenced to prison for one to 15 years. The prosecutor called him a pedophile. The judge crticized school administrators who had opportunities to stop the sexual abuse of several students who reported it in past decades.

"Throughout his career Mr. Willey was shuttled from one place to another place with glowing letters of recommendation," Judkins said. "There are others here who bear some responsibility. The school districts shuttled him off. The buck stops here."

That's from the judge.
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GUILTY PLEA
Like Willey, Brett Zagorac's first trial ended in a mistrial when jurors deadlocked. He also successfully battled similar misdemeanor charges in Lake County. He pleaded guilty to a count of misdemeanor battery, saying he rubbed a boy's back in an inappropriate manner. In exchange for Zagorac's guilty plea, prosecutors agreed not to prosecute 12 other misdemeanor battery counts and 13 misdemeanor counts of criminal sexual abuse. We'd feel better if news stories assured us that he would never teach again. Failing that, we're glad we don't live in Indiana.
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GUILTY PLEA
Rebecca Kelley, 24, pleaded guilty to four charges, including failing to report an offense involving a minor and three separate charges of contributing to the delinquency of a child. The sexual activity with the teenager stops short of having had sex with the boy. She'll be sentenced in November. (Arizona)
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ARRESTED - Sexual assault on a child
A theology teacher at a private Christian school in Vail, Colorado, was arrested in California. charged with sexual assault on a child by one in position of trust, a class four felony. Police allege an inappropriate relationship with a 17-year-old girl. The girl wanted to break off the relationship and sent an e-mail to John Allen, 27. Only she got the e-mail address wrong and the recipient in Florida notified police.
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LAW$UIT COUNTY, USA
The Beaufort County Board of Education now claims that they never voted on the lawsuit settlement between the school district and former principal because the insurance company settled the claim and it didn't require their approval. They aren't releasing details and neither is the former principal. They'd like to. They really would. It's that pesky confidentiality agreement thing, you know. It's the same reason we don't know why they were liable for the $4.6 million to victims of Philip Underwood-Sheppard.
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ABCs of BETRAYAL - Part II
The Columbus Dispatch continues their excellent series on teacher discipline in Ohio. They've done a great job of collating a good deal of information. They have a searchable database for the 1700 teachers who have been disciplined since 2000, and daily profiles of teachers who were disciplined. They found he biggest districts typically fail to report teacher discipline to the Ohio Department of Education. Amazingly, there's no penalty for districts that don't report. Be sure to read the comments at the site. Readers have an awareness of the problem that seems to have eluded educrats for decades.
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Trustworthiness Pt III
When you have no moral authority, posturing over a school board member whose conduct is unbecoming of a human being, let alone an elected office, is just kinda shallow and self-serving. Granted, the board member ought to resign, but frankly, the Long Beach Press-Telegram hasn't much more integrity or character than does Michael Shane Ellis. They just kinda seem to deserve each other.
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