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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