Summary - September 28, 2007

TOP STORY
There was only one witness in the preliminary hearing for Stephanie Stein, 31, the married mother of two and former Christian Academy teacher. It was the 15-year-old victim who testified that he seduced the teacher and wouldn't take no for an answer.

It's bad enough to exploit a child for sex, but asking them to shoulder the blame as well strikes us as despicable.
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SENTENCED (Sorta)
In another one of those, kinda sentenced, but not really, Dianne Dieterich, 35 was sentenced to four years she'll never serve. She pleaded guilty to statutory rape of a male (no exact age given) but if she goes through maritial and sexual counseling, she will have a clean record. It's Tennessee. What can we say?
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SENTENCED - For Bank Robbery
It wasn't believable when it happened, but a Rochester, NY teacher robbed a bank in Courtland, New York. Michael Bohn, 41, pleaded guilty to first-degree robbery, second-degree criminal possession of a weapon, third-degree grand larceny, all felonies, and endangering the welfare of a child, a misdemeanor. Two counts of first-degree robbery were dropped in exchange for his plea. He was sentenced to 11 years.
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SENTENCED - Child Pornography 1 million images
In Florida, Richard Saunders, 55, was sentenced to 15 years in prison and 40 years probation for child pornography. He admitted in the courtroom that he collected over 1 million pornographic images over the course of more than 20 years. He should have gotten life under sentencing guidelines, but the touchy feely judge felt that he was a low risk and that he had opportunities to act on his pedophilia but he never did.

The fact is that someone abused those children for Saunders so he could vicariously enjoy the experience from the child pornography. For that alone, he should do the maximum instead of being praised by other teachers and called a "great educator."
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NO CONTEST PLEA - Pedophile
A "community activist" teacher in Hawaii pleaded no contest to eight counts of the least serious charges against him, third-degree sexual assault of all the victims, who were 7 to 12 years old from 2002 to 2006. Frederick Rames, 66, gave herpes to a 7-year-old boy which is how police became involved. Throughout the years he victimized a number of children, including foster children from the Marshall Islands.

Naturally, the No Contest plea will insulate him against lawsuits, but it's still a conviction in the eyes of the law and he will be sentenced in December.
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ORDERED TO STAND TRIAL - for Murder
A judge has ordered Lynne Fuerer, 65, to stand trial for murder of her live-in boyfriend. Fuerer is a a Seaside High School teacher in Pacific Grove, California. Police arrested her in May for the death of the 81-year-old man after she told a newlyweds in a bar that she killed her husband.
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TRIAL SCHEDULED - Finally
The trial of John Seeley, former superintendent and principal, and his wife, Laura, on felony charges of of mistreating a child in their care has been scheduled for Feb 26, one year after they were indicted by a grand jury. The school district, apparently, still employs John Seeley on a grant and "special projects" consultant and his wife is a kindergarten teacher.
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TOUGHER SENTENCING
They are considering tougher sentencing for the likes of Philip Underwood-Sheppard who was sentenced in 2003 for sexually abusing nine students. He was sentenced to 25 years in prison, but because the sexual abuse was considered "non violent" he is up for parole, having served one-quarter of his sentence. (South Carolina)
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Summary - September 27, 2007

TOP STORY OF THE DAY
A judge sentenced Vincent Brothers to death for the murders of his three children, his wife, and his mother-in-law. The Bakersfield, California vice principal was convicted by a jury in May. The jury also recommended the death penalty. (Not that it will ever happen in California.)
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ACQUITTED of all charges
A jury acquitted Netzahaulcoy Ramos, 34, a Tucson, Arizona teacher of all charges. He had been accused of sexual misconduct with a 13-year-old girl.
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SENTENCED - to one year and nine months for misconduct with four students
In Virginia, Jonathan Spivey, 47, was sentenced after he pleaded guilty to one count of custodial indecent liberties. He entered an Alford plea (No Contest) on three other charges. He will be on probation for five years and has to register as a sex offender. The students were male. Spivey is married with two children.
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INDICTED
A substitute teacher was indicted on charges of voyeurism and child abuse. Robert Ashley, a substitute at eight schools in Albuquerque was arrested in Colorado. He was wanted for for secretly videotaping the legs of female elementary school students in the Albuquerque school. A teacher's assistant found the camera in his backpack.
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GUILTY PLEA - Child Pornography
It's always worrisome when an elementary school teacher collects child pornography. Marc Sardella, 48, a teacher at the Gardner-Dickinson Elementary School, pleaded guilty to possession of child pornography. He will be sentenced in January 2008.
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ARRESTED - Drugs
A Georgia teacher was arrested on drug charges after a traffic stop. Police found a small amount of marijuana in the car of Carlton Flowers, 43. He was also driving with a suspended license.
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Teacher Recruitment Scam
We were always a little curious about school superintendents who traveled to China to discuss recruiting teachers. Seems the trip is sometimes a "gift" which is always illegal when given to an official. In Texas, three Filipino recruiters will go to trial on a number of charges. They brought the prospective teachers to the U.S. even knowing there were no jobs for them. If the foreign teacher was hired, there were a number of fees. After being selected by a school district for possible employment the teachers paid a total of “$10,000.00 or more, requiring many of the teachers to acquire loans at high interest (60% APR). A Texas school superintendent and his wife were sentenced for accepting the trips. So was an associate superintendent of human resources in another district.
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Summary - September 26, 2007

SENTENCED (Sorta)
In Katy, Texas, Emily Willis, 28, to to ten years of deferred adjudication (probation) and 180 days in jail-- not prison. In March, Police found her naked in the back seat of a parked car with a 14-year-old boy. Authorities identified the boy as a student at the same school she teaches.
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SENTENCED (Sorta)
At least the Texas judges are consistent. Michael Mason, an LBJ High School special education teacher, pleaded guilty to sexual assault of one of his students and to having an improper relationship between an educator and student. He was sentenced to 10 years of deferred adjudication as well. No age of victim given.
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ARRESTED - Sex with a 14-year-old boy
In Florida, Crystal Bashford, 21, was arrested and charged with one count of lewd or lascivious battery for having sex with a 14-year-old boy.
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MYSTERY SOLVED
It's possible no one remembers John Peltz, 36, a former high school English and literature teacher in Casa Grande. He went on to bigger things, apparently. He was indicted on federal charges including conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance and false statements to the FBI. He is accused by the FBI of selling homemade anabolic steroids nationwide using MySpace.com He was convicted in Arizona of of attempted transfer of dangerous drugs by Arizona authorities. He reached a plea deal and was sentenced to three years probation in June.
The Feds aren't going to be so forgiving.
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Summary - September 25, 2007

TOP STORY
Jeffrey Anderson, 23, committed suicide. He was scheduled to be sentenced this week after pleading guilty in August to having sex with two students.
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SENTENCED - Sexual Battery of an 11-year-old girl
A Georgia teacher pleaded guilty to sexual battery of an 11-year-old girl who lived with his finance. He was sentenced (sorta) to 10 years' probation. Jesse Gentry, 26, was a third grade teacher at Tiger Creek Elementary School. He must also register as a sex offender.
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REGISTERED SEX OFFENDER (finally)
Two years after being ordered to register as a sex offender, Aaron T. Gunn, III, finally did. It helps to be politically connected. He avoided a felony charge for failing to register as well.
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INDICTED - Sex with three underage students and molesting 2 others
Arrested in May 2007, Richard Ali, 27, was indicted by a grand jury on charges of raping three underage students and sexually molesting two others. Ali was a biology teacher at a Cathedral High School in Manhattan before he was fired.
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ON TRIAL - Sex with a 13-year-old girl
Netzahaulcoy Ramos, 34, a Challenger Middle School teacher, is on trial on six counts of sexual conduct with a 13-year-old girl. The Arizona Daily Star called it a "six-month long sexual affair with a 13-year-old." The reporter must moonlight as a Silhouette Romance writer.
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SENTENCING DELAYED - Child Pornography
Richard Saunders, a Tallahassee, Florida teacher was convicted of 300 charges of child pornography. The judge delayed sentencing until Friday while she considers testimony of colleagues and friends who spoke on his behalf.

(If you can believe that. Personally, we think any teacher who testifies for a person who has collected 1 million pictures of child pornography ought to be fired. Immediately. And any parent who testified for him ought to thank God that Saunders didn't collect pictures of their children. And they ought to pray for forgiveness from those children who were sexually abused for Saunders entertainment.)
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SENTENCED - Exposing his genitals to a child
After pleading guilty to misdemeanor counts of exposing his genitals to a child, Wisconsin teacher Michael Stratton, 26, was sentenced to three years' probation
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ARRESTED - Sex with 15-year-old girl
A Skaneateles High School teacher was arrested and charged with sexual contact with a 15-year-old student at the school five years ago. William A. Milham, 36, faces three counts of third-degree criminal sexual act, a felony.

People frequently comment or question why a student would wait five years to report sexual abuse. Part of it is the fact that they were too immature at the time to understand just how they were exploited. But mostly, we find from e-mails from victims who filed charges after they left school, it is to avoid being ostracized by other students. The more popular the teacher, the more vicious the criticism.
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Summary - September 24, 2007

TOP STORY: Brandy Reynolds sentenced to a minimum of four to a maximum of eight years in prison. The Nebraska teacher pleaded no contest in August to attempted first-degree sexual assault with a 15-year-old boy. She is 24-years-old and married.

It is illegal in Nebraska for a person 19 or older to have sexual contact with a person under 16.
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ARRAIGNED - Sex with student
A Mount Nittany Middle School teacher was arraigned on charges that he engaged in a sexual relationship with 15-year-old girl. Michael E. Miller, 41, is charged with four felonies, including sexual abuse of children and unlawful contact or communication with minors. He pleaded guilty to a charge — corruption of minors in connection with the same girl earlier this year. On Sept. 6, according to the complaint, was sentenced to five years of probation.
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ARRAIGNED - Sex with student
A Teacher of the Year in 2002 was arraigned on two counts of third-degree criminal sexual conduct for sex with a 17-year-old boy. Janelle Batkins, 42, is married and the mother of two children, both of whom are probably as old, if not older, than the student.
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Summary - September 23, 2007

ARRESTED: Karen Robbins, 49, a special education teacher at Thornwell School, on charges on charges she had sex with a child under 16. Robbins is charged with three counts of a lewd act on a child, and three counts of criminal sexual conduct with a child.

It's not a typo. She's 49 years old.
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Summary - September 22, 2007

TOP STORY: Kenneth Boughton, (AKA Kenneth Eric Boughton-Eaton) 25, a teacher's aide at Apache Middle School, pleaded to charges that he had sex with two girls, ages 13 and 14, at the school. He'll be doing 20+ years and lifetime probation when he is sentenced in November if the judge accepts the plea.
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Arrested - Sex Crime
Rodolfo Rabonza, 33, a fourth-grade teacher in Van Nuys, California, was arrested and charged with Lewd Acts on a Minor for sex crime against a 15-year-old male. The alleged act occurred at a health club.
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Arrested - Relationship with student
In Modesto, California, Lewis Wilhelm, 41, was arrested for for an alleged inappropriate relationship with a 15-year-old student. The girl was 14 when the "relationship" began. He is facing one count of lewd and lascivious acts with a child. Police state that no indication that sexual intercourse took place.
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Summary - September 21, 2007

TOP STORY: DeAnna Abasolo-Farley, 34, pleaded guilty to aggravated indecent liberties with a child and unlawful relations between a teacher and student between the ages of 16 and 17. The plea agreement calls for 30 months in jail with 3 years of post-release supervision. She will be required to be on the registered sex offender list for at least 10 years. She will be sentenced in October.
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SENTENCED - Assault and batter of a female student
Achi Ben-Shalom, 52, convicted in August of misdemeanor counts of assault and battery on a female student, was sentenced to 90 days in County Jail for misdemeanor assault and battery against a former student. He must also serve three years of county probation. He also cannot work as a teacher or in a position of trust with children and cannot possess pornography.
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CHARGED with child abuse
In Shaumburg, Illinois, a special ed teacher at Robert Frost Junior High, was arrested and charged with three counts of aggravated battery and one count of unlawful restraint. Patrick McCarthy, 30, was turned in by a classroom aide who witnessed the abuse.
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INVESTIGATION
Police have referred a school principal to prosecutors for possible obstruction of justice charges and two teachers for possible child abuse charges for allowing older students to terrorize a classroom for a half hour while they did nothing. The principal reportedly sent one of the students home to avoid arrest. The charter school is for troubled students in Pinellas Park, Florida.
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ARRESTED
A 23-year-old substitute teacher in the Honeoye Falls Central School District (NY) was arrested accused of sending sexual pictures via cell-phone, as well as soliciting girls to send pictures to him. He is also accused of sexual contact with a female less than 17 years old. Timothy Meehan, 23, was arraigned on charges of disseminating indecent material to minors in the 1st degree, promoting sexual performance of a child, criminal Sexual Act in the 3rd degree and endangering the welfare of a child.
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ARRESTED - Child Pornography
Mike Govig, 44, described as a "hero coach" in Papillion, Nebraska, was arrested by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement on charges of receiving and possessing child pornography. It was part of their investigation into a website called "Home Collection" a year-and-a-half ago. That led them to other child porn websites like "Sexy Angels," "Spycam Lolitas," Lollivirgins," and "Excited Angels." Govig paid for a subscription to a site.
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ARRAIGNED - Internet Sexual Solicitation
He told police he didn't own a computer or an account to access the internet. They found a newspaper article in which he said he uses the Internet daily to buy Frisbees for his collection. Later they found computer parts in a trash bag and a witness who took down the license number that turned out to belong to Edward Kowalski, 51, a middle school teacher at White Cloud Junior High, White Cloud, Michigan.
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Summary - September 20, 2007

SENTENCED - Child Pornography
Melvin Logan, 67, was sentenced to 18 months in prison and six years of supervised probation for possession of child pornography. He convictioned in New York for child endangerment case when he was a teacher in the 1980s.
Police found a 500-page manuscript that documented Logan's life as a pedophile, beginning in the 1960s in Rochester, N.Y.
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GUILTY PLEA
In Utah, Frank Hall, 36, pleaded guilty to reduced charges of 10 counts of attempted aggravated sex abuse of a child, all first-degree felonies, and second-degree felony sex abuse of a child. The girls were 6-7 years old. He will be sentenced in November.
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FUGITIVE TEACHER ARRESTED (Florida)
Police finally arrested Andrew Foster, 27, who was wanted on charges of having sex with two of his 17-year-old students, impregnated one of them and then took her to a clinic for an abortion. A student tipped him off about the investigation and he disappeared. Police located him.
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ARRESTED - Improper Relationship with a Student (Texas)
The media was barred from the courtroom so there are few details on the arrest of Joseph Sadler, 29, a Port Isabel, Texas coach arrested on suspicion of indecency with a child, a third-degree felony for an improper relationship with a student.
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ARRESTED - Improper Relationship with a Student (Texas)
Donald Carpenter, 45, was arrested after a lengthy investigation. The girl was 17 and a special needs student. It has been against the law in Texas for educators to have sex with students since 2003.
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ARRESTED - sexual assault on a child by one in a position of trust (Colorado)
Colorado teacher John Cochran, 41, was arrested on suspicion that he sexually assaulting a 16-year-old during the 2006 school year. was accused of that same charge in 1996, according to the Weld County Sheriff's Department, but that case was dismissed before it went to trial.
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ON TRIAL
In Florida, Julio Polo, 36, is on trial on charges of having sex with a 16-year-old girl. Police have him on tape talking to the girl but he claims it is his nephew.
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TEACHERS ON STRIKE in Cahokia, Illinois
Teacher salaries range from $36,102 to $66,173, without benefits. The average salary is about $57,000. And they're doing such a great job too. /sarcasm off GreatSchools.net documents the job they are doing.
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Summary - September 19, 2007

GUILTY PLEA - Child Pornography
An Omoro, Wisconsin teacher pleaded guilty a charge of attempted receipt of child pornography. The pornography featured four-year-old girl engaging in sexual activity with an adult male. David D. Koepp, 40, will be sentenced Dec 18. Let's hope it is for a long, long time.
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SENTENCED - Improper Relationship with a Student (Texas)
Unlike some states, Texas takes the issue of teacher-student sex seriously. Married Rusk, Texas teacher Brian Basse, 34, was sentenced to three years in prison after pleading guilty to pleaded indecency with a child and improper relationship between a student and educator.
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Summary - September 14, 2007

Top Story: GUILTY VERDICT
A jury found Severine Wamala, 45, guilty of 11 counts of aggravated sexual assault. He was the Lowell High School Math Department Chairman who was a noted chess champion. He also sexually abused a 16-year-old student. (Massachusetts)
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SENTENCED for murder
John Racz, 61, a retired Compton Unified School teacher, was sentenced for the 1991 murder of his wife. Her body was never found, but the jury had no trouble believing him guilty. He was sentenced to 25 years to life. (California)
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SENTENCED - not nearly long enough
In one of those future movie-of the-week stories, Robert Dulin, 49, pleaded no contest to five counts of second-degree sexual assault, two counts of breach of peace and one count of criminal violation of the protective order for a three-year sexual relationship with a student that began when she was 16. He was, in Hollywood fashion, sentenced to 7 years, suspended after 18 months. He has to register as a sex offender for 10 years. (Connecticut)
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SENTENCED - for theft
Charles Hawkins, 44, school board chairman in Derry, New Hampshire, was sentenced to a year in jail - not prison - for stealing thousands of dollars from his Salem employer. He has to repay $60,000, some of which he spent on family trips, home improvements and online pornography. He's getting treatment for pornography and computer sex addiction. That must be reassuring for parents. (New Hampshire)
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SENTENCED - for child abuse
A Jacksonville, Arkansas elementary school teacher was sentenced to three years in prison after a jury found her guilty of two counts of second degree battery for abusing her six-year-old son. Amy Hilbun, 25, might have company soon. Another teacher, Stephen Rose, 35, was charged with felony battery in the same case and is scheduled for an Oct 9 jury trial.
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ALMOST SENTENCED - sex with four boys, ages 13-15
Cathy Heminghaus, 47, - yes the age is 47 -- pleaded no contest to performing oral sex on four boys. At the sentencing, however, the judge removed himself when a retired judge and a good friend wrote to him and asked him not to sentence Heminghaus to jail. The presiding judge wisely recused himself. (St. Louis, Missouri)
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FUGITIVE TEACHER
Well, actually two of them. Andrew Foster, 27, described as a "popular (Lantana, Florida) Santaluces High School drama teacher" teacher, was warned by a student one week into the school year that he was about to be nabbed. He's been missing every since. He's accused of having sex with two of his 17-year-old students, impregnating one of them and then taking her to a clinic for an abortion. Turns out the school investigated him earlier, but a student denied it, so they dropped their strenuous efforts. And then there was that pesky problem in South Bend, Indiana.
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The second fugitive is Bobby Kennedy, 28, who took a powder with the help of his mother, the principal of the charter school where he worked. She's still the principal of the Arizona charter school despite a guilty plea last year to a reduced charge of failing to report neglect of a minor. She was sentenced to two years probation, a suspended 90-day jail sentence and a $2,500 fine following her plea deal.
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SCHOOL BOARD WATCH
It isn't nepotism. That's the legal opinion of the school system attorney. At least it isn't against the law for 33 employees to have relatives working for the school, the school board chairman's wife working for the schools and the Director of Schools wife working for the schools. (Cleveland, Tennessee) If they want to see real nepotism, check out any Alabama school.
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ARRESTED - criminal sexual assault of an eighth grader
Third grade teacher Donald Turner, 38, was arrested, accused of having with for sex with a 14-year-old girl. (Chicago, Illinois)
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ARRESTED - sex with male student
Michael Smith, 51, a teacher's aide in Pemiscot County, Missouri, was arrested and faces charges of statutory sodomy, a class C felony and one count of deviate sexual assault a class C felony. Police say Smith allegedly performed sex acts with at least one male student at his residence. According to the sheriff's department, students were "compensated" at times for those acts.
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LEGAL MANEUVERING
Defense attorneys want a new trial or a new sentence for Jonathan Johnson, a coach who was convicted of 74 counts involving lewd acts and sexual intercourse with 14 underage girls, six of them under age 14 between 2000 and 2002. He was sentenced to 30 years to life in prison and 24 concurrent life terms for offenses committed against girls under age 14.
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QUOTE OF THE DAY
From the judge who sentenced Barry Ostrander to 15 years in prison for child pornography. Read the whole thing. We need more judges who are disgusted with people who buy child pornography and plant cameras in the bathroom.
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Summary - September 6, 2007

School is back in session, or more to the point, courts are up and running after the holidays. In any case, we have a scary collection of arrests and sentences.

SENTENCED - Molestation of five pre-teen children
In Florida, Charles L. Barton III, 62, a retired elementary school teacher pleaded guilty to five counts of lewd and lascivious molestation of a minor for molesting the five girls. He got four - count em - four years house arrest. He lives 2500 feet from the school.
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SENTENCED - Sex with three boys, ages 15,16, and 17
Magnolia, Texas teacher Lisa Minchew, 29, pleaded guilty to one count of sexual assault of a child. She was sentenced to five years deferred adjudication (the judge will revisit if she screws up but otherwise she will have a clear record.) She'll have to register as a sex offender for 15 years.
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SENTENCED - Indecent battery on a child under 14
Finally, a teacher who is going to prison. A jury found James Houlihan, 43, guilty of indecent assault and battery on a student under 14. He was sentenced to two years, the maximum sentence allowable. (Massachusetts)
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SENTENCED - Lesbian sex with 17-year-old female student
High school teacher Shelly Shaw, 30, was sentenced to deferred adjudication of 60 days - followed by 10 years' probation - for sex with a 17-year-old female student in 2004. (Texas)
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SENTENCED - Inappropriate sex with a student
An eighth grade teacher in Illinois was sentenced to four years No details or age of victim. Jason R. Francis, 36, will have to register as a sex offender.
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SENTENCED - Sexual relationship with student
A teacher at the San Diego School of Creative and Performing Arts was sentenced to 16 months for a sexual relationship with a 16-year-old female student. John Kyujoon Lee, 39, pleaded guilty.
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SENTENCED - Child pornography, including a video of an infant being raped
Leland Easterling, 60, a geometry teacher at a Texas high school, was sentenced to eight years and one month for possession of child pornography. He will be under supervised release for seven years after prison. And a registered sex offender for life. Because the Feds do not screw around. (And there is no parole for Federal time, either.)
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SENTENCED - Accessing child pornography at a public library
An Oklahoma elementary school teacher was sentenced to 4 years of supervised probation but no prison time. William Lee Hunter Jr, 41, won't have to register as a sex offender. The felony conviction will, however, keep him out of any classroom.
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SENTENCED - "disorderly conduct" (in car with a student)
In what can only be called gross, Stephanie Gross, 24, was arrested in May for having sexual contact with a 16-year-old boy in her car parked behind a restaurant. In an extraordinary act of generosity the D.A. let her plead to disorderly conduct. She agreed to pay a $300 fine. Oh, and give up her teaching certificate for a whole year. She was a first-year teacher making over $53,000. A year. For 8.5 months work. Go figure. She also thought she would be the first female president. (Not delusions. With her extraordinary luck with the law, she just might.)

Police did ticket her for driving with a suspended license.
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GUILTY PLEA - Sex with five boys
Allenna Ward, 23, who just might be the winner in our Teacher Trash of 2007, pleaded guilty to to having sex with at least five students. In cars, parks, a hotel and at the school. She pleaded guilty to three second-degree criminal sexual conduct with a minor and three lewd acts on a minor. The victims were three 14-year-olds, and two 15-year-olds. (South Carolina)
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CONVICTED - of murder
Better late than never. John Racz, 61, was convicted of murdering his wife in 1991. It was a Cold Case file re-opened in 2006. Despite never finding the body, the jury found him guilty. He was a Compton school teacher. (California)
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ARRESTS
Lots of arrests - in New Jersey where 11 - count em - 11 officials were arrested. Including two mayors, two Assemblymen, a school board president, two board members, three former board members. In connection with a corruption probe centered around bribes relating to contracts awarded by the Pleasantville school board.
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EDITORIAL
When Dustin Powers, 36, got five years' probation for a sexual relationship with a 14-year-old girl, one newspaper was disgusted - the Mansfield News Journal. (We just swore a lot.) One Ohio newspaper - OWNED BY THE GANNETT CHAIN that owns USA TODAY - headlined the story "Former Mansfield teacher gets probation for sexual indiscretions with 14-year-old". That really, really annoyed us.
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UNREST IN CINCINNATI
People in Greater Cincinnati and northern Kentucky are waiting for the West Clermont School Board to meet on Monday to find out if they will fire the assistant principal at a middle school who left her two-year-old daughter in a hot, baking car at the school for eight hours. The little girl died, but mom wants to go on as if nothing happened. The school board probably does too, but there's an election in November and people are just kinda ticked off. They figure if she can't care for her own child, how can she be trusted with theirs.
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You'll have to scroll down for the two lawsuits.