Summary - May 23, 2007

Summary May 23, 2007

ARRESTED
Westview Middle School's 2007 Teacher of the Year was arrested for having sex with a female student. Kanesa Hopkins, now 31, was 28 when she is alleged to have had a sexual relationship with the 14-year-old girl. Hopkins also faces one count of criminal sexual conduct with a minor in nearby North Charleston, where she previously lived. The school board fired her.
TT - link

SUBSTITUTES ARRESTED
Titus Wayne Loux, 71, a substitute teacher, was on charges of importuning, a felony, and menacing by stalking, a misdemeanor, for attempting to solicit sex from a teenage neighbor boy. (Ohio)
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A substitute teacher in Florida, Ken Walling, was arrested for lewd or lascivious exhibition. Two 14-year-old boys said he exposed himself to them at his home several times last year. We're rapidly coming to the conclusion that ALL substitutes should be required to take a lie detector test prior to employment.
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SENTENCED
We said when we posted the first story that, "In the annals of shamelessness, this one rates right up there." Victor Labarron Payne, 36, had a sexual relationship with an 11-year-old girl that lasted a year. The jury found him guilty in March despite his bizarre defense. He was sentenced to 21 years. (And still another trial to go with another victim.) We have no problem calling him a filthy predator.
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Another filthy pervert, Patrick Bogan, pleaded guilty to possession of child pornography. Not one dirty picture, but "five cabinets in Bogan’s residence, including one that contained 49 videotapes and discs with hundreds of sexually explicit images of children. They also found several pairs of little girl panties. They also found news articles on kidnapping, child killers and molesters being sentenced, as well as evidence that he was part of an international child porn ring." (Maryland)
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IN OTHER NEWS
Scientology has started conducting classes in Baton Rouge. And elsewhere. The newspaper reports that Hubbard's study tech now is licensed for use in 738 private schools, community centers and after-school or tutoring programs. The loveliness of Scientology can be seen in BBC's Panorama program. (link provided at our link.)
TT - link

Summary - May 22, 2007

Summary May 22, 2007

SENTENCED
Hazard, Kentucky teacher Phyllis Sanders was sentenced after pleading guilty to smuggling drugs into the Kentucky River Regional Detention Center. Wierd thing is, she's 61 years old.
TT link.

SORTA SENTENCED
They call it "boot camp" or "shock sentencing" - the practice of sentencing someone to jail for years but letting them out in months, sometimes weeks. The theory is that they're first time offenders and it's a taste of prison life. The reality is that the public is the last to know that the offender is given a "Get Out Of Jail Free Card." No Pass Go or $200, but the harsh sentence looks good on paper, at least.

Randy Eddy was sentenced to 10 years, but he got out in six months. Ridiculously, the judge noted that Eddy had already lost the custody of his two children and any possibility of teaching again. He's a 37-year-old man who had sex with a 17-year-old girl. He should be teaching?
TT - link. He isn't the only one.

ARRESTED

A Westbury, N.Y. subsitute was arrested charged with charged with three counts of rape in the second degree and three counts of criminal sexual acts in the second degree with a 14-year-old girl. The sub, Neal Barnes is 23. Nice way to start, and end, a career. .
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Another substitute, Julie Petty, 36, a Tennessee teacher, was arrested and was charged with sexual battery by an authority figure and rape by an authority figure. The girl was 14-years-old.
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In yet another gay teacher sex story, Emma Painter, a teacher in New Jersey, was arrested on charges of official misconduct and witness tampering for trying to pursuade a 17-year-old female student to lie about the student's sexual relations with another female teacher, Erica Umosella. Umosella was arrested earlier this month.
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An El Monte, California teacher, Marco Irigoyen, was arrested for lewd conduct with a child under the age of 14. The reports said the victims are not students at the school. Few details until he is arraigned on Wednesday.
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A second Prescott, Arizona teacher, David Chauncey, was arrested for child pornography. Police found 70,000 images, the majority of them involved children. Police selected 10 photos, which depict children as young as toddlers in lewd acts to charge him.
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IN COURT

Jason Devlin Montgomery County R-2 High School teacher. He was arrested in 2004.
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IN OTHER STORIES

Twilight Zone stuff. In Maryland, Michelle Dolm, signed an agreement stating that she will not have any contact with the five boys she threatened with explosives over a seven-month period. The agreement was entered into the Circuit Court of Frederick County this morning. The prosecution asked for the agreement after Dohm spoke to one of the victims at a sporting event. She's due to be sentenced in June but why she's not confined at home isn't clear. And why they failed to make 'no contact' a part of her release isn't clear either when it was clearly called for since she harassed the students for over seven months.
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A school yearbook in Conifer, Colorado features bongs, drugs, Minor Possession citations and smirking students. All produced under the watchful eye of their yearbook adviser and English teacher, Amy McTague, who apologized with the usual "move forward" admonition.
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Texas might soon have mandatory random steroid testing policy, paid for either by an increase in ticket sale prices or the taxpayers. Both the Senate and the House have approved versions of the bill. We can thank professional sports players, overreaching coaches and dumb athletes who want to win at any cost.
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Staggeringly, a San Francisco judge dismissed the lawsuit by eight school districts who want to have students take the standardized tests in Spanish. He said it was the state's duty to make sure students speak the language and that voters approved English-only instruction in 1996. Endangered Species Conservatives in California were stunned.
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An Albuquerque, New Mexico student was allowed to graduate after "Someone" UNNAMED in the school district administration changed his grade from "F" to "D". They're investigating, the union if filing a grievance, the state Board of Education is looking into it. The boy is the son of former Albuquerque school board member Miguel Acosta and Bernalillo County Commissioner Teresa Cordova. Need we say more?
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The Tennessee State Board of Education lists License Denial, Suspension, Revocation and Reinstatement in their monthly meetings but without explanation. We hope that the four teachers that had their licenses revoked permanently, the three had their licenses revoked for three to five years, and two teachers that were suspended, appreciate the cover. It might be failure to pay for school loans, but shouldn't the Board say so?
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A Wisconsin school district paid the family of a 15-year-old girl $175,000 in a no-details, we-admit-no-guilt lawsuit brokered by high-priced lawyers, paid for by the district's insurance company, ultimately funded by taxpayers, the facts of which are shielded from public scrutiny. That's called accountability. And, heck, there's more money where that came from!!!
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Camden, New Jersey is one of the poorest cities in the country, and one of the most dangerous. And not just street thugs. Four school employees, including the principal, pleaded not guilty to charges of tealing student field-trip money and submitting phony pay vouchers.
TT link

Summary - May 21, 2007

Summary for May 21, 2007


SENTENCED
In Georgia, Darryl Williams was sentenced to serve three years for molesting a 15-year-old boy. We're talking about trapping the boy in a room and... He got a good deal. The grand jury indicted him on two counts of aggravated child molestation --felonies –- well as on the additional, four felony counts of child molestation. He agreed to plead guilty to the four felony counts of child molestation. And he doesn't have to register as a sex offender.
TT link.

Craig Edwards, an Arkansas teacher, was sentenced to 3 years of probation and 30 days for "second-degree sexual assault involving a student." He'll have to register as a sex offender. But why he is a sex offender after being given only probation isn't clear. And the newspaper doesn't seem to have asked any questions.
TT link.

Christopher P. Westfall, a fifth grade at Sutton Elementary School in Massachusetts, was sentenced to seven years after he pleaded no contest yesterday to three charges of second-degree molestation of a 13-year-old Rhode Island girl he met in an internet chatroom. He is 29, above the age of should have known better.
TT link.

ARRESTED
Another Massachusetts teacher, Christopher P. Westfall , who also taught at an elementary school, was arrested and charged with engaging in oral sex with a 16-year-old male student on school grounds. And during school hours.
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In Carmi, Illinois, Jason R. Francis, a teacher who resigned abruptly in April, was ordered to turn himself into police on preliminary charges of criminal sexual abuse and aggravated assault. It is believed that he had inappropriate sexual contact with a student. No clue what happened and the newspaper doesn't seem to know either.
TT link.

SUSPENSIONS
Why do so many educators get rewarded with suspensions with pay for inexcusable, stupid, or profoundly irresponsible acts? We don't normally report on suspensions. More than one e-mail has complained that it was "o.k. to cover teacher sex stories, but alcohol and drugs were private matters." We happen to disagree. A drunk or drugged-out teacher in a classroom isn't something most parents would find acceptable. Only in Massachusetts, however, could a teacher have five drunk driving arrests and still teach. He's a health teacher. Go figure. He isn't on today's list, but if you search Massachusetts. (Broad hint.)
TT link.

FASHION SHOW
Our Story of the Day was the court appearance of a teacher accused of 17 counts of sexual contact with a minor. The reporter, however, had a hard time concentrating.
TT link.

IN OTHER NEWS
Ward Churchill and the University of Colorado deserve each other. Bryan Farmer is on trial in Tennesee for statutory rape and sexual battery of a 16-year-old female student while another student is suing him. The Chicago Teachers Union held an election and, predictably, it's Chicago.

Summary - May 18, 2007

Summary for May 18, 2007

UPDATED stories
Two additional charges have been filed against Darcie Esson, the Colorado teacher infamous for being accused of having sex in a motel room while her two children and a babysitter slept nearby. The preliminary hearing was tentatively scheduled to be continued until June 19.
Our entry for Esson.

The Pennsylvania principal accused of selling crystal methamphetamine out of his car and his school office has given up his right to a formal arraignment. (Good explanation of reason suggested by prosecution at story.) John Acerra is is scheduled to appear in court for a status conference June 25, where his attorney will announce whether his client is accepting a plea bargain or heading to trial.
Our entry for Accera.

Kevin Goddu, a Plaistow, New Hampshire teacher arrested in April was indicted this week on 14 counts of aggravated felonious sexual assault of a former 16-year-old student. He will be arraigned May 31.
Our entry for Goddu.

James Love, a substitute teacher and a minister held a Bible and blew kisses at his supporters as he was escorted back to jail after pleading not guilty to molesting four boys.
Our entry for Love.

GUILTY - Child Abuse
She loved animals and they were removed from her filthy home in Ohio. She was an anti-war activist, a poet and a vegetarian who adopted a baby from Guatemala who was also removed when the French teacher was arrested for child abuse. Ruth Ellen Bates, 61, was arrested in May 2006. She pleaded guilty to felony child neglect with a risk of injury. She was sentenced to two years probation.
Our entry for Bates.

GUILTY - Five counts of murder
After a long and tedious trial full of theatrics, race politics, local sensationalism, attorney grandstanding, and an almost complete media blackout that ignored the whole thing, Vincent Brothers, a Vice Principal in Bakersfield, Calfornia, was found guilty by a jury of five counts of murder for the death of his wife, his three children and his mother-in-law in July 2003.
Our entry for Brothers.

GUILTY - Child Abuse
Chattanooga, Tennesee - Elementary school teacher Derrell Nunn and his wife, Jamila Nunn, were found guilty by a jury of the aggravated child abuse of their 9-month old son in 2002. The abuse left him in a wheelchair, on a breathing tube and unable to speak but a few words.

Our entry for Derrell Nunn.

Outrage of the Week

Boulder, Colorado residents suffer from lack of oxygen. There's no other way to explain how they would elect school administrators who would allow a Sex and Drugs talk at Boulder High School, let alone mandate that high schoolers attend while hippie New Age California psychobabblers advise them to masturbate, take drugs, enjoy sex whether it was male and male or female and female. The talk was so lurid that a parent was shut off reading it because, as the school board president said, the language was inappropriate for the public.

Our nomination for oxygen-deprivation induced stupidity. No wonder the Ramsey's lived there.

Other News

Three Las Vegas teachers are being investigated in separate incidents for sexual misconduct with students. All are on administrative leave. Maybe it was a strategy to start the summer earlier. If so, it worked.

Zero tolerance raised its ugly head again when three drug-sniffing dogs were taken to a Muncie, Indiana school and the students were clean (again) but a teacher's pickup truck yielded up pills. What a surprise. He's the third teacher caught by teacher-hating dogs.

A New York teacher was arrested, charged with sexual abuse of an 11-year-old boy seven years ago when she was old -- even then. Other arrests include a Dover, Delaware teacher charged with 4th degree rape by a person in a position of trust, authority or supervision.

Indictments include an Ohio teacher indicted on 29 felony counts of sexual battery with a 17-year-old female student. In Texas, they took two years to investigate a teacher, but they indicted him. A substitute teacher in Holland Patent (No, it's not misspelled.) New York, was also indicted. Yep, sex with a student.

And then there was a 37-year-old Omaha, Nebraska male teacher in love with a 14-year-old female student. They were planning on keeping it quiet until they could "come out." Meanwhile, they met at a park in his car -- she couldn't drive yet -- until park neighbors complained.

For blood pressure aggravating reads there is the story about how three teacher and school unions are fighting a school district's attempt to curb absenteeism. The teachers get 15 six days a year. The thug talk is worthy of a Sopranos script.

And this, folks, was one day.

Summary May 14, 2007

Summary for February 14, 2007

Arrested
Another teacher in Hawaii has been arrested in connection with drug dealing. In other news, lawmakers gave preliminary approval for teachers and school workers to participate in random drug testing as all law enforcement officers in every state of the union do. But teacher union opposition is likely to kill the effort.

A 28-year-old Missouri teacher was arrested and charged with having sex with a 15-year-old female student.

Arrested on a charge of sexual exploitation of children, a Georgia teacher is in jail. Police found child pornography on his computer and seized three computers, several hard drives and computer disks.

Convicted
This is the third male teacher accused of taking nude pictures of male students. This one waived a jury trial. A judge in Colorado found him guilty of of 35 counts of coercing three young teenage boys into posing nude. He'll be sentenced in April, but it's not the end. Other charges are pending in another county.

Sentenced
To six to 20 months - a real wrist slap - for an Erie, Pennsylvania teacher who pleaded no contest ("I admit it, but you might not be able to prove it.") for having sex with a female student. The girl was 14 at the time, the teacher was 24 and female as well.

It's the Law
Misreported by a half dozen papers as "Appeals Court Sentences Teacher to No Parole," the court's decision was to overrule a judge who sought to become a 13th juror, letting his opinion override the jury decision in a case. He did not order a new trial; he mandated a new verdict. That being so, the teacher who murdered her husband in 2004 and was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility parole, is still -- in prison without the the possibility of parole. We provide details and a link to the decision by the Michigan Court of Appeals.

Summary - May 13, 2007

Summary for February 13, 2007

Lawsuit
A Florida coach was sentenced to six months in jail and three years probation for his sexual involvement with a student. Now she's suing the school district for having hired him.

Arrested
Two school volunteers - a 67-year-old man in Georgia and a 52-year-old Maryland grandfather were arrested. The first was charged with molestation of students, the second of his granddaughter.
TT- School volunteers and teaching assistants aren't always fingerprinted or have background checks run. We don't know about these two cases.

Just Wondering
It's been a year since a Texas P.E. teacher was suspended - with pay - for injuring a child. The local paper is wondering why nothing has been done. It's probably the cocaine arrest. Or the board has been busy -- six other employees of the school district are on suspension with pay.

Thinking about Suspension
Four months after a Texas teacher was arrested for touching a 11-year-old boy, and one month after his indictment, the school board is considering suspending the teacher until his contract ends in May. Maybe.

Porn Star Teacher
A Kentucky teacher sued to get her job back when it became known that she had starred in several porn movies. (A reader informs us that she actually shot footage for one movie, but the movie company had enough footage for 11 movies and we take his word for it.) However, on Friday the Kentucky Court of Appeals dismissed her case. Not to worry. Her lawyer says she has another teaching job in another state.

SUMMARY - April 3, 2007

UPDATED TODAY

Courtrooms
A judge denied a request for early parole for Patricia Vonah who was sentenced to 1-5 years in county prison for DUIs and, well, for trying to suffocate her bed-ridden husband with a pillow. It's a tragic case that brings no pleasure to anyone. TT link

A lawyer for DeAnna M. Abasolo-Farley asked for a continuance for his client, ostensibly to arrange a plea agreement. Absolutely no description of what the lawyer was wearing, which must be a great disappointment to the newspaper readers. TT link And another Wellington, Kansas teacher.

Pennsylvania teacher Robin Lee Hecker pleaded guilty to five consolidated charges of corruption of a minor for sex with a 16-year-old student. She'll be sentenced next month, but don't look for 5 years, or 3, or even 2. The important thing, though, is that she took responsibility. (Touchy feely music soars.) TT link

Indicted
He had 30,000 child pornography images on his computer.

A North Carolina middle school teacher who was also a Boy Scout Leader was indicted by a Federal grand jury on child pornography charges. David Jones, 47, is also facing 22 state charges for incidents with two boys. TT link for Jones.

Teachers as Role Models
The son wasn't a teacher, but the father protested the 45-year sentence for his son. "The system is flawed," Keys said. "How is it that people like Debra LaFave get off on house arrest?" Ummm, well, ...

Quote of the Day
Poster at a news story that a teacher arrested for having sex with a student had resigned.

"Since the teacher resigned, does that mean he can teach somewhere else and this horrible act will not show up on his background check?"

Missing Teacher Found
The Pasadena, Texas substitute teacher sought by school police turned himself in. And then checked out after posting a $20,000 bond. Police said he allegedly met with the girl, a senior, twice off-campus, once in a department store parking lot and another time at the home he is said to share with his parents. It sure is interesting about the school police. TT - link

Get out Early?
A Denver, Colorado teacher was released 16 months into a 15-year-sentence. The 15-years was a "message" almost immediately counteracted by a promise by the judge to reconsider the sentence. Still thinking about what the hell that message was. Hmmm. TT link

Thank God, it's Canada
Search engines return stories on teachers in a half dozen countries but increasingly, the Canadian teacher stories are compounded by a teacher oversight system that is close to feudal. Then top THAT off with judges for whom privacy (pronounced priv-e-cy) is a favorite tool.

A Toronto principal who was arrested for throwing excrement at two boys pleaded guilty, got an "absolute discharge" from a friendly judge who thought she had been humiliated enough. No one knows what actually occurred because the judge ordered no details released for fear of, ahem, revealing the names of the victims. In any case, the woman will probably return to teaching. Of course, being the sister of the Vice Mayor of Toronto didn't hurt. TT link

A Letter to the Editor
must have missed the point because the copy editor chose a headline that didn't come close to the very good points the letter raised. But, then, that's largely a function of Editors and copy editors: miss the point by a mile and race on to the next issue in a never-ending determination to reduce subscribership. It's a paper-saving thing. TT -link

Scarey
Substitutes in Ohio are not required to have a teaching license, and, if you're lucky enough to plea felony sexual battery charges down to attempted importuning, the misdemeanor conviction isn't one that will prevent you from obtaining a license in the future. Once, of course, you get off the sex offender registry. TT-link

Of course, you'd know that if your father was vice president of the Sandusky City Schools Board of Education.