Clinton, SOUTH CAROLINA

Sentenced to six years in prison for
sex with five boys, all under 16 years old.

SENTENCED

ARRESTED
Feb 28, 2007 - Allenna Ward, 23, was arrested, accused of having sex with five boys. A teacher at Bell Street Middle School, she was placed on paid administrative leave.

Police began investigating Ward, who is married, after a note containing inappropriate messages was recovered by school officials. All of the boys are either 14-years-old or 15-years-old.
Full Name: Allenna Williams Ward

FIRED Mar 2 - Ward released on bond. She must wear a monitoring bracelet, is prohibited from contacting the victims, and is confined to her home. Her father posted her bail. She was fired the night of her arrest.

Mar 7 - As law enforcement closed in on a teacher now accused of having sex with five boys, the woman sent text messages to at least one of the youths to urge him to keep his mouth shut, an attorney for some of the boys said Wednesday. That's a possible obstruction of justice charge.

THIRD INCIDENT: Mar 2 - TheState reports that Ward’s arrest and the charges against her are the third incident over the past year involving sex, students and a female schoolteacher or coach that Jerry Peace, the 8th Circuit Solicitor, will have to prosecute.

Mark Bounds, who works with teacher standards at the South Carolina Department of Education, said the state is working on new teacher conduct standards that should be in place by next year.

All new teachers go through a mentoring process as they enter the profession, Bounds said. If a mentor teacher sees a young teacher becoming too familiar with students, it is his or her responsibility to report that behavior to the principal, Bounds said.

“We are dealing with people exercising poor judgment and behaving different from the norms,” Dickey said. “I’m not a psychologist, so I don’t know what are the human failures we are dealing with. But our program is accredited to evaluate the ‘disposition’ of a teacher candidate. Does someone have the integrity, the backbone to teach our children. We monitor those traits.”

They provide updates on the cases.
TT entry for Jane Blackwell (Principal charged with obstruction of justice in Moore's case.)
TT entry for Jill Moore (combined with Blackwell.)
TT entry for Wendie A. Schweikert

Mar 19 - A candlelight vigil for victims in teacher sex case. Organizers hope a candlelight vigil Monday will help prevent sexual acts against children in schools after a middle school teacher in Clinton was arrested and fired from her job after police said she had sex with five boys.

INDICTED: Mar 30 - Ward was indicted on five counts of criminal sexual conduct with a minor and six counts of committing a lewd act with a minor.

GUILTY PLEA: Sept 6 - Ward pleaded guilty 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. No sentencing date given.

SENTENCED Feb 18 - Ward was sentenced to six years. (She was sentenced to 15 years in prison for each lewd act count, but the punishments were suspended to six years. She also was sentenced to six years on each second-degree criminal sexual conduct count. The sentences are to run concurrently.)

WYFF: Ward's father is a minister. During the sentencing

hearing, psychiatrist Dr. Donna Schwartz-Watts, who evaluated Ward said she has a sexual disorder and is "very childlike." She blamed Ward's childlike behavior on her strict, small-town upbringing. Schwartz-Watts said journals Ward kept were like that of a 10th-grader. But she said that she does not feel that Ward is a pedophile

Eighth Circuit Solicitor Jerry Peace said that Ward will serve 85 percent of the six-year term, which he called an appropriate sentence.