Buckhannon, WEST VIRGINIA

September 22, 2008 - Robert McNemar, 37, a former county school teacher, was sentenced to 31 to 75 years in prison.

McNemar was indicted in January on 22 counts of sexual assault in the 3rd degree, 31 counts of sexual abuse by a parent or guardian and 31 counts of incest. In May, he refused a plea agreement and instead pleaded guilty to all counts of the indictment. The original plea agreement would have charged him with only six counts with a maximum sentence of 16 to 50 years.

Judge Thomas Keadle ordered the sentences to run concurrently.
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TT - No other online stories.

Teacher Pension Penalty

NEWSPAPER EDITORIAL

September 5, 2008 - Editorial from the Charleston Daily-Mail: Misconduct = loss of pensions (for elected officials and state employees, including teachers.)

To its credit, the state Consolidated Public Retirement Board has acted in cases of public employee misconduct.

Jerome Fruit, 54, of Scarbro, a former Fayette County middle school teacher, had 30 years in the Teachers Retirement System when he pleaded guilty in 2007 to possession with intent to distribute at least 500 grams of cocaine. He was sentenced to five years in prison.

They conclude:

Obviously, a few public officials and public employees either don't know right from wrong or don't care.

The possibility of losing a nice pension would clarify thought processes statewide. That would be helpful.

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tt entry for Fruit.

Shinnston, WEST VIRGINIA

August 28, 2008 - Thomas Price, 42, a teacher at Lincoln High School, was arrested at the school on Thursday. He was charged with two felony counts of displaying and distributing obscene matter to a minor.

Since January, it is alleged that Price had sent the boy links to pornographic Web sites and sexually charged text messages describing sex acts he wanted to participate in with the boy. The investigation was prompted by a complaint from the victim's family.

Bruceton Mills, WEST VIRGINIA

Sentenced for the murder of his girlfriend and her 4-year-old son.

Apr 17, 2007 - James DeGasperin, 35, a health and physical education teacher at Bruceton School, was arrested, charged with killing his girlfriend, Lori Casteel and Collin Casteel, and her 4-year-old son.

Police found the bodies of the woman and her son several hundred yards from the house. The victims, who were not identified pending notification of next of kin, died of "substantial blunt force trauma to the head."

The Register-Herald: The court complaint said DeGasperin bludgeoned his live-in girlfriend and her son to death with a baseball bat.

According to court documents, a witness, Terry Knotts, told Preston County Lt. Joe Stiles that DeGasperin admitted to killing Casteel and asked “Knotts to help him dispose of the body.” It was Knotts who told police that DeGasperin had used a baseball bat. Police said the woman was living with DeGasperin.
Full Name: James Louis DeGasperin

PRELIMINARY: Apr 25 - At a preliminary, a friend testified that DeGasperin called him to help hide the body. Trooper Joe Portato testified that when he showed up at the house, DeGasperin looked at him and said, "I'm a really good guy, I just snapped."

The case is now headed to the grand jury. An autopsy revealed that Casteel was also six months pregnant. Prosecutors say DeGasperin will not be charged with the third murder until his is indicted.

Update Apr 27 - A grand jury will decide on the charges against DeGasperin. The next one is to be convened in June. In the meantime, an autopsy revealed that Collin, age 4, also was shot in the chest.

GRAND JURY CONVENED August 28: special session of the grand jury convened Tuesday morning to indict a Preston County man.

INDICTED August 30 - James Louis DeGasperin was indicted on three counts of first-degree murder. The third charge is only the second time someone in West Virginia has been charged under West Virginia's Unborn Victims of Violence Act that was passed in 2005.

CONVICTED and SENTENCED August 27 - After being convicted by a jury on three counts of second-degree murder and two counts of concealing Collin and Lori Casteel's bodies, DeGasperin was sentenced to 30 years in prson on each murder count and 1 to 5 years on each count of concealment.

He will serve each of those sentences consecutively and will be given credit for time he has already served.

Charleston, WEST VIRGINIA

Parents are wondering how a bank robber was hired at their middle school.

April 23, 2008 - Melissa A. Brown, 28, a third-year art teacher at Stonewall Jackson Middle School, and her brother, were arrested after they allegedly robbed a Cabell County bank. Police say they also admitted robbing a City National Bank the week before. They are also under investigation for an April 1 bank robbery in St. Albans.

Melissa Brown drove the getaway car.

Melissa and Jeremy Brown were arraigned Monday afternoon in U.S. District Court in Huntington, where they pleaded not guilty. She was suspended with pay.

GUILTY PLEA July 17 - Brown pleaded guilty to two counts of aiding and abetting bank robbery. Brown's brother, Jeremy Mark Brown, is scheduled to stand trial Aug. 19. She will be sentenced Oct. 14.

GUILTY PLEA August 18 - Jeremy Mark Brown pleaded guilty in federal court admitted to robbing two banks in April with his sister's help.

Mount Hope, WEST VIRGINIA

"My daughter did nothing wrong here." Creepy teacher, however, gets suspended sentence, home incarceration and -- FINALLY, a substantive punishment - registration as a sex offender for 10 years.

Oct 31, 2007 - Daryl Finley, 29, a Mount Hope High School Band Director, was arrested for sexual abuse by a parent or guardian. Details are sketchy at the story but the abuse apparently happened on a bus coming back from a football game.
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TT - The school rates a 1 at Greatschools.net on a scale of 1 - 10 ( 1 being lowest).
There is only one Parent Rating and that was by a student.

I am not a parent but I am a student at Mount Hope High school and I feel the school does a good job. We do have extracurricular activities and academic programs,some children just don't get involved in them.
Submitted by a student

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A Nov 15 hearing is scheduled. The student is 17.

GUILTY PLEA May 23 - Finley pleaded guilty to lesser charge of misdemeanor battery after striking a deal with prosecutors. Police alleged that he fondled the 17-year-old female student through her clothing during a Fayette County school-sponsored bus trip.

“The state will not recommend a specific sentence in this matter, and the defendant acknowledges that the state will be asking the court to find this crime to be sexually motivated,” Mann said in a May 19 letter to Finley’s lawyer, Michael Whitt.

SENTENCED July 21 - Finley was sentenced to to the maximum penalty of 12 months in jail, but lowercase judge Chief Circuit judge James J. Rowe, immediately suspended all but four months of the sentence. Rowe ruled that Finley will be allowed to carry out his sentence on a home incarceration program in Harrison County.

Rowe also sentenced Finley to five days in Southern Regional Jail and placed him on three years’ probation to begin after the completion of his home incarceration sentence. Finley must also register as a sex offender for ten years.

The victim’s father was also allowed to speak at the sentencing.“I hate to ruin this man’s life, but this can’t be overlooked,” he said. “I think it’s a pretty sad when the people we trust (to keep children safe) can’t keep their hands to themselves. My daughter did nothing wrong here.”

Charleston, WEST VIRGINIA

Giving teachers a bonus just to show up for work. Why?

June 3, 2008 - One school district in West Virginia has a unique bonus plan for teachers.

Kanawha County teachers and school employees will continue to earn a bonus of up to $1,050 for "faithful attendance" during the 2008-09 school year.

Board members Bill Raglin and Jim Crawford defended the incentive as a sure-fire way to cut back on substitute teacher costs. Board member Barbara Welch believes it could help recruit new employees.

The teachers don't even have to have perfect attendance. Currently, teachers that miss three days of work or less each year receive a bonus that ranges between $840 and $1,050, depending on how many days are missed.

In July, school board Treasurer Harry Reustle expects the incentive payout to cost about $471,000 more than the county is expected to save in substitute teacher costs.
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TT - Kanawha County Board Members with their bios. The Board Chairman is a retired teacher and has a son who is a teacher in the school district. The school district rates a 5 at GreatSchools.net They have 27,963 students in 70 schools. Ethnicity in the district is 86% white with 44% of the students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch program.

Kanawha County is the most populous county in the state of West Virginia. (source: Wikipedia) It is part of the the Charleston, WV metroplitan area.

West Virginia Teacher Misconduct

When the preliminary was postponed for Mercer County (W.VA) Cristi Williams, 30, accused of a sexual relationship with a 16-year-old male student, a news article on the investigation reported on other educators involved with students.

What they reported is in bold. What we found is in green. Links are to TT entries.

From article: "Williams is not the first Mercer County educator to face sexually based charges involving students."

Timothy Colbird was a teacher at Spanishburg School. He was charged with sexual assault of a 14-year-old in 1998.
Actually, Colbird was found guilty in 2006 and died shortly afterwards of cancer and advanced heart disease. He was 51.

Alicia Collis of Princeton pleaded guilty to having a sexual relationship with a 15-year-old student.
No online stories found but she is on the Virginia Sex Offender Registry. Age 26. She was convicted in 2001 of Attempt to Commit 3rd Degree Sexual Assault. The sentence was suspended and she was placed on 10 years supervision.

Lashmeet-Matoaka Middle school teacher Danny Perkins [49] also faced sexual assault charges in 2004.
A blogger in July 2005 quoted from an article no longer online: "Former Mercer County school teacher/coach Danny Perkins wiped tears from his face Monday as Judge John R. Frazier sentenced him to a maximum of 55 years in prison for sexual abuse of students in his trust in a Matoaka school."

Last year, Stanley Butchar pleaded guilty to sexual abuse. He was the Junior ROTC instructor at Montcalm High School.
We still can't find sentencing information but he is 63 and currently in prison in West Virginia.

Montcalm, WEST VIRGINIA

May 7, 2008 - Cristi Williams, 30, a Montcalm High School teacher, was arrested in late April, accused of having a relationship with a 16-year-old male student.

She was charged with sexual abuse by a parent, custodian and guardian and abduction of a student within 1,000 feet of a school. [The abduction charge is, apparently, because she left school property with him.] Williams told police she was helping her student write a paper for an essay contest, but they say the teen's statement didn't match her story
Full Name: Christi Lee Williams

FIRED May 7 - The school board voted unanimously to terminate Christi Williams at a special meeting Tuesday night. Williams did not attend, however, a state police trooper and the high school building administrator were at the meeting to provide evidence. The trooper testified that Williams called in sick in April, picked the student up and went to Camp Creek State Park.

Williams was arraigned. Her preliminary is next week.

CONTINUED May 12 - Williams was scheduled to appear before a magistrate in Mercer County for a preliminary hearing which was continued and rescheduled. (no date given)

Elkview, WEST VIRGINIA

April 30, 2008 - Wanda Sheets, a Kanawha County teacher, has not been arrested nor has she been charged in connection with meth-making materials found on her property.

Her son, Robert Sheets, and a friend were charged with operating a meth lab on property belonging to her. Deputies say they found a meth lab in a trailer on Sheets' property. Deputies say Wanda Sheets was arrested last year and charged with obstruction of justice. They say she got in the way of their investigation on her property.
[We can assume from this that it was on her property, right?]

Sheets is a sixth grade teacher at Elkview Middle School.

NO CHARGES May 5 - Roane County Sheriff's Deputies say the Kanawha County teacher will not face any meth charges for the meth lab found in her son's trailer on her property.

Deputies say there is not enough evidence to connect Wanda Sheets to that meth lab. They say Sheets did not live with her son in the trailer. They say she lives in a house about forty yards away from the trailer. It was not, however, the first time deputies has been on her property because of meth.

Elk Garden, WEST VIRGINIA

Another in-car "counseling" arrest.

April 3, 2008 - Sarah Guthrie, 23, a teacher at Elk Garden School, was arrested in a car with a 17-year-old female student. Guthrie and the underage girl were parked in a wooded area in a spot that has been the subject of numerous past complaints for drug activity.

Officers said they observed alcohol in the vehicle. A subsequent search revealed more alcohol and suspected marijuana on both the suspects. They were taken into custody for drug and alcohol-related offenses, in addition to giving false information to the officers.

The girl was released to her parents.

Elkview, WEST VIRGINIA

March 13, 2008 - Convicted of child pornography, West Virginia teacher Garland Eary still might get his teachers pension.

Eary contends that the state has no grounds to revoke his pension because his guilty plea did not relate to his employment as an elementary school teacher since the images were found on his home computer. The crime has to be "related to" the public employee's position in order for the pension to be withdrawn, according to state law.

How much? He has 22 years in the Teachers Retirement System and in the Teachers Defined Contribution plan, amounting to about $100,000 of retirement money. If Eary wins his case, he would receive all the money, including employer contributions that amount to more than $60,000, said Jeaneen Legato, the lawyer for the retirement board.

If he loses, he is still entitled to his private contributions, which amount to about $46,000, Legato said. The school district contends that if the conviction costs him his teaching certificate, then he shouldn't be entitled to the public's money. It will be up to a court to decide the issue.

TT - entry for Eary. TT - Newspaper editorial against his receiving a pension.

Clarksburg, WEST VIRGINIA

Drug sweep at two school yields two students and one substitute teacher.

Feb 20, 2008 - Police organized the search and only notified the school board minutes before drug sniffing dogs searched every locker and classroom at both schools.

A substitute teacher at Robert C. Byrd High School faces a misdemeanor charge after police found that she had marijuana on school property. She resigned. A juvenile at the school was also found with marijuana.

At Liberty High, the dogs hit for another marijuana charge on a juvenile. In total, officers found marijuana, prescription pills, tobacco and even pocket knives.

Charleston, WEST VIRGINIA

New drug-testing policy.



Dec 14, 2007 - The Kanawha County School Board unanimously passed a drug-testing policy, a week after a Hayes Middle School teacher was pulled over and charged with a DUI, speeding and obstructing.

Under the policy the board members passed, all employees of the school board system would still be given and subject to a pre-employment drug test, a for cause test, a missing substance test, a fitness for duty test and return to duty testing.

The teacher who was arrested was Suzette C. Harich. TT - Link

St. Albans, WEST VIRGINIA

Dec 13, 2007 - Suzette Harich, a teacher at Hayes Middle School, was arrested after she was pulled over for speeding when the officer noticed her eyes were red her speech was slurred and alcohol on her breath.

She told the officer she had also taken loratab- that's a prescription pain killer.

She was arrested on Friday, but she's at school this week.

Dec 14 - Harich plans to sue the Sheriff's department. She claims she was physically and verbally abused.

According to the criminal complaint: Harich was originally pulled over for speeding but then the officer noticed- her speech was slurred - and alcohol was on her breath. The report did show she was under the legal limit and she believes she was falsely arrested.

In the complaint it said she told the officer she'd taken a Loratab, a prescription pain pill.
Thursday night Harich wanted to make it clear she was not drinking on the job.

She says she had one drink after school -- on a day when there were no students in the classroom. Harich is facing DUI and speeding charges.

WSAZ: The compaint states that Harich failed 3 field sobriety tests, but passed a PBT (breathalyzer) with a .06 blood-alcohol content. He also stated that he observed an open beer behind the driver's seat.

Masontown, WEST VIRGINIA

Dec 4, 2007 - Lana Jo Rinehart, 28, a West Preston Middle School physical education teacher, has agreed to a plea deal in which she'll serve two years' supervised probation and surrender her teaching license.

Preston County Prosecuting Attorney Melvin C. Snyder III said Monday that the deal, known as a pretrial diversion, was done at the request of the victim and the boy's mother.

Rinehart was charged in 2006 with third-degree sexual assault and sexual abuse by a custodian. According to court documents, the incident happened in September 2005, about two months before Rinehart resigned from the school system.

From blogger Interested Participant: The boy was 13-years-old. She was indicted in June was indicted on charges of third-degree sexual assault and sexual abuse by a custodian. Both are felonies. The crimes occurred in September.

Charleston, WEST VIRGINIA

Oct 24, 2007 - Casey Casto, 22, a computer technician employed by the Kanawha County Board of Education, was arrested and charged with sexual assault for having sex with a 15-year-old female Capital High School student.

Besides being charged with third-degree sexual assault, Casto is charged with third-degree sexual abuse by a parent, guardian, custodian or person in a position of trust to a child.

The technicial met the girl at Capital at the beginning of the school year. The girl’s mother reported the incidents to the school board, said Sgt. Aaron James, assistant chief of detectives for Charleston police.

TT - No background check would have prevented this. But certainly fingerprinting contract employees and requiring them to sign an acknowledgement of laws against sex with minors and the law against sexual abuse by a figure of authority would help.

What would help even more is if the sexual abuse by a figure of authority meant an additional one to two years in prison.

Elizabeth, WEST VIRGINIA

Oct 19, 2007 - Danny Hoover, Jr., 36, principal of Wirt County Middle School was arrested for bringing firearms onto school grounds.

He was charged with two counts of unlawfully and feloniously possessing deadly weapons on educational facilities.

He is alleged to have taken the weapons to school, then left the school, and returned with one firearm.

[No reason why or explanation of how authorities knew was given.]

Oct 19 - Charleston Daily Mail:

James Danny Hoover, Jr., 36, of Parkersburg brought two firearms to Wirt County Middle School property Oct. 8, according to a criminal complaint filed in Wirt County's magistrate court.

On the same day there was a hunting accident in Wirt County.

Chris Griffin, 18, of Mineral Wells, was shot. The bullet went through his earlobe and entered his jaw, said Lt. Tim Coleman, hunter education coordinator for West Virginia. Griffin, a senior at Parkersburg South High School and volunteer with the Washington Bottom Fire Department, was flown by helicopter to Ruby Memorial Hospital.

"Tom McCloy was the apparent shooter. I know he (Hoover) was involved in some way, but I don't know how," Coleman said.

Editorial - "Misconduct should be costly"

Editorial


Oct 9, 2007 - From the Charleston Daily Mail (WV) :

Garland Lenn Eary, 55, worked for the Kanawha County school system for 13 years. But federal authorities began investigating him in 2005, when he was a fifth-grade teacher at Pinch Elementary School.

Last fall, he pleaded guilty in federal court to possession of child pornography. The school system fired him in December.

U.S. District Judge John T. Copenhaver Jr. sentenced Eary to serve three and a half years in prison, and he will remain under the supervision of a federal probation officer for the rest of his life.

The state's Public Retirement Board contends that his "less than honorable" service renders him ineligible to receive pension benefits, and has filed suit to prevent him from receiving those benefits.

And what should be done with the pension assets of a former Mercer County teacher who was convicted of multiple sex crimes against three male students?

Timothy Dale Colbird, who taught for 30 years in Wyoming and Mercer counties, died five months after he was found guilty of 38 sex crimes -- but before he could be sentenced or appeal his conviction.

He had no dependents, but two of his victims are suing his estate for damages.

In the past, the retirement board has moved to deny pensions to a St. Albans High School art teacher, Larry Pauley, who paid a 15-year-old student $700 to take nude photographs of herself; and to Mercer County teacher Danny Perkins, who sexually assaulted two students.

As the state Supreme Court noted in one opinion: "One of the fundamental purposes of the pensioning of civil servants is to secure good behavior and the maintenance of reasonable standards of discipline during service." And in another context: "Public service, compensated at public expense, is a public trust and necessarily implies faithful service."

Amen to that.

School systems obviously have some difficulty preventing people from taking advantage of students over which they exercise enormous power.

A clear understanding that misconduct could result in loss of pension benefits is needed as an additional deterrent.

Raleigh, WEST VIRGINIA

Feb 2, 2007 - Shariff Mills, 32, a basketball coach at a Raleigh county school, was arrested after inappropriate text messages were found on one of the team player's cell phones.

He was charged with attempted use of a minor in sexually explicit acts and sexual abuse by a parent, guardian or custodian. A teacher at the girl's school recovered her cell phone after she used it in class.That's when the teacher discovered the messages from Mills to the girl.

Feb 5 - "Mills coaches the girls basketball team at Beckley-Stratton Middle School but is not an educator, Raleigh County Assistant Schools Superintendent David Severt said. Severt said Mills was a citizen coach who had taken courses to be a coach."

Feb 9 - Editorial from The State-Journal entitled, "How Do School Districts Select Coaches?"

Raleigh County school administrators say citizen coaches go through classes, tests, criminal background checks and fingerprinting before they're authorized by the state to be a coach.

That authorization is only good for one year and that coach must then go through the process again. If a member of the school's faculty becomes available for the position, they must get the job ahead of a citizen coach. The faculty member would have already gone through the process, to become a teacher.

He's charged with attempted abuse of a minor in sexually-explicit conduct and attempted sexual abuse by a parent, guardian or custodian. Authorities said he did not have any sexual contact with the girl. He's expected in court Feb 20 for a hearing.

ARRESTED AGAIN: Feb 28 - Mills was arrested (again). This time, for writing bad checks. The sexual abuse case in Raleigh County goes to the grand jury in May

GUILTY PLEA AND SENTENCING: Sept 14 - Mills pleaded guilty in May to one count of attempting to use a minor in sexually explicit conduct. He was sentenced to one to three years in prison. Mills must also register as a sex offender for the rest of his life once he is released from prison.