Feb 28, 2007 - The school board regrets hiring Kevin Miller as the East Hartford High School principal now that they know he was investigated by the state Department of Children and Families over the past three years in similar incidents involving girls in New Haven.
None of the DCF investigations, including the most recent one in East Hartford, resulted in criminal charges.
Local police disclosed Monday that Miller engaged in inappropriate, though not criminal, behavior with a 15-year-old female student from Feb. 6 to 8.
Human Resources Director Christopher Wethje said that applicants are required to disclose information on convictions and pending criminal charges. But because of privacy laws, he said, they can't be asked certain questions, including whether an applicant was investigated by DCF or previously arrested.
Update Mar 3 - Miller has resigned. The state Department of Children and Families investigated Miller four times while he was a principal in New Haven, according to the city's public school system. None of the New Haven cases resulted in criminal charges or findings of child abuse. The East Hartford case also resulted in no charges.
Update Mar 7 - The state Attorney General and Connecticut’s Child Advocate have announced they will be expanding their investigation into improper student teacher relationships to include East Hartford and New Haven.
The Attorney General and Child Advocate initiated their investigation about a year and a half ago, when a teacher and coach at a Southington middle school was also accused of misconduct. The recommendations will likely involve changes at DCF in policy and practice.
Update Apr 13 - The state Department of Children and Families substantiated a complaint that former East Hartford High School Principal Kevin Miller acted improperly toward a 15-year-old female student. The Journal-Inquirer explained that substantiation means there was enough evidence to prove that the allegations in the complaint occurred.
In reaction to the findings, School Superintendent Marion H. Martinez said today that she will ask the state Department of Education to revoke Miller's education certification
Wednesday, February 28, 2007
East Hartford, CONNECTICUT
Rialto, CALIFORNIA
Feb 28, 2007 - Matthew Cepican, 31, known as "Mr. C" to his students at at Rialto High School, has been arrested on suspicion of lewd acts with a minor.
Tuesday, February 27, 2007
Sterling, COLORADO
Updated with sentencing information for a despicable human being. 
Jan 2, 2006 - The Journal-Advocate recalls top stories of 2006 that included the Valdez case.
The first case against School Board president John Valdez, 66, was dismissed in 2005 by a district court judge. District Attorney’s Office turned around, armed with new evidence and presented the case to a grand jury who in turn returned with an indictment this year. In November, a " plea agreement was reached between Valdez and the district attorney which resulted in the former pleading guilty to one count of sexual assault-overcoming a victim’s will, which is a class-4 felony, and one count of sexual assault-victim incapable, a class-one misdemeanor."
The sexual assault involved one of his former special education pupils.
He is due to be sentenced February 27. But it isn't over yet. "It is possible that District Court, come February, could still reject the plea agreement, a scenario where a defendant — in this case Valdez — can withdraw his guilty plea."
Sadly, the newspaper also reported, [that] "a substitute teacher [was] convicted of having sex with one of her pupils."
UPDATE Feb 27 - Valdez was sentenced to two years on the sexual assault-victim incapable charge. On the Class-4 felony, sexual assault-overcoming a victim’s will, the 4-year sentence was deferred.
A deferred sentence means that the judgment would be revisited within a period of four years, and if Valdez successfully meets the satisfaction of the probation, the guilty plea and his felony conviction would be dismissed.Full Name: John Gilbert Valdez
From a 2006 article:
According to her family, the victim — 31 years old during the time of the incident — has been mentally handicapped since she was 2 years old. She attended special education schools all her school years and has recently tested at fifth- or sixth-grade level.Valdez admitted having sex, but claimed that it was consensual.
Denver Channel 7 reports that - Valdez was a Special Olympics coach which is how he came to meet the victim. He has been banned for life by the Special Olympics and dropped by the Lions Club. The assault happened at his home, while the woman was visiting Valdez's stepdaughter, who is also developmentally disabled.
"He admitted to sexually assaulting this person over a five-year period," said Chuck Glaser, who has a daughter who is also mentally challenged.
Pittsburgh, PENNSYLVANIA
Feb 27, 2007 - WTEA TV Ch 4 has an investigative report on teachers and school employees who have criminal records.
Pennsylvania requires a criminal check on teachers before they are hired, but once they're on the payroll, they never get checked. WTEA found 135 Pittsburgh school employees who'd been convicted of crimes.
Among them, a preschool teacher with three drug convictions in two years, including possession of heroin and crack.A local legislator wants state law requiring regular background checks of school employees, but the teacher's union objects.
Also found was a teacher with two assault convictions in two years. In one case, he broke another teacher's jaw on a school basketball court.
Another employee Team 4 found was a family services specialist who lost her job at Allegheny County's Child Youth Services after she was convicted of stealing $7,000 from poor and elderly clients.
And another was a food service worker convicted of drug charges after she told police she'd been dealing cocaine for three years.
One elementary school teacher was convicted of aggravated assault after she punched a police officer in the face. Under state law, that conviction would keep her from ever getting hired as a teacher, but the State Education Department said city school officials never reported her conviction.
One security officer at a city high school is currently facing aggravated assault charges. Police said he beat a teacher so severely that the victim required facial surgery.
Pittsburgh teacher's union president John Tarka said that's because the vast majority of teachers have no criminal record.Last year, the Legislature did make changes to the background check law. Starting in April, new school employees will be subject to national criminal checks done by the FBI. That change was made after several teachers with criminal records in other states were hired by districts in eastern Pennsylvania.
"Do we go through expense and difficulty and time of instituting an annual records check when you have such a small number? I would say we don't," said Tarka.
Baldwin City, KANSAS
Usually we don't report domestic battery charges but when a teacher is arrested twice for domestic battery, it's noteworthy.
Feb 27, 2007 - David Theis, 37, a science teacher at Baldwin City High School, was arrested in the school parking lot on charges of domestic battery and criminal restraint.
From the Baldwin City Sentinel: Theis was arrested earlier this month in connection with a separate domestic battery incident.
Lawrence Journal-World link.
Woodland, CALIFORNIA
Feb 27, 2007 - Anne Ichord, a Pioneer basketball coach, was arrested Jun 2, 2006. A judge ruled there was sufficient evidence to hold her and set March 13 an arraignment date.
Ichord is accused of four counts of sexual misconduct with a 17-year-old male student. "She'll lose if police reports were accurate and if the boy was telling the truth, then the judge will proceed the trial," Ichord's attorney Michael Rothschild said Friday.
Full Name: Anne Stehly Ichord
Correction to location.
Mechanicsburg, PENNSYLVANIA
Feb 26, 2007 - A day before sentencing, a judge ruled that John Yingst was not a sexually violent predator.
Yingst, 37, a Cumberland Valley School District teacher and [volunteer] coach, "is to be sentenced to 9 to 20 years in state prison for child molestation. The sentence is part of a deal Yingst struck in pleading guilty to numerous sex charges in August. Yingst has admitted having or trying to have sexual conduct with three girls, including a neighbor who was 11 when the molestation began."
From a 2006 article, "Yingst had been a substitute and classroom teacher at various schools in the district over the last 11 years."
Full Name: John R. Yingst
UPDATE Feb 27 - Yingst was sentenced to 9 to 20 years in state prison.
Additional reporting from The Sentinel: Yingst still has to report his address to authorities for 10 years. This is the list of charges he admitted.
Yingst pleaded guilty in August to assaulting a then-16-year-old girl once in 2005 and to sexually assaulting another girl at least 10 times a month for five years, starting in 2001 when she was 11.The two psychologists agreed on Yingst’s diagnosis of undefined paraphilia, or obsession with unusual sexual practices. They disagreed on whether he would reoffend. AND - Yingst also agreed to give authorities information about his contact with a third possible victim as part of the plea agreement, but he then refused, Stein says.
The charges he pleaded guilty to are five counts of statutory sexual assault, 15 counts of involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, five counts of aggravated indecent assault and 10 counts of indecent assault, furnishing liquor to minors and corruption of minors.
He also pleaded no contest to 15 counts of involuntary deviate sexual intercourse with a child and five counts of aggravated indecent assault.
From The Patriot-News (Feb 27):
On the predator issue, [Judge] Oler noted that prosecution and defense psychological experts agreed that Yingst, who taught for 11 years, is sexually attracted to children.
Dr. Robert Stein of the state Sexual Offenders Assessment Board testified during a Feb. 16 hearing that, given the variety, frequency and duration of his sex acts with the former neighbor, Yingst is likely to engage in the same behavior when freed from prison.
[TT - but he's not a sexual predator. Go figure. Better yet, go vote in the next election.]
Newark, OHIO
SENTENCED Feb 27, 2007 - Zachery Daubenmire, 24, a special education teacher at Licking Heights, was sentenced to to five years probation after admitting to downloading child pornography.
ARRESTED He was arrested last August after acknowledging that he downloaded child pornography found on his father's computer by a computer technician. The videos featured girls younger than 18 having sex with adult males and other juveniles and file names including the word “illegal,” court document states. Daubenmire to register as a sexually oriented offender.
His father is conservative religious activist David Daubenmire who has fought pornography as the founder of Pass the Salt Ministries and Minutemen United.
LICENSE REVOKED - July 10 - Five months after being sentenced, the Ohio Board of Education has voted to permanently revoke Daubenmire's three-year pupil activity supervisor permit.
Nov 28 - Found at the Ohio Educator Conduct Disciplinary Database, the following:
Basis for Discipline: Conviction for felony pandering obscenity involving a minor
Discipline Action: Permanent Revocation
Date of Action: July, 2007
Caledonia, WISCONSIN
Feb 27, 2007 - Craig Gieser, 48, a Caledonia Elementary School music teacher, was sentenced to to 120 days in jail and 12 years of probation. A 39-month sentence was stayed. Gieser can be released from jail for work, to look for work and counseling.
Gieser pleaded guilty Dec. 12 to dissemination of pornographic work involving minors and two counts of possession of pornographic work involving minors. He was caught in a sting operation. He was accused of sending the officer pictures of boys engaged in sex acts.
In handing down his sentence, [Judge]Fabian rejected Gieser’s claims that mental illness and access to the Internet were to blame.Gieser must register as a sex offender and he has forfeited his teaching certificate. See "Monsters aren't in your closet anymore."
"I agree Mr. Gieser that the Internet has created problems not just for you but for a lot of people,” Fabian said. “But that, along with your mental condition, does not excuse your conduct, particularly given you were involved in the field of education for so many years.”
Full Name: Craig Allen Gieser
Austintown, OHIO
Prosecutor asks for dismissal of all charges atainst a Fitch High School teacher. Dismissal granted by judge on Mar 1.
Jan 6, 2007 - A teacher at Austintown Fitch High School, is scheduled to go to trial on Feb 28 on on six counts of sexual battery. In is in connection with sexual contact with a 16- and-17-year-old student in 2005 when he was a teacher at the school.
He had been with the school district 33 years. He retired in March 2006.
The above ^(teacher) was found at the bottom of an article about the sentencing of another man, Paul J. Snyder, in a separate case.
Paul J. Snyder, 51, was sentenced "for having sexual relations with the same girl between July 11, 2001, and Dec. 31, 2004, when she was between ages 13 and 15." He was sentenced to six years and a $20,000 fine.
TT - If I am reading the prosecutor's statement correctly, she seemed to saying that Snyder could be eligible for release in 30 days of "shock probation."
As it is defined. - "Shock probation" normally describes probation following a short period of incarceration meant to "shock" the defendant out of reoffending, by making the defendant aware of the consequences of reoofending and the realities of prison life."
[So, statutory rape of a 13-year-old girl for three years that started when the victim was 13 (and he was 45-46) is punished by 30 days in jail?!!!
Does that make any sense? And does it make sense for the prosecutor to say, "This isn't a rape case," when clearly it was statutory rape? If what she meant was that the relationship was consensual, aren't age of consent laws written to protect minors from sexual exploitation by adults by rendering minors legally incapable of giving informed consent? No relationship with a child that young is consensual. The age of consent in Ohio is 16. Am I missing something here?]
UPDATE Feb 27 - The prosecution has asked for dismissal of the case against the teacher on the grounds that the victim refuses to testify. The girl now lives in Indiana and requested the dismissal. The prosecutor added that his motion is made "with the understanding that charges may be reinstated should the victim be emotionally prepared to testify at a later date."
[TT- Or maybe a different prosecutor?]
Update Feb 28 - Snyder wants to withdraw his guilty plea.
By imposing six years, Atty. John B. Juhasz wrote that Judge Sweeney didn't fulfill a commitment she made to adhere to the plea agreement, under which Prosecutor Dawn Krueger recommended a three-year prison term and said she didn't object to judicial release (shock probation) eligibility for Snyder after 30 days.No hearing date has been set on the motion.
Therefore, Juhasz argued that Snyder's plea wasn't voluntary and that Snyder was the victim of "manifest injustice."
Update Mar 1 - A judge granted a motion Wednesday by county Prosecutor Paul J. Gains that the indictment against the teacher be dismissed because the accuser won't testify in a trial. The prosecutor has six years to re-file should the witness change her mind.
Monday, February 26, 2007
Las Cruces, NEW MEXICO
Updated with sentencing information.
Jan 4, 2007 - It's the first day of trial for George Barber, 45, a Las Cruces High School physical education teacher and track coach, for having sex with a 17-year-old female student.
[TT: Theodorson was sentenced to three years probation.Barber was one of four LCHS staffers to be arrested in 2005 for sexual misconduct with students.
Former band director Brian Theodorson, substitute teacher Ralph Montaño and janitor Hector Lloyd Montes were each arrested in November 2005. [Emphasis mine.]
Montaño pleaded no contest and received 18 months' probation and was ordered to register as a sex offender.
Montes is awaiting trial on one count of criminal sexual contact after he was found alone with a 15-year-old female student.]
KVIA reports that New Mexico law classifies any sexual relationship between a student and a school employee as rape. [TT - the penalties, however, don't seem particularly harsh.]
UPDATE: Jan 5, 2007 Charges, apparently, also include one count of bribery of a witness.
UPDATE: Jan 5, 2007 Barber found guilty Friday on two counts. He was found not guilty on the remaining eight counts.
----
[TT: Don't expect a heavy sentence. It's instructive to note the headlines from various media.]
KFOX14: Las Cruces teacher found guilty.
Albuquerque Journal: Jury Convicts Former Las Cruces Coach on Sex Charges
El Paso Times: Ex-teacher guilty of having sex with student
KFDA Ch 10: Jury convicts former Las Cruces coach on two sex charges
---> Las Cruces Sun-News: Ex-teacher found not guilty of 9 counts ]
UPDATE Feb 26 - Barber was sentenced to 36 months, described as "the maximum penalty allowed for his conviction on two counts of criminal sexual penetration by a school employee."
NEW YORK
Feb 26, 2007 - A report on the moral character of teachers isn't encouraging.
Last year, 134 cases were brought to a subcommittee that decides if teachers in trouble get to keep their certification.[TT - no link to the report.]
That's 28 more than the year before, and almost twice as many as five years ago.
Those cases run the gamut, both criminal and non-criminal, but the bulk have to do with arson, child pornography, drugs, endangering, and larceny.
Kingman, ARIZONA
Feb 26, 2007 - Background checks are being questioned after a teacher and coach at Kingman High School was hired despite having been convicted of a minor offense against a juvenile stemming from a highly publicized hazing in 2000 that involved several basketball players on a team that he coached.
The hazing incident resulted in seven of the students pleading guilty to aggravated assault in a plea bargain to have the sexual assault and kidnapping charges dropped. They received jail sentences ranging from 60 days to nine months. One victim reported that the teacher was present at one incident.
Six Winslow coaches resigned during the scandal, but only one was charged with a crime. He was charged on May 16, 2000, with three counts of child abuse, Class 4 felonies, when he was the coach of the boys basketball team at Winslow High School. On Nov 14, he agreed to plead guilty to a misdemeanor charge of contributing to the delinquency of a minor and was sentenced on Dec 13 to three years probation.
ARIZONA
Feb 26, 2007 - The U.S. Supreme Court has refused to review the case of a teacher sentenced to 200 years in prison for possessing child pornography.
Morton Berger was sentenced in 2004 to consecutive 10-year prison terms on each of 20 convictions for sexual exploitation of a minor. Each of the 20 counts was for possessing computer and printed images of child pornography, and 10 years was the minimum sentence for each count.
Arizona law requires that the sentences be served consecutively and that they be served without the possibility of probation, early release or pardon.
Background information at LawCrossing.com link
Arrested 2002. Married, father of four, age 52, the sentence affirmed by the Arizona Supreme Court last May.
He taught at Cortez High School. The case is Morton Berger v. state of Arizona, 06-349.
Brownfield, TEXAS
Feb 25, 2007 - Amanda Cornelsen, 24, theater arts and debate teacher at Brownfield High School, was arrested on drug charges.
KCBD Channel 11 adds - Cornelsen was placed on administrative leave. She was arrested after a traffic stop. Also in the car was Craig Atkinson, agd 27, same address. Atkinson already had a warrant out for his arrest in Terry County for assault with serious bodily injury.
Feb 27 - KCBD Chanell 11 is following the case: Late this afternoon, the Brownfield's Superintendent met with Amanda Cornelsen. Brownfield Superintendent Jerry Jones tells NewsChannel 11 Cornelsen gave her side of the story in Tuesday's meeting, however he didn't release any details.
Her contract is expected to be discussed at the March school board meeting.
Sunday, February 25, 2007
Tampa, FLORIDA
Updated and re-dated to include new information.
Jan 11, 2007 - Kimberly Brabson III, 29, a teacher and swim coach at Tampa Preparatory School, was arrested for video voyerism.
Reportedly he set up a camera in his office and asked girls to use the room to change into their swim suits. Police have identified 10 victims between ages 10-15 but are looking for more. They retrieved a videotape from his office that shows him setting up the camera and students taking off their clothes. He's been asking girls to change in the room for three years.
Police have been investigating Brabson since he was fired from Tampa Preparatory School in November.
UPDATE: Jan 18 - An attorney whose two daughters who were 15 and 17 at the time were filmed by Brabson has filed a lawsuit against Brabson and the school.
The broader issue, as Carey sees it, is that under state law, video voyeurism is only a misdemeanor. He says he wants state law changed so that if a teacher is involved in such activity, it becomes not a misdemeanor, but a felony. Carey says he speak with some members of the state legislature next week about changing the current law.As many as 50 girls may have appeared on the tapes detectives found in Brabson's office.
Thanks to a poster for updates below.
Update Feb 23 - Originally charged with 11 counts of video voyeurism, Brabson has now been charged with 19 felony counts of “promotion of sexual performance by a child.”
St Petersburg Times: Brabson is married with a two-year-old child and another on the way. In high school he was disciplined for stealing girls' panties from a locker room. Most disturbingly, he had a complaint lodged against him last year when a student accused him of asking her to try on a swimsuit, according to D. Gordon MacLeod, head of school at Tampa Prep.
Three school officials spoke with him, telling him his behavior was inappropriate. Police were not contacted.[TT - He isn't the only teacher caught videotaping students.
"We asked him to stop," MacLeod said. "I guess he didn't."
MacLeod fired Brabson in November after students again alleged odd behavior by the teacher. Someone contacted police, who searched Brabson's office, finding a hidden camera.
Neal Sato, Redwood City, California teacher was sentenced to six years for videotaping females while they changed their gym clothes.
In Washington state, a teacher, Carlo Calcagni, was arrested in December on suspicion of 17 counts of voyeurism for a video camera in his bathroom.
A long-time coach at Pottsville, Pennsylvania was arrested for videotaping the girls' locker room. Daniel Shields is expected to plead guilty.]
Mar 7 - A poster has forwarded links to the following.
Brabson's Jan 11 charge report.
Brabson's Feb 23 charge report.
May 10 - A local attorney is suing Tampa Prep and Brabson. As part of the lawsuit, they discovered an internal memo to Headmaster Gordon MacLeod talks about Brabson and the swimsuits being tried on two years before he was arrested. It said Brabson "conducted this inappropriately and he knows it, admits it, and will never to it again."
It said Brabson "conducted this inappropriately and he knows it, admits it, and will never to it again." It also stated that Brabson "does not coordinate girls trying anything on -- ever again -- a female teacher/coach must do it."
Then there's a Post-it note the headmaster put on Brabson's work laptop. It says, "Please remove all pictures of girls from this computer. Thanks, Gordon." Police found it when they searched his office.
Police also found 25,000 graphic images on his laptop. They saw he searched for keywords like "Lolita," "underage," and "erotic" thousands of times. They saw he was a frequent viewer of pornographic websites and often chatted to girls on Facebook.com and MySpace.com.
Five families are suing the school.
From St. Petersburg Times: "Complaints against coach go back years" sums up the worst of the allegations and it doesn't sound good for the school.
Saturday, February 24, 2007
Frankfort, KENTUCKY
Feb 22, 2007 - Peter Overstreet, a substitute teacher in Central Kentucky is out of a job after police arrested him during a drug bust.
Vernon, ALABAMA
Feb 24, 2007 - Benjamin Harrison, 45, a Lamar County teacher, was indicted for fraud, accused of taking money that had been collected for a school fund.
It's alleged he opened the account , collecting money from students and their parents and donors for "scholarships" and class activities. Authorities found out in an audit that the account was used primarily for Harrison's benefit.
Additionally, in 2005, it is alleged that he obtained a purchase order and check and attempted to convert it to his personal use. He returned the check with the endorsement cut off.
Harrison’s father, Hugh Harrison, is a Lamar County Board of Education member.
Full Name: Benjamin Hugh Harrison
Mar 28 - Harrison pleaded not guilty.
Honolulu, HAWAII
Feb 24, 2007 - Bob Loren, 64, a Radford High School teacher in Hawaii, is being sought for apparently leaving Hawaii while awaiting a federal court trial next month for conspiracy to commit marriage fraud.
He is accused of setting up a sham marriage so that his male lover from China could remain in the United States. His trial was set for Mar 6, but he is currently a fugitive and is believed to be in Mexico. An arrest warrant has been issued.
Apparently, Loren has been trying to negotiate his return to the United States, however, Assistant U.S. Attorney Tracy Hino said, "We don't negotiate with fugitives."
He is accused of arranging the marriage of Hang Duan, 20, of China with Shara Padello, 21, of Waianae. Duan pleaded guilty in June to conspiracy and marriage fraud and was sentenced to six-months in jail. He is seeking asylum. Padella and her mother pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit marriage fraud. The women will be sentenced April 16.
ARRESTED: Mar 2 - Loren was arrested by Federal agents this past weekend. He was found at the home of a friend after returning to Oahu.
PLEADED GUILTY: Mar 28 - Loren pleaded guilty to helping set up a sham marriage to allow a Chinese man, described as his lover, to remain in the United States. A Spanish teacher, Loren was placed on administrative leave when he was indicted last year.
Federal authorities say Loren was teaching English in China when he met Duan and the two "began a romantic involvement." However, the case did not involve a gay marriage situation. The reason for the sham marriage was to allow Duan to go to school here as opposed to staying here to be with Loren.
Three others pleaded guilty and all will be sentenced at a later date.
In a May 2006 story, a Federal magistrate ordered Loren to take a sexual deviancy test. . His Chinese "lover" was age 20. The school suspended Loren.
SENTENCED: August 31, 2007 - Loren was sentenced to 10 months in federal prison. U.S. District Judge J. Michael Seabright, in imposing 10 months, said Loren had perjured himself twice for the purpose of receiving favorable rulings by the court.
Duan, whom Seabright said was manipulative and just as culpable as Loren, served six months in prison.
Padello was sentenced to three years' probation and ordered to perform 300 hours of community service. Bivit-Padello got one month in prison, two years of supervised release and a $1,000 fine.
Raleigh, NORTH CAROLINA
Feb 24, 2007 - Larry Jewell, 57, assistant principal at Southeast Magnet High School, was denied a bond reduction. He is in jail on a $3.5 million bond.
Jewell was arrested Feb 15 and charged with 46 counts of sex offenses allegedly committed against a relative. "The D.A.'s office also opposed Mr. Jewell's bond reduction because potential victims are coming forward and authorities have received calls from other states, [Assistant District Attorney Charles] Bullock said."
A a probable cause hearing is scheduled for Feb 27.
WRAL reports the crime dates back 10 years, they involve one boy, for whom Jewell was "a substitute parent" between the ages of 10 and 20. The actual charges are 24 counts of sex offense in a parental role, 15 counts of taking indecent liberties with a child, five counts of first-degree sexual offense and two counts of disseminating obscenity.
Full Name: Larry Ray Jewell
Feb 19 - Jewell made his first court appearance.
Dunn Police Detective Sergeant David Whittenton says the alleged acts of sexual abuse against a child by Mr. Jewell are some of the worst he has seen in his 20-year career of handling similar incidents.Sgt. Whittenton said the acts occurred over at least a 10-year period, which contributed to the seriousness of the offenses.His next court appearance for probable cause is scheduled for Mar 27.
Feb 28 - Odd twist: Jewell said the young man who accuses him of molestation was placed in his home by federal agents investigating a child pornography case against the accuser's father, Jewell's court-appointed attorney said Tuesday. Attorney claims that the FBI let the boy stay with his stepmother. [The FBI found no reason not to.]
The father of the victim pleaded guilty to federal child pornography charges in 2002 and served almost two years in prison. He is a registered sex offender.
Thanks for the correction.
Mar 19 - A judge has ruled that there is probable cause to send that case to the grand jury. Jewell is expected to appear in a Wake County courtroom Monday.
See Daily Record Mar 14. link
Friday, February 23, 2007
Lawton, OKLAHOMA
Feb 23, 2007 - Kathy Hicks, 35, a junior high school teacher was sentenced to a five-year prison term for her role in a kickback scam involving the Lawton Public School system. All but one year of her sentence was suspended.
Hicks pleaded guilty earlier this week to one count of obtaining property by false pretenses and one count of conspiracy to commit a felony.
Kathy Hicks and 19 others, including her husband, have been charged at the federal or state level for receiving payment for work they didn't perform as a security guards.
Full Name: Kathy Lynn Hicks
Battleboro, NORTH CAROLINA
Feb 23, 2007 - Buck Young, 59, a teacher at Rocky Mount Preparatory School , was arrested, charged with taking indecent liberties with four students over a two-year period at the school.
Police said Young is accused of "improper touching" involving four female students whose ages range from 11 to 13. He was arrested after a student's parents called police on Feb 14 and made the allegations.
"It's completely bogus," Young said Friday from his home during a phone interview. "It's killing my family." "I'm very upset."
Boulder, COLORADO
Feb 23, 2007 -
Antonio Rodriguez, Jr., a basketball coach at Justice High School*, was arrested on charges of harassing a student for sending sexually explicit text messages to a 16-year-old girl who was on the team.
He's also accused of using sexual innuendos in front of other players.
"So we're fortunate this woman came forward," said Julie Brooks, a spokesperson for the Boulder police. "It's something difficult to report against a coach or teacher not knowing if someone will believe you. She kept evidence of the text messages on her phone. It was incredibly helpful for us making our case."He was fired from the Justice High basketball program last month.
Jan 31, 2008 - Rodriquez was found guilty of misdemeanor harassment Monday night by a Boulder County jury following a daylong trial.
Officials at the school said they knew of Rodriguez's criminal record -- which dates to 1991 and includes arrests on suspicion of drug possession, assault, larceny and fraud -- but wanted to give him a second chance.He will be sentenced Feb. 14.
Denying the charges, Rodriguez told authorities that his son sent the text messages that included one that read, "I want to smack that ass."
*Justice High School is a year-round school, which is housed at the Boulder County Justice Center and designed to help troubled teens involved in the criminal justice system.
Wissahickon, PENNSYLVANIA
Feb 21, 2007 - Matthew Milleo, 36, a Wissahickon High School teacher and soccer coach, was sentenced to seven to 23 months in the county prison to be followed by a three-year probationary sentence for having sex with a female student and for sending sexually explicit e-mails and text messages to that student and another teenage girl in his class.
Milleo pleaded guilty to one charge of endangering the welfare of a child and two charges of corruption of minors in a sexual manner. One victim testified that she had had an ongoing sexual relationship with Milleo from the time she was 14 until 17 when rumors of that relationship swept through the school.
Milleo is married and the father of a seven-month-old baby.
Full Name: Matthew A. Milleo
Fond Du Lac, WISCONSIN
Feb 23, 2007 - Michael Burman, 35, an English teacher and track coach at Horace Mann High School, was arrested, accused of having a sexual relationship with a student.
Police received a tip about a sexual relationship that allegedly took place last school year. Police Chief Bill Lamb said they'll ask prosecutors to charge the teacher with sexual assault of a child by a school staff person -- a felony.
PRELIMINARY Feb 27 - From the Fond Du Lac Reporter: A preliminary has been scheduled for Mar 29.
PRELIMINARY HELD Mar 29 - After a preliminary hearing where the student testified, the judge found sufficient evidence that a felony was committed and bound Burman over for trial on 10 counts of sexual assault of a student by a school staff member and 10 counts of child enticement. Arraignment is scheduled for April 10.
NOT GUILTY PLEA Apr 11 - Burman pleaded not guilty to 10 counts of sexual assault of a student by school staff and 10 counts of child enticement. He is on unpaid administrative leave.
STATUS CONFERENCE SCHEDULED - May 2, 2008
Plymouth, MICHIGAN
Feb 23, 2007 - Orin Kennedy, 27, a Plymouth High School English teacher, was arrested on two child sex felony charges for using the Internet to proposition a minor.
"Predators continue to lurk on the internet, trying to approach minors," said Michigan Attorney General Cox. "My office will not let up in its pursuit to track down and prosecute these predators who seek harm to Michigan's children."
Full Name: Orin Andrew Kennedy (from Arizona Republic.)
Text of letter sent to parents.
Update Mar 16 - Kennedy waived his right to a preliminary examination. He was ordered to stand trial. He is to be arraigned in Washtenaw County Circuit Court on April 19.
Update May 31 - The school board wants to fire Kennedy. They planned to do so this month, but did not give proper notice to the teacher. It will likely be scheduled for June 12. A pre-trial hearing is also scheduled for June 12.
Chuck Portelli, head of the Plymouth-Canton Education Association, said the teachers’ union stood in for Kennedy during the district’s internal investigation process.Update June 14, 2007 - The school board fired Kennedy. Pre-trial scheduled for July 5.
The union leader said he couldn’t speak to the decision to fire Kennedy before a jury has its say.
Salem, OREGON
Feb 23, 2007 - Joshua Shewell, 30, a teacher’s aide at the Salem Child Development Center, was sentenced to 75 months in prison for sexual abuse of a child.
Shewell was accused of two counts of first-degree sex abuse and one count of first-degree sodomy against an eight or nine-year-old girl in 2001. He pleaded guilty on Feb 7 to the sex abuse charges.
Thursday, February 22, 2007
Muncie, INDIANA
Originally published Jan 3, 2007. Updated to include sentencing information and resignation. 
Dec 13, 2006 - For a lively debate (103 comments so far) on a teacher/coach arrested for his third DWI in five years.
A teacher and coach was arrested for the third DWI, the last time for being three times over the limit. The debate seems centered over whether he should be fired or not.
They range from the banal "We're all human." to more lucid responses. And you got to hope the poster who thinks it's a "witch hunt" and talks about the usefulness of being a "roll model" isn't a teacher. (The people who type in caps should be ignored altogether.) Some, however, are thoughtful.
To be honest -- anyone who has been caught drinking and driving 3 times should be fired from their job, no matter where they work. Firing shouldn't really even be an issue - he belongs in jail. He shouldn't even have had the opportunity to do it that 3rd time. People with felony convictions cannot hold government positions - he can't be our mailman but you think it is ok for him to be a powerful influence on our children?Good question.
UPDATED Feb 22, 2007 - He was sentenced to an 18-month jail term with all but five days suspended. The Cowan Community School Board on Wednesday voted to accept his resignation.
Board member Kim O'Conner said she accepted the resignation with "mixed feelings," calling ... "a very talented coach" and educator who motivated students and was candid about his mistakes.TT- Posters at the web site definitely do not agree with O'Conner.
N-2
Watertown, CONNECTICUT
Feb 22, 2007 - David Simonin, 56, a former (before his first arrest) Watertown High School teacher and registered sex offender, has been arrested for failing to verify his address as a registered sex offender.
Simonin "has been in an out of court for sex offenses and larceny charges since 2003." He was caught in New York City during an Internet porn sting in August 2003.
In that incident, police said Simonin sent sexually-explicit instant messages to what he thought was a 14-year-old boy.At the time of that arrest, he was working as a math teacher at the high school.
According to police, Simonin described in a sexual manner what he wished to do to the boy and arranged to meet with him. The boy turned out to be a detective, which led to Simonin's arrest. He was later convicted of second-degree attempted sodomy and was placed on probation.
Then in Sep 2004, Simonin "allegedly stole more than $100,000 from a 78-year-old Watertown woman. In that case, the Chief State's Attorney's Office said Simonin used the money to buy seven motor vehicles, a hot tub, a time share in Hawaii and several vacations. He pleaded guilty to first-degree larceny, a Class B felony, but avoided prison time by agreeing to pay $24,881 in restitution to the state."
His case is continued until March 14.
Full Name: David G. Simonin
Correction to state. Thanks to poster.
Fontana, CALIFORNIA
Feb 22, 2007 - Matthew Stone, 41, a Fontana high school art teacher, was sentenced to 180 days in jail and ordered not to associate with gang members. Stone pleaded guilty Jan 11 to being under the influence while in possession of a weapon, as well as an unrelated drunken-driving charge.
He was arrested during a Jan 2006 crime sweep in Fontana, and was found with a parolee who was documented as a member of the Nazi Lowriders. He was placed on administrative leave after his arrest. He will be serving the time on weekends.
Glasglow, KENTUCKY
Feb 22, 2007 - Robin Owsley, 47, a LaRue County teacher, was sentenced to three years imprisonment for Driving Under the Influence. [Bolding ours.]
The DUI was Owsley’s fourth offense, a felony. The DUI stemmed from a Jan 6, 2006, DUI. She was out on bond, but it was revoked in September after she was arrested last August after passing out in class in front to 10 students.
Wednesday, February 21, 2007
Ocean Springs, MISSISSIPPI
Feb 21, 2007 - Doug Lundy, 35, a history teacher at Ocean Springs High School, pleaded guilty to three counts of touching a child for lustful purposes and eight counts of sexual battery.
He was sentenced to 15 years, nine of which were suspended. After serving his six years in prison, he will have five years supervised probation. In addition, he was ordered to report as a sex offender for life.
Prosecutors said Lundy had an affair with a 17-year-old student starting in 2004. District Attorney Tony Lawrence said an inappropriate e-mail from Lundy to the student was discovered by her mother. Her mother brought the e-mail to the attention of school officials in January 2005, who warned Lundy not to have inappropriate contact with students, Lawrence said.The Mississippi Press clarifies that Lundy must serve the six years "day-for-day" - no early parole or time off for good behavior. Other newspapers did not report this, or the judge's remarks.
However, Lundy started a second relationship with a 16-year-old student in February. In April 2005, Lundy was caught in her bedroom, Lawrence said in a http://www.gulflive.com/ article.
"People put trust in you," [Judge] Jackson told Lundy. "(Parents) have enough to worry about without having to worry about teachers taking advantage of their children."Full Name: Doug Alan Lundy
Tuesday, February 20, 2007
London, KENTUCKY
Trust Us With Your Children.
Feb 16, 2007 - Derek Baird, 19, a special education assistant at South Laurel High School, was arrested and charged with possession of matter portraying sexual performance by a minor.
Another teacher heard rumors and when confronted, Baird admitted that he had a relationship with the 16-year-old girl. Police found pictures of Baird and the girl on his cell phone, presumably having sex.
Baird resigned. The story doesn't say if she was a student in one of his classes. Police said that in Kentucky, sex with a 16 year old isn't illegal but taking sexual pictures of anyone under 18, is. Bard is being held on $50,000 cash bond.
Roebuck, SOUTH CAROLINA
Feb 20, 2007
- Leviticus Harton, 27, a band teacher at Dorman High School, was arrested after he tried to meet what he thought was a 13-year-old girl he befriended on the Internet for sex.
Deputies say 25-year-old Leviticus Harton talked to the investigator he thought was a teenage girl for several months about sex but didn't give out his true identity until last week. Authorities say Harton was arrested Saturday and investigators seized computers from his home and his parents' house.He has been suspended with pay pending the outcome of the case.
FOX Carolina reports that they were told he recently was married. They also refer to him as "an accused online predator."
Nashville, TENNESEE
Feb 20, 2007
- Julie Buchanan, 45, a PTA co-president at Granbery Elementary School, was sentenced to 15 years in prison for theft of $150,000 in organization funds. She will not be eligible for parole for four years.
She "might have received leniency had she not presented fraudulent medical records and a character letter the judge deemed a "fraud upon the court," her lawyer said." Her lawyer also said she wasn't a professional criminal, however,
She testified that she she stole the money, some of it donated for a terminally ill boy, because of bipolar disorder.Full Name: Julie Ann Taylor Buchanan
She offered a similar defense in 1993 after pleading guilty to writing more than $75,000 in bad checks, and was sentenced to house arrest and probation.
Link to Court Order Sentencing Documents pdf
Shalotte, NORTH CAROLINA
Feb 20, 2007 - David Arrowood, 50, a math teacher and longtime assistant football coach at West Brunswick High School, was sentenced Monday to 90 days in jail after being convicted of multiple counts of sex offense with a 17-year-old female student and indecent liberties with a student.
Feb 22 - MyrtleBeach online in their story on the sentencing wrote about other problems in the district.
Adam Henning, spokesman for Brunswick County Schools, said staff members have been in the news recently.And: "The school board is seriously considering adding pre-employment drug screening and random testing for all employees."
A West Brunswick High School JROTC instructor is accused of off-campus sexual battery and a North Brunswick High School assistant principal is charged with possession of marijuana and indecent exposure while attending a school-related conference in Atlantic Beach, N.C.
September 5 - A second set of parents has filed a lawsuit against the shcool district, accusing school officials of not disciplining a coach even though they knew of his inappropriate behavior involving their daughter. The school system already faces a lawsuit by parents of a South Brunswick High School student who is now married to her former coach.
LICENSE ACTION March 2007 Action: Auto-revoke Reason: Conv - indecent liberties with student. Source: N.C. Board of Education.
Monday, February 19, 2007
Hoopeston, ILLINOIS
Feb 19, 2007 - Kelley Goodrum, a special education teacher at Hoopeston Area High School, will be in the courtroom starting Thursday. She will be on trial on two counts of obstructing justice.
In February 2005, Goodrum was charged with forging a counterfeit $50 bill. That charge was dropped in January 2006.One of the students told police that Goodrum had watched them photocopying and had actually helped them cut out at least two bills, but thought they were making the fake bills as a joke.
Authorities said that in 2005, two of Goodrum's students photocopied real $5 bills and a $50 bill using equipment in the teacher's classroom, then glued them together. The bills were found around Hoopeston.
She has been suspended with pay since Mar 3, 2005.
Shelby, INDIANA
Feb 19, 2007 - Thomas Piles, 53, a Shelbyville Middle School teacher, was arrested for indecent exposure. He was suspended from his job, pending an investigation.
Police were alerted when another driver complained that Piles had exposed himself as he drove the same speed alongside the complainant's car. An officer cited Piles for indecent exposure. Headline of story reads: "Flasher blames crime on defective pants."
Full Name: Thomas L. Piles
Friday, February 16, 2007
Hampton, VIRGINIA
Updated and bumped. Ritter was found dead in his home. 
Feb 8, 2007 - Dale Ritter, 54, an art teacher and golf instructor at Phoebus High School, was arrested and charged with two counts of indecent liberties with a child while in a supervisory role.
Police say the charges stem from inappropriate relationships with two girls, now 17 and 16. One of the relationships lasted two months in late 2005, and the second started in January of this year.
(Photo courtesy of Hampton Police Dept.)
Daily Press: Ritter was placed on unpaid administrative leave after his arrest. State code requires any teacher charged with a felony to go on unpaid leave.
UPDATE Feb 16, 2007 - Ritter was found dead at his home, according to a report by the Daily Press. From Pilot Online: Apparently, it was from natural causes. They quote a police spokesman as saying, "It's a natural death."
Thanks to a reader for the update.
Lumberton, NORTH CAROLINA
Feb 16, 2007 - Frankie Brown, 37, a Lumberton teacher, pleaded guilty to second-degree statutory rape of two young relatives just moments before jury selection was to begin in his trial.
Court records say Brown abused his two female victims between November 2001 and January 2002. They were ages 9 and 10 at the time.The guilty plea comes nearly six months after a different judge dismissed the charges against Brown. In July, Superior Court Judge Ola Lewis threw out the case against Brown after Martha Duvall, the assistant district attorney, refused to turn over notes to the defense.
More than a dozen of the girls' relatives protested the case's dismissal in front of the courthouse. A few weeks later, a grand jury indicted Brown on the same charges.
The plea agreement includes 65 months to a maximum of 87 months in prison and Brown will have to register as a sex offender.
The newspaper goes on to note that "Brown had previously been charged with indecent liberties with minors when he was an assistant softball coach and teacher at Lumberton Junior High School, but those charges were later dismissed."
LICENSE ACTION March 2007 Action: Auto-revoke Reason: Conv - 2nd-deg. statutory rape. Source: N.C. Board of Education.
Union Town, PENNSYLVANIA
Jan 19, 2007 - Donald Rosie, 56, pleaded guilty in November to the misdemeanor charge alleging he had a sexual relationship last year with a 16-year-old girl he previously taught in the sixth grade.
A lawsuit filed in October claims district officials failed to investigate complaints that the teacher had sexual contact with female children in the school system. The plaintiffs alleged that Rosie had sexual contact with or made sexual comments to seven other minor students since his hiring in 1972.
Rosie is scheduled for sentencing Feb 15.
Full name: Donald J. Rosie
UPDATE Feb 16, 2007 - Rosie was sentenced to 7 1/2 months of house arrest, followed by 16 months probation.
Fayette County Judge Steve P. Leskinen handed down the sentence Thursday afternoon for the misdemeanor charge to the disbelief of the victim's family.The mother tried reading a letter in court but the judge cut the reading of her letter short, saying it wasn't relevant that sexual advances and innuendo between Rosie and the victim began when she was in sixth grade.
"I am disappointed that all the truth isn't out there," the victim's mother said following the sentencing.
Leskinen called the case "difficult," noting that "morals and law and ethics are three different things."
"The court is obliged to impose punishment at the lowest level to achieve a just result," Leskinen said prior to ruling in the case.
Update Feb 23 - The Albert Gallatin School District directors voted Wednesday night to fire Rosie. District Solicitor Lee V. Price said last week that Rosie withdrew a union grievance concerning his termination.
August 31 - A judge rejected a request by a lawyer to lift a confidentiality clause imposed June 28 after a civil suit was filed. The lawyer is representing the student and her mother. "This is a stonewall attempt to make it harder to litigate this case," the lawyer said.
Thursday, February 15, 2007
North Babylon, NEW YORK
Feb 15, 2007 - Daniel Green, a school teacher in the North Babylon School District who coached the girls High School Varsity Basketball Team, was one of three named individuals who were arrested by the DEA in a a major cocaine distribution network based in Long Island, New York.
His name appears on a press release from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency on $18 Million In Forfeited Drug Proceeds Distributed To Federal,State And Local Law Enforcement In New York In 2006.
The investigation culminated with three arrests, the execution of 8 search warrants throughout Suffolk County that resulted in the seizure of 210 kilograms of cocaine, $5,000,000.00, and three semi-automatic assault rifles.
Sugar Land, TEXAS
Feb 15, 2007 - Kimberly Hollis, 30, a coach at Hightower High School, was arrested after being indicted on a charge of an improper relationship between an educator and a student
She confessed to having sexual contact with a 15-year-old female student. Hollis resigned from the school Jan 12.
Hollis was named Jan 29 in a sealed indictment by the Fort Bend County grand jury. According to the Texas Penal Code, an improper relationship with a student occurs if “if the employee engages in sexual contact, sexual intercourse, or deviate sexual intercourse with a person who is enrolled in a public or private primary or secondary school at which the employee works and who is not the employee’s spouse.” The offense is a second-degree felony
Full Name: Kimberly Dawn Hollis
Martinsville, INDIANA
Feb 15,2007 - Cynthia Renard, 32, a teacher at Martinsville High School, was arrested and charged with felony child seduction. She engaged in sexual contact with a 16-year-old student.
After a four-week investigation, Renard turned herself in Wednesday night.
Felony child seduction is a crime in Indiana as defined . In essence, it is illegal for adults in a supervisory position of a minor aged 16 and 17 to have consensual sex with them. The crime called "felony child seduction", a Class D felony, carries a maximum penalty of three years in prison and a $10,000 fine.
Clarkston, WASHINGTON
Jury verdict: Innocent. As is our policy, we remove the name of the teacher from our blog.
Feb 15, 2007 - A seventh-grade science teacher at Lincoln Middle School, is due in court, accused of sexual contact with a 15-year-old girl.
No other information available.
Update Feb 24 - A jury found INNOCENT of all charges.
Source: Twin Falls Times (found in Google search, but link is broken.]
Source: Seattle Post-Intelligencer (found in Google search, but link is broken.]
N-6
July 13- Thank you, poster, for correction.
Lehi, UTAH
Feb 2, 2007 - Ben Newby, a Meadow Elementary School teacher, was in court in efforts to reach a plea agreement.
The former Lehi teacher left the state in 1985 and moved to Colorado, where he has been teaching at an intermediate school. He was arrested in Colorado on April 11, after a one-time student accused him of sexually abusing him more than 20 years ago. Because Newby moved from Utah to Colorado, the statute of limitations did not apply and Newby was extradited.Defense attorney Ken Brown requested that the case be continued for further negotiations. The hearing was rescheduled to Feb 15.
"It was very embarrassing, it was something I was still ashamed of and it was something that's haunted me for a long time. After getting over the point I could talk about it, it was such a relief to be able to do that and clear that skeleton, so I'm really happy."Newby worked in Kansas, Arizona and Colorado and investigators have been worried that there are other victims in other places.