RANT OF THE DAY
"I'm startled that a school district would support a woman who assisted in covering up a sex crime against a child."
August 2, 2007 - The above was attributed to Laura Ahearn, executive director of Parents for Megan's Law, to describe the action of West Islip school district officials who wrote letters of support for a teacher who lied on the witness stand to cover up rape of a student by her husband - another teacher..
West Islip school district officials are under fire for using district letterhead to write a judge in support of a teacher who was later convicted of trying to cover up the rape by her husband of a North Babylon High School student.Melissa Cuesta pleaded guilty to third-degree perjury for lying on the witness stand during the trial of her husband. She was sentenced to three years' probation. Danny Cuesta was sentenced to a paltry 15 month's in jail - not prison - for a two-year sexual relationship with a 15-year-old girl. They dropped pending investigations into allegations that he had sex with two other girls. TT -LINK
Included in a packet of letters of support sent to Suffolk County Court Judge Barbara Kahn were letters from the school's principal, Anne Shierant, the assistant principal, Dawn Morrison, and the district's director of special education services, Deborah Vertovez.
John Collins, chief trial prosecutor for the Suffolk district attorney's office, called the letters "striking" in their unseemliness."I think it's inappropriate for individuals to purport to speak on behalf of a district and its constituents in support of a person who has been convicted of intentionally perjuring herself in an effort to protect a child molester," Collins said.
Although none of the letters addressed the charges, Morrison wrote that she has "the utmost respect and admiration" for Melissa Cuesta, while Shierant in her correspondence to the court called it "a letter of support."
TT - Two teachers testified on behalf of the David Constanza, (LINK) recently sentenced to months to two years in county jail for sex with a 15-year-old girl. The school Superintendent expressed outrage that two teachers testified on his behalf. "How you diminished these actions and testified to his positive contributions, while this girl, the victim, with her family, sat in the courtroom, is beyond my understanding." He wrote that teachers have a "sacred responsibility to protect children" and that his confidence in the two "as guardians of our children has been diminished." TT- LINK
David Costanza is the son of school board president Charles Costanza.
We have seen the same thing over and over. Teachers who attend the trial in support of the teacher, flaunting their partisan support for the accused.
A Maryland principal wrote a letter in support of a drug dealer. A school teacher asked that his son, teacher Nathan Cox, not be sent to jail for sex with a 13-year-old student. Three teachers wrote to support Garland Eary who pleaded guilty to possession of child pornography. A North Carolina school superintendent wrote a letter to the court asking the judge to allow a local anchorman who while driving drunk killed a pedestrian to speak to the school's driver education classes.
It's their right to write such letters or testify in support; it's our right to ask "Do you have no decency?"
