This is one of those outrageous stories that we seemed to have missed last year.
April 4, 2008 -
Carrie O'Conner, 33, a Montgomery County high school counselor, was indicted by a grand jury in December 2007 on a charge of sexual assault against a student by a school teacher or administrator. According to the indictment, O'Conner and the 16-year-old student allegedly had a sexual relationship from the beginning of January until the end of July.
She was arrested in August 2007.
From the Dec 11, 2007 story:
A student reported the abuse to a teacher and a probation officer working at the school in March.The teacher and officer avoided reporting the incident to Montgomery schools superintendent Dale Clark because she is the counselor's mother.The case was turned over to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI).
O'Conner was suspended for a short time in March, but continued working at the school through the end of the year and returned as a counselor for the 2007 school year.
When the GBI requested all contact stop between O'Conner and the student last Tuesday, Principal Luke Smith sent a letter to the boy's parents.April 4, 2008 - The mother dropped her lawsuit against the against the Montgomery County Board of Education, the teacher and the superintendent.. Her lawyers filed a dismissal without prejudice last week, which means she can re-file the case in the future.
He wrote that the boy would be sent to the alternative school until the GBI completed its investigation. Meanwhile O'Conner could remain counseling at the high school.But on Wednesday, the school's lawyers said the student could return to school as long as he and O'Conner stayed separated.
On Monday, GBI investigators removed O'Connor from the school.
TEACHING CREDENTIALS REVOKED in 2007 Sept 18, 2007 - The Georgia Professional Standards Commission voted last week to revoke O'Conner's teaching credentials and those of her mother, Superintendent Dale Clark.
Clark, who is legally able to continue as superintendent while the ruling is being appealed, has been suspended with pay by the Montgomery County school board.
O'Connor is awaiting trial and a jury is expected to hear her case in August or in February 2009.
