"We wanted to make sure he doesn't teach and that's the reason we entered the deal with him."
June 6, 2008 - William Menk, 35, a music teacher at McCreery Middle School, was sentenced to three years of restrictive-intermediate punishment (probation) including four months of electronic-monitored house arrest at a sentencing hearing April 4.
Menk pleaded guilty to a corruption of minors charge on Dec. 10. In a plea bargain with Indiana County prosecutors, Menk agreed to surrender his teaching certificate. In exchange, the district attorney’s office withdrew one count of unlawful contact with a minor.
Dec 21, 2007 - Teacher reaches plea deal in child pornography case
Court records show state police opened an investigation Oct. 25, 2006, to look into allegations that Menk had sexual contact with a 14-year-old girl.Troopers found a modified X-box in his home contained nude images of girls under age 18. The prosecutor amended the charges in January to add a felony count of sexual abuse of children. In March, police withdrew the original counts and Menk waived his right to a hearing for unlawful contact with a minor.
A woman in Seattle told police she had frequent online conversations with Menk and said he claimed to have developed relationships with several underage girls in Internet chat rooms and on MySpace.com.
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TT - We call it "Bargains" when a teacher "agrees to give up" their license in plea negotiations because it demonstrates how difficult it is to revoke a license when the license itself becomes a bargaining tool that gives the educator an advantage that no other citizen is given. Revocation should be automatic and guaranteed for sex offenders. That it is not is shameful.
