Dexter, KANSAS

October 31, 2008 - Richard Berkley, 42, a teacher at Dexter High School, was arrested October 19 and charged for engaging in inappropriate sexual relations with a female student at the school. One felony charge of unlawful sexual relations has been filed against Berkley with the district court in Winfield.

An investigation began during the 2007-2008 school year. He was suspended with pay in April. He resigned later that same month.

The formal criminal complaint alleges that between Jan. 1, 2007 and May 9, 2008, Berkley engaged in lewd fondling or touching with the girl, who would have been 16 or 17 at the time.
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LEGAL NOTE: (From the story.) Berkley faces the charge - even though the age of consent in Kansas is 16 - because he held a position of authority over the alleged victim. The law is in place, officials said, to protect young people from being victimized by teachers, social service workers or others who might work closely with kids.
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The 10/31 story source is NewsCow.net, an Internet only news site.

November 3 - Berkley was arrested Oct. 19 after a months-long investigation by the Cowley County Sheriff's Department and charged in the Cowley County District Court. Cowley County Attorney Chris Smith Smith said the duration of the case was due to the fact that a lot of people had information that finally led to the charges' being filed.

Berkley is scheduled to appear in front of the Cowley County District Court at 9 a.m. Nov. 10.

Leavenworth, KANSAS

September 22, 2008 - Anthony C. Baker, 36, a Leavenworth elementary school librarian, has been charged with three counts of rape, six counts of aggravated criminal sodomy, one count of aggravated indecent liberties with a child and two counts of sexual exploitation of a child.The crimes are alleged to have been committed in 2005 and 2006. The victim was 10 years old.

A preliminary is scheduled for October 29.

Baker worked for the Leavenworth public school district for 10 years, first as a teacher at Muncie Elementary School. He then spent 4.5 years as the school’s librarian. He resigned in the summer of 2007, school officials said.

Baker already has been sentenced in a federal case for a charge of producing child pornography. He was sentenced to 17.5 years in prison
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WE FOUND: U.S. Department of Justice Press Release (dated February 11, 2008)
At the time of the crime, Baker was a librarian at Muncie Elementary School in Leavenworth, Kan., and the victim was a 10-year-old student. Baker pleaded guilty in October 2007 to one count of producing child pornography.

In his plea, Baker admitted that he began tutoring the victim while she was a student at Muncie Elementary and that his wife objected to his having the girl over to their home and buying the girl presents. Baker’s wife began monitoring how he used the computer at home. She discovered files that indicated he was chatting over the Internet with underage girls and collecting pornography that included sexual images of children.

After she turned the computer over to law enforcement officers, investigators discovered images of Baker and girl performing oral sex on one another, as well of photos of them both naked, as well as photos of him penetrating the girl.

Baker will be required to register as a sex offender. When he is released from prison he will be required to serve 20 years on supervised release.

Olathe, KANSAS

Guilty plea to using a computer to entice a minor. Sentenced to 51 months.

August 10, 2007 -
David Leo Hazlett, 57, a substitute teacher, was charged with sexual exploitation for possessing hundreds of images of child pornography.

Following a tip, police found the images on his computer.

Hazlett taught sixth and seventh grade science at Leawood Middle School from 1983 to 1998, then lived in South America a few years. He then worked as a substitute teacher in Olathe from December 2005 to March when he was fired.

Olathe school officials would not disclose the reason for termination, but said was not due to child porn or improper conduct with children.

No court date given. [And it isn't the best policy to trust school officials.]

GUILTY PLEA Feb 26, 2008 - Hazlett pleaded guilty to using a computer to entice a minor.

Hazlett admitted to asking two real little girls to undress and expose themselves on a webcam. They did as he asked.

From 1983 until 1998, Hazlett taught science at Leawood Middle School. More recently he was a sub for the Olathe School District.

Hazlett got caught this summer after being evicted from an Olathe apartment.According to court documents, Hazlett left his computer behind and a maintenance worker noticed child pornography images. When detectives searched his computer, they found nearly 1,900 child porn pictures.

Hazlett pretended to be 12 years old and he saved the images of the girls and police found them on his computer. He will be sentenced May 12.

SENTENCED September 15, 2008 - Hazlett was sentenced to 51 months in prison. Investigators found 34 videos and 1,900 images of child pornography on the computer.
(TT - There is no parole in federal sentencing.)
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U.S. Department of Justice Press Release (dated September 12, 2008)

Wakarusa, KANSAS

He fantasized about getting married and having children he could "deflower."

June 3, 2008 - Coen Potts, 37, a elementary school art teacher, pleaded guilty to one count of receiving child pornography and one count of possessing child pornography.

Potts taught at Pauline South Intermediate and Pauline Central Primary schools for four years before being fired in November 2006 — at that time suspected of having drug paraphernalia on school property.

Investigators began to focus on Potts when a woman who met him through a telephone dating service said he had fantasized to her about getting married and having children he could "deflower." He showed her child pornography images. He was removed from teaching duties Oct. 25, 2006 when a search of his home by FBI agents yielded thousands of electronically-stored child pornography images obtained by joining online groups. In addition, 52 printed images were found in a box, and 253 images were slipped inside page protectors within a three-ring binder.

He obtained most of the images by joining groups on the Internet for collectors and distributors of child pornography. He will be sentenced Sept 8.
Full Name: Coen C. Potts.
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School Board Resolution of intent to fire (Oct 30, 2006)
School Board Resolution to fire Potts (Nov 20, 2006)

Nov 22, 2006 - Teacher fired but not charged in drug case (Topeka Capital-Journal)
March 22, 2008 - Former teacher indicted on child porn charges (Capital-Journal)

U.S. Department of Justice Press Release (dated June 2, 2008)

SENTENCED September 8 - Potts was sentenced to more than 7 years in prison (85 months.) U.S. District Court Judge Julie Robinson trimmed a year off the recommended sentenced agreed to by Potts’ defense attorney and prosecutors as part of a plea deal.

Robinson said that Potts showed remorse and a desire to change. But the judge said she remained troubled that he had worked so closely with young children, that he had possessed marijuana on school grounds and that he was found with adult and child pornography as well as marijuana while awaiting trial.

Significant jail time, Robinson said, was required. She said she couldn’t forget about the children victimized in the photos and videos even if Potts hadn’t committed those acts. Consumers of child pornography, she said, help create a demand for such harmful actions.

“Those children’s lives have been harmed, perhaps destroyed,” she said.

At the sentencing, Assistant U.S. Attorney Christine Kenney, said that among the images and videos he mostly collected through the Internet, were ones in which children were clearly in pain. In one, she said, a child is handcuffed in a sexual act.

Among the seven letters of support, mostly from family and friends, there were three from teachers Potts had worked with.
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U.S. Attorneys Office Press Release (dated September 8, 2008)

Child Pornography and Educators
TT - List sentenced for child pornography.
TT - List guilty but not yet sentenced for child pornography.

Basehor, KANSAS

What did you say his name was?

August 27 2008 - Floyd M. Rogers Jr., a fifth-grade teacher at Basehor Elementary School, has had his trial continued at the request of the defense attorney.

Rogers, who is not named in another newspaper ("As a matter of policy, the Sentinel does not name suspects in sex crimes unless there is a conviction or guilty plea.") was charged with three counts of aggravated indecent liberties with a child under 14 years of age. The victim was 11.

He is accused of inappropriately touching female students at the school. The crimes are alleged to have occurred as early as the 2004-2005 school year. Rogers later resigned from his position with the Basehor-Linwood school district after being placed on administrative leave in October 2005, school officials said.
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TT - What is ludicrous is, in the Sentinel article, they state,

Earlier Sentinel reports reveal that the initial 11-year-old victim may not have been the only student alleged to have been abused by the accused teacher. A parent told the newspaper in April 2006 that her daughter, a former student of the teacher, said she was also abused. Other students have come forward since then as well, the parent said.

Which makes their policy of not identifying suspects in sex crimes self-aggrandizing posturing because how can other victims come forward if the names of the suspects are not released?

Or did the Sentinel just luck onto the mother of another victim at a tea party?

The World Company that owns the paper also owns the Lawrence Journal-World which has the same policy. See Meredith Kane entry. The psychobabble in that trial ought to shame the newspaper for even printing it. It disgusted us. Entry

Manhattan, KANSAS

We're considering a Parked Car Sex category.

March 28, 2008 - Katherine J. Harder, 32, was arrested when a Pottawatomie County deputy on patrol found her in a parked vehicle with a 17-year-old male student. She was arrested on probable cause of unlawful sexual relations.

Harder is a language arts teacher at Manhattan High School. She was in her third year of teaching at the school. Initially suspended with pay from her teaching duties, she later in the morning submitted her resignation, effective immediately.
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LEGAL (from story): Although teenagers can legally consent to sex at age 16, it is a felony offense in Kansas for teachers to have a consensual sexual relationship with a student of any age who attends the school where they work. Such offenses also are grounds for losing a teaching license.

The law was established in 1993 with amendments regarding teachers and student sexual relationships added in 2001 after a widely publicized case in which a Washington state teacher, Mary Kay Letourneau, engaged in multiple sexual incidents with a student who was 13 at the time.
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Apr 1 - Harder resigned, but rescinded her resignation. School board is to discuss her status at their meeting Wednesday night.

NO CONTEST PLEA AND SENTENCING (sorta) - July 18 - Harder pleaded no contest to one count of aggravated endangering a child - a felony. She was sentenced to six months in prison, which was suspended, and granted immediate probation for 12 months.

The charge of aggravated endangering a child is a more serious one than was initially levied, but it meant that Harder will not have to register as a sex offender, which the initial charge of unlawful sexual relations would have required.

School Board Watch

Think he's got the backing of the NEA?

June 5, 2008 - Christopher Renner is a Democrat candidate for the Kansas Board of Education.

Renner works as a property manager and talk show host but previously worked in education, including a stint from 1999-2002 as a program consultant with the Kansas State Department of Education.

Lately, he has been taking courses in journalism at Kansas State University and hosting a public affairs show on the campus radio station.

If elected, he said he would support comprehensive sexual education, improving teacher pay, encouraging young people to go into education, easing any bureaucratic red tape preventing people from being licensed to teach and promoting changes to the federal No Child Left Behind legislation.

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TT - Radio station blurb. The show is "the progressive alternative to the radio talk shows on Manhattan airwaves."

Dodge City, KANSAS

Sentenced to life in prison without possibility of parole for 25 years.
For the sexual assault of an 8-year-old.

Dec 20, 2007 - Tabatha Adams, 35, a Sacred Heart Cathedral School second-grade teacher, was arrested on suspicion of having sexual contact with a student at the school.

She is being held on charges of sexual exploitation of a child, aggravated criminal sodomy and aggravated indecent liberties with a child. Police have not released details about the victim. They did say that after receiving a tip that the teacher had been sexually abusing a child they began investigating.

The police seized several of Adams' personal items in the classroom, including her computer. She will appear Dec 27 for a preliminary hearing.

NEBRASKA MAN ARRESTED Dec 21 - From Action3 News: Police arrested a Nebraska man and a Kansas teacher after someone turned in digital pictures depicting two adults engaging in sexual acts with a girl.

Police say someone brought the camera memory device with the pictures to Dodge City, Kansas, police. Investigators contacted Falls City police last weekend. Police say the girl in the pictures was a student at the school but not one of Adams' students

SECOND ARREST Dec 22 - A man has been arrested in the case. Zachary Noble, a 28-year-old resident of Falls City, Neb., was arrested on similar charges that levied against Sacred Heart Cathedral School teacher Tabatha Adams.

Noble, an ex-husband of another former Sacred Heart teacher, was charged with first-degree sexual assault of a child, a class one felony. Adams, 35, was charged with sexual exploitation of a child, aggravated criminal sodomy and aggravated indecent liberties with a child. UPDATE: Jan 15, 2008 - The Prosecutor has added five additional felony charges in an amended complaint.

BAIL REDUCTION DENIED - Jan 8, 2008 - Magistrate Judge Joey Duncan denied a request to lower bail from $500,000 to $50,000, saying the court could not increase the likelihood of her bonding out because Adams posed a flight risk. He also cited the serious nature of the alleged crimes. The Ford County Attorney's Office said even if Adams posted bond and was released from the Ford County Detention Center, she would simply be taken into custody for the charges facing her in Nebraska.

Adams is charged, along with Noble, with sexually assaulting an 8-year-old student.

Adams, 35, was arrested Dec. 18 after police received a computer jump drive containing images of what appeared to be Adams and Falls City, Neb., native Zachary Noble engaging in sexual activities with an 8-year-old female.

Adams also faces four felony counts in Nebraska in connection with the pictures, which are believed to have been taken in Noble's residence in Falls City.

GUILTY PLEA March 21 - Adams pleaded guilty Thursday to one count of aggravated indecent liberties with a child. Two counts of sexual exploitation of a child and a aggravated criminal sodomy charge were dismissed as part of a plea agreement. One of the sexual exploitation charges involved a second victim, who was also related to Adams.

PLEA BARGAIN AGREEMENT: Adams will not seek a lighter sentence, and she cannot be considered for parole until she has served at least 25 years of a life sentence. She will testify in court against Zachary Noble. She will not be eligible for a reduction in her sentence for good behavior in prison. Her sentencing hearing has not been scheduled yet.

MORE TO COME Adams has been charged in Richardson County (Neb.) District Court with two counts each of first-degree sexual assault of a child and aiding and abetting a felony. Both Adams and Noble also face federal charges of producing child pornography.

SENTENCING HEARING SCHEDULED May 24 - Adams sent the judge a letter asking him to review her representation by Dodge City attorney Linda Eckelman, but then decided that she was willing to continue with her current attorney. A sentencing hearing is scheduled for May 29.

Adams still faces charges in Richardson County, Neb., and both she and Noble are also facing federal charges of producing child pornography.

SENTENCED May 29 - District Judge Van Hampton sentenced Tabatha Adams, 36, Thursday to life in prison without possibility of parole for 25 years. Adams still faces charges in Nebraska, where the crimes are alleged to have occurred.

Adams will not be eligible for a 15 percent reduction in her sentence if she behaves well in prison. If Adams is eventually paroled, she must submit to electronic monitoring for the rest of her life.
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Zachary Noble is scheduled to appear in a Richardson County Court on 08/26/2008 for a case status review. Case # CR080000002

Garden City, KANSAS

Eighth graders are what? Thirteen?

May 16, 2008 - Nathaniel Chaar, 31, an eighth-grade teacher at Abe Hubert Middle School, was arrested and charged after police say he showed pornographic websites to students.

Police began investigating the case on April 17. They allege that Chaar viewed explicit materials from pornographic web sites on the school computer the previous day and showed the sites to several male students throughout the day.

Charr was suspended with pay. The board voted 6-0 April 29 to pass a resolution of intent to terminate his employment.

June 19 - Chaar appeared in court, and Thursday, a public defender was appointed to represent him. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for July 3 when a will decided whether his case should go to trial. He has been fired by the school district.

Topeka, KANSAS

Teacher "gives up" special needs teaching license.

SENTENCED (SORTA) May 2, 2008 -
Keith E. Marshall, 48, pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor count of sexual battery against a female student for using his cell phone to take a picture of a girl's breast. He was sentenced to one year in county jail — suspended.

He is to serve 12 months of supervised probation and is required to register as a sex offender.

Marshall worked for Topeka Unified School District 501. He was monitoring in-school detention at the school when he took the pictures. The girl was not forced, but the 18-year-old went home and told her mother. Marshall was charged with obstruction for throwing the phone in the river, but that charge was dropped in the plea agreement.

Worrisome: He resigned effective April 1 while agreeing to surrender his teaching license.
"Under a new state law, Marshall could be barred permanently from reapplying for a teacher's license in Kansas, said Kevin Ireland, an attorney with the Kansas State Department of Education." Marshall surrendered his teaching license at the April Kansas State Board of Education meeting.
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Note: In most states, surrender of a license has the same effect as revocation. Revocation is not always permanent either.

WHAT WE FOUND
Kansas Board of Education meeting minutes are online. The April minutes are not posted yet. A review of past meetings show that the board meetings refer to case numbers rather than the names. There are no teacher discipline records online and no ethical policy can be found at the site.

There is a Search Licensure Records function here. However, unless you know the SS# or Teacher ID#, you won't be able to search. In other words, it's your tax dollar, but none of your business if your child's teacher is well qualified or even teaching within their field.

Perry, KANSAS

What is it with female volleyball coaches????

Feb 13, 2008 - A jury found
Melissa A. Fast, 34, a former Perry-Lecompton High School math teacher and volleyball coach, guilty of violating a restraining order prohibiting her from contacting one of her female students.

The mother of the girl became alarmed at the amount of time her daughter was on the phone with Fast, some calls as late as 3 a.m.

The girl's mother contacted Fast and asked her, first, not to call later than 9 p.m. Later she sent an e-mail and a certified letter asking the teacher to desist from contacting her daughter. Finally, on July 20, she filed a petition for a protection from stalking order.

During the one-day trial, the Perry police chief testified that Fast contacted the girl at a party. (The girl was 17 in November 2007 when the trial was scheduled.)

Before teaching in Perry, Fast taught one year at Seaman High School. She also had been hired to teach in Topeka Unified School District 501 this year but was fired before she actually taught any classes. Fast will be sentenced Apr 10.

SENTENCED April 30 - Found guilty of violating a protective order not to contact the victim, Fast was sentenced to serve one year in jail. A civil case filed by the family remains open in Jefferson County District Court. [Let's hope they sue her a** off.]

Jefferson County District Court Judge Gary Nafzinger said he wouldn't consider probation until Fast had served at least six months in the Jefferson County Jail.

Eskridge, KANSAS

March 13, 2007 - Kimberlee Anderson, 47, principal of Mission Valley High School, was dismissed after she arrested was a misdemeanor theft charge. She is accused of taking a small amount of money from a teacher's office.

The Wabaunsee county sheriff's office was called to Mission Valley High School to investigate a small amount of money stolen from a teacher's office.

GUILTY PLEA & SENTENCING April 15, 2008 - WIBW.com reported that Anderson who was due in court Tuesday on three counts of misdemeanor theft.

When 13 News called Wabaunsee County to check on the proceeding, learned Anderson struck a deal last Monday, April 7th. A nderson pleaded to one count. She was sentenced to 48-hours in jail, which she served last week. She must also pay $328 in fines and court costs and will spend six months on unsupervised probation.

TT - We're willing to bet that all 184 students at the school and at least three hundred alumni know about the arrest and now the sentencing, which is why a betrayal of trust by an educator means betraying the belief and expectations of thousands of children and adults in a single act.

Leavenworth, KANSAS

March 27, 2008 - Mohamed Dirshe, 26, a substitute teacher in Leavenworth schools, was arrested March 17 and faces three felony counts of unlawful sexual relations and three felony counts of furnishing alcohol to a minor for illicit purposes.

Police said one of the incidents involved a student from Immaculata High School while the other two involved a Leavenworth High School student. Dirshe is accused of inviting two 16-year-old male students to his home, giving them alcohol and having illegal sexual relations with them while they were under the influence.

Mar 27 Substitute teacher from Somalia charged with sexual misconduct

Buhler, KANSAS

Nov 21, 2007 - Anthony Coker, 26, football coach at Buhler High School, was arrested and charged with having unlawful sexual relations with a 17-year-old female student at the school.

Coker also was charged with a misdemeanor count of possession of marijuana. He resigned from the school.

Under Kansas law, unlawful sexual relations occurs when a teacher or person in a position of authority engages in consensual sex with a 16- or 17-year-old student at the school where the offender works. His first court appearance is scheduled for Nov 30.
Full Name: Anthony William Coker

SENTENCED Feb 29, 2008 - Coker was sentenced to 12 months in community corrections. If he violates the terms of his community corrections sentence, he could face 6 months in jail. [No other information available]

Buhler, KANSAS

Feb 26, 2008 -
Richard Young, 68, (the age is not a typo) a Buhler High School debate teacher and coach was arrested today on charges that he had a sexual relationship with a foreign-exchange student in August 2007.

Young was suspended with pay Nov 1. He is the second Buhler High School employee to be charged this school year with having a sexual relationship with a student. See Anthony Coker entry.

Young is to appear in court on Wednesday, on three counts of taking indecent liberties with a child and one count of indecent solicitation of a child. His bond was set at $75,000.
Full Name: Richard B. Young

POINT OF LAW: (From story) Under Kansas law, unlawful sexual relations occurs when a teacher or person in a position of authority engages in consensual sex with a 16- or 17-year-old student at the school where the offender works.

The more serious indecent liberties and indecent solicitation charges apply to cases in which a victim is 14 or 15 years old.

SUSPENDED Mar 4 - Young was suspended WITHOUT PAY. Young has an annual salary of $42,000.

"This decision, by Superintendent Dr. David Brax, was made due to the severity of the four felony charges brought against Mr. Young on Feb. 26, 2008," said Kelly Nelson, Buhler school public information officer, in a news release.

Next court appearance is Apr 2.

PRELIMINARY HEARING June 5 - Young was in court Wednesday for a preliminary hearing after being accused of having an inappropriate relationship with a student.

The court heard testimony today from the 16-year-old foreign exchange student who is the alleged victim in the case.

The student recounted how Richard Young was allegedly obsessed with him, the student. The victim said that he and young corresponded via email while he was still in South Korea. At one point, he said Young asked for a photo of him without a shirt. When he arrived in Kansas, he stayed with Young beginning August 1st of last year. Within three days, the student said, Young began to get physical.

Young has a lot of support in Buhler.

June 6 - The Hutchinson News: During the preliminary, the victim testified as well as three men who say he molested them when they were about the same age as the victim.

District Judge Joe McCarville closed the hearing to the public during witness testimony about alleged prior wrongdoing by Young. Afterward, McCarville unsealed the testimony and evidence, allowing attorneys present to discuss it.

[Reno County District Attorney Keith] Schroeder presented a copy of a letter Young allegedly sent to the three men in 1994 apologizing for molesting them. The men all kept copies of the letter, which they showed to police who were investigating the matter.

"If I could tell you why I sexually abused you I would," Young wrote. At the time he was dealing with problems in his marriage, Young wrote, "but I am not trying to put the blame on anyone but me."

Topeka, KANSAS

Being too smart for his own good.

Jan 27, 2008 - The Kansas Supreme Court upheld the murder conviction of former Kansas State professor Thomas E. Murray who was convicted in 2003 of the murder of his ex-wife, Carmen Ross, who also worked at Kansas State. Murray was sentenced to life in prison, with the possibility of parole in 25 years.

Prosecutors were suspicious of Murray because of his statements in a nine-and-a-half hour interview with detectives the night his ex-wife was killed. Murray didn't even ask about how Ross died until two-and-a-half hours into the interview.

The court decision was unanimous.

"Although no one had informed the defendant how Carmin died, he told the police in his interview that he would not have done anything 'like they were suggesting' because he was a 'thinking man,'" said Justice Robert E. Davis, writing for a unanimous court.

"He explained that if he were going to commit a homicide, he would do it with an airborne poison 'or something really slick.' He later stated that he was 'having fun with this from a CSI perspective.'"

Police officers reported the murder was one of the most gruesome to take place in Douglas County.

---

STATE OF KANSAS v. THOMAS E. MURRAY Decision
It's worth reading if only to see how smart Murray thought he was.

A search of the defendant's computer revealed that he had run several searches between October 8, 2003, and November 10, 2003, including: "colorless and odorless poison"; "homicide"; "poisoning and colorless and odorless and murder and perfect and tasteless"; "murder for hire"; "how to hire an assassin"; "how to kill someone quickly and quietly"; "the best way to kill someone"; and "eyedrops and murder and csi."

His interview with police would make a hit comedy series skit.

Gypsum, KANSAS

Dec 22, 2007 - Southeast of Saline School Board member Gary Olson, 43, was arrested - again - on a criminal threat charge. He was arrested in September for threatening to "do a Columbine" at his district's school.

Olson faces trial next month on aggravated criminal threat and other charges related to a Sept. 5 incident. Olson is accused of threatening to harm his wife, Connie, and of going to Southeast of Saline School to "do a Columbine." The school was locked down for several hours after the incident, as authorities looked for Olson.

His wife was a teacher at the school. She has resigned.

Gary Olson remains a member of the school board, but he is barred from participating in board meetings and other school district events as a condition of his probation. [Probation from what isn't clear. Perhaps they mean, "bail"?]

Olson's attorney told the newspaper that he advised Olson to turn himself in, "so some trigger-happy deputy doesn't draw down on him and shoot him."

TRIALS SCHEDULED Jan 24, 2008 - A judge ordered Gary Olson, 43, of Gypsum, to stand trial May 8 in the case involving the county official and April 9 in the school threat case.

Southeast of Saline Unified School District 306 Board of Education site.
(Only the minutes to one board meeting are online.)

Lawrence, KANSAS

Few stories make your teeth grate like this one does.

ARREST reported Mar 21, 2007-
Meredith Kane, 24, Lawrence High School teacher, was arrested for inappropriate sexual conduct with a 15-year-old student.

[The rest of the posting was continued here.]

UPDATE Apr 10 - Kane made a brief court appearance and now faces a preliminary hearing on June 7. She has been suspended with pay. The school board will meet on April 20 to consider whether to cut off pay for the teacher, who is free on $15,000 bond. Board members also voted to not renew her contract for next year.

Preliminary hearing scheduled for June 7.

UPDATE June 7 - Kane waived her right to a preliminary hearing. A arraignment is scheduled for June 19.

CONTINUANCE June 19 - Kane's attorney asked for a continuance. The next court appearance is July 2. Newspaper reports that a plea agreement is close.

GUILTY PLEA - July 2 - Kane pleaded guilty to one count of aggravated indecent liberties with a student. From August to mid-March. Another count of aggravated indecent liberties and two counts of criminal sodomy were dismissed. She will be sentenced Oct 12.

ARRESTED AGAIN August 27 - Kane was arrested again for violating a no-contact order that was part of her March release.

BOND REVOKED August 28 - A judge revoked the bond for Meredith Kane, ruling that she must remain in jail until her sentencing October 29. The arrest came after family friends of the now-16-year-old boy saw him getting into a car with Kane. When questioned, he said he had been with her five times since her guilty plea. She faces a misdeameanor charge for violating a protective order. Trial on that charge is October 2.

Oct 29 -From the Lawrence Journal World & News:

A former Lawrence teacher convicted of having sex with a male student has been diagnosed with bipolar disorder, which inhibited her judgment, a psychologist testified Monday afternoon.

The victim, who now is 16, also suffers from the disorder, according to testimony in Douglas County District Court during a sentencing hearing for Meredith L. Kane, 24. The hearing will continue Dec. 17.

Psychologist Bruce Cappo said Kane saw herself as someone who could help the student, who was having problems himself. It led to a consensual sexual relationship that began in August 2006 and lasted until it was discovered by officials in March.

Dec 18 - In court testimony, the victim asked that Kane be given no jail time.

It was agreed by both of us. Nothing was forced,” the 16-year-old boy said about the relationship.

During testimony in Douglas County District Court, the boy also said he would have no contact with Meredith L. Kane, 24, if she were placed on probation, rather than given a prison term.

According to therapists who have testified, both Kane and the victim have been diagnosed with and undergone treatment for bipolar disorder, which affected their judgment about the relationship and caused them to lie about the nature of it.

Kane’s therapist, Dennis Detweiler, testified she was making progress in recent sessions. He said it would set her back if she would be sent to prison.“I see her as low risk to offend,” Detweiler said. He also outlined an aggressive treatment strategy that would include Kane taking medication, having no contact with minors on her own and, possibly, home monitoring through a bonding company.

Once Kane was jailed again for having contact with the boy, Detweiler ceased to treat her, but he recently picked it up again.

“My concern for Meredith is and always has been her ongoing development of adult-appropriated skills,” he said.

Douglas County District Judge Stephen Six will decide on the sentencing at the conclusion of testimony.

SENTENCED Dec 19 - Despite the psychobabble, Kane was sentenced to 4 years and 11 months in prison and registration as a sex offender.

Douglas County District Judge Stephen Six this afternoon denied a motion by the attorney of Meredith L. Kane, 24, for probation. "In a fiduciary position as a teacher, I find it extremely, injurious to his health and the health of any teenager in that situation," Six said.

Jan 1, 2008 - . Prosecutors filed to drop the misdemeanor charge of one count of violation of a protective order filed after Kane continued seeing the boy after her guilty plea in July. Prosecutors filed the misdemeanor so Douglas County District Judge Stephen Six would revoke her bond and jail her until sentencing.

Haysville, KANSAS

Legal Decision

Dec 18, 2007 - A lawsuit against Haysville public schools over a former teacher who molested and raped students will proceed for four of the five girls, Sedgwick County District Judge William Woolley ruled this afternoon.

The school district had argued it shouldn't be held liable for anything Matthew Williamson did with the girls off campus. But Woolley said that under the law the district's obligation to supervise its employees extends beyond the school grounds.

BACKGROUND Williamson pleaded guilty April 2006 to rape, aggravated indecent liberties, indecent liberties and unlawful sexual relations with a student. He is serving a 13-year prison sentence. He is in prison at the Hutchinson Correctional Facility and will be eligible for parole in 2017. All five of the girls were 14 to 16 years old. Williamson was 27.

It is a felony in Kansas for a teacher to have sex with a student who is 17 or younger.

Lawrence, KANSAS

The pschobabble testimony at the sentencing trial of Meredith Kane continues.

She's the 24-year-old Lawrence, Kansas teacher who had sex with a 15-year-old boy. Kane was arrested in March and pleaded guilty in July. In August she was re-arrested for contact with the boy. In October, the campaign began to establish that Kane AND the boy were both bi-polar. Being bi-polar inhibited her judgement. The psychologist could help the boy, too.

You won't believe the latest from the sentencing trial.

It would all be laughable if it wasn't such a tragic involvement of the student in the teacher's defense by adults who should have adult-appropriated skills themselves.

They ought to be ashamed.