West Seneca, NEW YORK

August 12, 2008 - Anthony Harper, 34, a West Seneca East Middle School French teacher, pleaded guilty to a felony-level sodomy charge involving a 13-year-old boy. During the plea proceeding, Harper signed a document terminating him immediately as a West Seneca school teacher. As a part of the plea agreement, misdemeanor sex abuse and child endangerment charges were dropped.
He will be sentenced November 12.

Full Name: Anthony D. Harper

SENTENCED December 5 - Harper was sentenced to two years in prison, followed by seven years of court supervision . He resigned in August after pleading guilty and had to surrender his New York teacher's certificate.

State Supreme Court Justice John L. Michalski reminded Harper that "The community will be safe from your predatory behavior.” Michalski also reminded him that he will now remain a closely watched sex offender.

Bay Shore, NEW YORK

A year after he was convicted in the one case, he was acquitted on another case.

October 29, 2008 - A jury acquitted Richard Tuthill, 36, two counts of second-degree sexual abuse after a three-week trial The jury deliberated seven days on the misdemeanor charges. He was on trial for touching two 13-year-old girls in separate incidents in 2005 during private voice lessons at his home.

Last year, a jury found Tuthill guilty of second-degree sexual abuse, a charge that was the result of the first girl to accuse him. He was sentenced to six months' probation and was required to register as a sex offender. The case is being appealed.

Tuthill was a music teacher at Bay Shore Middle School.

Breaking up is hard to do

How hard is it to fire a tenured teacher? They might find out in Salamanca, NY.

October 26, 2008 - When a teacher was arrested recently, Salamanca school officials discovered that it was just the beginning of the process that might take years to resolve. The article is called, "Salamanca Blindsided."

Salamanca City School District superintendent Doug Hay said he believes the state Education Department will take charge in deciding what happens to Dupont professionally. If the Education Department decides to revoke Dupont's certification, it may allow the district to move more quickly through the hearing process to ultimately fire Dupont.

''My understanding from a legal aspect is the state Education Department will take ... this,'' he said. ''An individual certification will be removed by the state.''

However, if Dupont is found guilty of the charges, it still may be difficult for school officials to remove the teacher, especially since he is tenured. The district may have to hold a 3020a hearing, which would require someone impartial to the case to hear both sides. The process is lengthy even after a teacher's certification is revoked.

''That's a law that's only applicable to tenured teachers,'' said Jay Worona, New York State School Boards Association general counsel. ''It affords a great degree of due process for those people who would be facing charges ... in some type of disciplinary proceeding. It really is very much like a real trial in the sense that it takes a long time.''

According to Brian Butry, New York State School Boards Association spokesperson, the hearing process can be expensive and time consuming. He said 10 years ago, the average length of proceedings was 319 days and it costs an average of $94,000. Now, the hearings, on average, last 520 days and cost almost $130,000.

''We think that process is flawed,'' Butry said. ''We've helped sponsor legislation in the last year that was actually introduced.''

Taxpayers are also responsible for additional costs, Worona said, including, in most cases, having to pay the suspended teacher, the substitute who is replacing him and any litigation expenses.

''A big chunk of that expense is the fact that the teacher in most cases collects their full salary while the hearing is (proceeding),'' said Patricia Gould, New York State School Boards Association assistant council, adding upon a conviction, then the individual is no longer paid his salary.

Even if a teacher is convicted of a sex crime, the district would have to go through the 3020a hearing process to fire a tenured teacher.
TT Entry for Michael Dupont
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RESOURCES: Wikipedia entry for Salamanca, NY
The population was 6,097 at the 2000 census. The city is located located inside the Allegany Indian Reservation.

RECOMMENDED READING: Award-winning series by Scott Reeder of the Small Newspaper group, "The Hidden Cost of Tenure" was the result of months of investigation that included 1,500 Freedom of Information Act requests, hundreds of interviews and one of the largest media document searches in the history of Cook County courts.
The state is Illinois, but what they found out about tenure is true in every state.

NY State TENURE HEARING: New York State Education Department Teacher Tenure Hearing (3020a)

Note: You will not find a list of disciplined teachers at the site. Nor will you find any information about teachers whose licenses have been revoked. You will find a Code of Ethics, but with this proviso:

This Code shall not be used as a basis for discipline by any employer and shall not be used by the State Education Department as a basis for a proceeding under Part 83 of Commissioner's Regulations, nor shall it serve as a basis for decisions pertaining to certification or employment in New York State.

New York, New York

There is fascinating reading if you visit the website of The Special Commission of Investigation for the New York City School District.

It is not the randomness of the press releases that should amaze you but the lack of investigations in a school district that employs hundreds of thousands of teachers. Nevertheless, the occasional gem is worth the trip.

June 25, 2008 - Press Release

Today, Special Commissioner of Investigation Richard J. Condon released a report detailing an investigation which found that Johnathan Williams, a 28-year-old school aide assigned to JHS 126 in Brooklyn, engaged in a pattern of inappropriate behavior toward at least nine female students and one male student.

The investigation also revealed thatschool officials were made aware of Williams’s actions but they failed to report his misconduct to the Office of the Special Commissioner of Investigation (“SCI”).

The investigation found that Williams frequently encouraged students to participate in a game of “tag” in the school’s auditorium or in a closet located in the cheerleading office—with the lights off—during which time he would use the opportunity to touch the female students inappropriately either on their buttocks, breasts, back, or hips. In other instances, he made sexual comments to other female students which included complementing their bodies and discussing when he lost his virginity.

Some of the students in question complained to school officials about Williams’s behavior and prepared written statements, however, none of the officials notified SCI. Instead, Williams received a verbal warning. After SCI began an investigation, school officials were unable to identify the students and did not locate the written statements submitted by the students.

Commissioner Condon recommended to the Chancellor that disciplinary action be taken against the school officials who failed to notify SCI of Mr. Williams’s behavior.
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TT - Educators are mandatory reporters who are required by state law - not school district policy - to notify authories when they suspect child abuse. It is a requirement but one that is not even half-way enforced.

The above press release was issued in June. Williams was not arrested until October. Press Release on his arrest (dated Oct.21, 2008)
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New York Daily News (October 21) - The girls ranged in age from 11 to 13.

Special Schools Investigator Richard Condon said he was most disappointed that some staff members knew about the inappropriate touching but wrote it off as horseplay.
"Everyone had an understanding of what was going," he said. "Everyone just sort of protected him."

The school's principal, Sheldon, Toback, has since retired. Condon said some staff members are still being questioned about what they knew about the incidents.

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TT - DO NOT MISS the comments at the Daily News story. The report referred to by Condon that was prepared for NYC School Counselor Joel Klein. It can be found here. PDF
Condon recommended disciplinary actions against four administrators.

In any other school district in the country, with the exception of Gary, Indiana, Camden, NY, and St. Louis, MO, parents would be boiling oil for the administrators and teachers who allowed such abuse to continue for two years. But reduced expectations seem to be the norm in such schools. Parents there are either excessively tolerant, miserably subdued, woefully indifferent or totally uneducated in their right to demand accountability. It doesn't matter which. Bad schools and worse educrats thrive on the lack of attention.

Salamanca, NEW YORK

October 20, 2008 - Police arrested 7th grade science teacher Michael J. DuPont, 42, on three counts of sodomy in the second degree. The charges stem from acts of sodomy committed with a student in April and May of 2002.

Investigators say there they believe there are several victims that have not come forward. DuPont’s case has been turned over to district attorney Ed Sharkey for action with a grand jury.

DuPont teaches at Salamanca Middle School. Doug Hay, SCS district superintendent said as of Sunday evening, he suspended DuPont until the charges have been resolved.“Under New York State education law, when a teacher has charges like these, the individual is suspended,” Hay said. “Last evening (Sunday), I delivered his letter of suspension personally to his house.”

Oct. 21 - School district helped conduct DuPont investigation
In the school district’s effort to ensure the safety of DuPont’s students, Doug Hay, district superintendent, said school employees paid frequent visits to his classroom throughout the week.
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INFO: No contact number was provided. But if you have information, please contact the Cattaraugus County Sheriff's Office at one of the numbers provided at their web site.

Red Hook, NEW YORK

Children are so vulnerable. Special needs children are especially easy to manipulate.

October 21, 2008 - Mandi Weeks, 27, a Dutchess County teacher, pleaded guilty to third-degree rape. She faces six months in jail and 10 years probation when she is sentenced on Jan. 12, and will become a registered sex offender.

Authorities said the 15-year-old was abused while he was home on break from Devereux a residential school for children with developmental disabilities and behavioral disorders in upstate New York.

North County Gazette (Oct.21) Weeks was employed by Deverreux nd taught at Devereux New York, 40 Devereux Way in Red Hook. She was immediately dismissed upon her arrest.

Brown said that Weeks had intercourse with the 15-year-old boy last summer inside of his Queens home. The victim attends a year-round residential school for children with special needs. He was home on a break when the abuse occurred.

According to [District Attorney Richard] Brown, the investigation began when the victim boarded a subway in an effort to find the defendant and got lost. His mother reported him missing and police, in going through his computer in search of leads, discovered inappropriate e-mails from the defendant.

Hudson Falls, NEW YORK

March 10, 2008 - Kason O’Neil, 26, a P.E. teacher who coaches the track team at Hudson Falls High School was arrested Monday on charges he had sex with a 14-year-old girl who he coached.

Police said O'Neil had a sexual relationship in 2005 and 2006 at the high school. Police say there may be more charges in this case.He was charged with two counts of second-degree rape, a felony. O’Neil was placed on paid administrative leave.
Full Name: Kason M. O’Neil

Police asked that anyone with information in the case, or who may have had inappropriate contact with O’Neil, contact them at 747-4011.

INDICTED March 20 - A Washington County grand jury indicted O'Neil on 21 charges that accuse him of having sex with an underage student 20 times between 2005 and 2007. It includes five counts of statutory rape and nine counts accusing him of having oral sex with the girl, who was 14 and 15 years old. He will be arraigned on March 28.

He may also face charges in Saratoga County where police said they have evidence he had sex with the girl at his former home.

NOT GUILTY PLEA March 28 - O'Neil pleaded not guilty Friday to a 21-count indictment.

He left court free on $100,000 bail bond after a State Police investigator took photos of his genitalia, photographs that were ordered by Washington County Judge Kelly McKeighan at the request of the Washington County district attorney’s office.

Those photos were sought in an effort to corroborate what the 16-year-old girl who has accused O’Neil told police about their relationship. She told authorities he trimmed his pubic hair in a "unique" manner, said Washington County District Attorney Kevin Kortright.

Next court appearance is June 13.

TRIAL SCHEDULED June 13 - Washington County Judge Kelly McKeighan had declined to dismiss the indictment against O'Neil. His lawyer had asked that the charges be dismissed for lack of evidence. Pre-trial hearings are scheduled for July 22 with the trial tentatively set to begin Aug. 25.

TRIAL September 9 - The trial of O'Neil was postponed Monday when his lawyer became ill. It is expected to resume today with the girl who has accused O'Neil expected to testify. Prosecutors will be able to use statements he made during questioning by police against him. O'Neil rejected a plea agreement. The state’s age of consent is 17.

JURY VERDICT September 19 - Hudson Falls teacher Kason M. O’Neil was acquitted of 12 of 14 charges and all felonies Thursday night, but found guilty of third-degree sexual abuse and endangering the welfare of a child counts. O’Neil will have to register as a sex offender should the convictions withstand appeal. He will be sentenced Oct. 17.

His lawyer said, "This will undoubtedly interrupt his teaching career."

SENTENCED October 24 - O'Neil was sentenced to 60 days in jail - not prison. After his release, he will be on probation three years.

Morristown, NEW YORK

April 30, 2008 -
Daniel Frick, 38, a music teacher at Morristown Central School, was arrested yesterday and charged with endangering the welfare of a child, a class A misdemeanor for an inappropriate relationship with a female student.

According to St. Lawrence County Sheriff Kevin Wells, the charges stem from hand-holding, kissing and other inappropriate behavior. The relationship was considered injurious to the mental and moral welfare of the student. The girl was 16.

Frick was previously an instructor at the Salmon River and St. Lawrence Central School districts. He has been a teacher at Morristown for a year and a half. Frick has been suspended with pay.
Full Name: Daniel G. Frick

GUILTY PLEA August 1 - Frick pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor child-endangerment charge July 17th in Morristown Village Court. The investigation revealed Mr. Frick and the girl had sex at the school several times after her 17th birthday, which isn't a crime, investigators said.

Morristown Superintendent Beverly L. Ouderkirk said Thursday that Mr. Frick's employment ends Wednesday. Frick will be sentenced October 2nd.

SENTENCED (Sorta) October 3 - Frick was sentenced 60 days in the St. Lawrence County Jail and three years probation on a guilty plea to a charge of child endangerment. The time is to be served on the weekends.

Medina, NEW YORK

September 19, 2008 - Scott D. Ballard, 33, a teacher from the Medina Central School District, was arrested by New York State police, charged with official misconduct for initiating a relationship with two of his students.

The charges relate to situations which occurred in 2004 and 2006 with students over the age of 17 and no longer attending Medina High School.
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Google Map of Medina (through GreatSchools.net)
The population of Medina is Population: 6,216. There are 4 schools with 1934 students in the district.

Franklin, NEW YORK

New charges bring the number of alleged victims to five.

September 27, 2008 - Robert R. Becker, Jr., 36, a substitute teacher's aide at Franklin Central School, was arrested Friday after he was indicted on four more charges of child sexual abuse, including first-degree rape.

After his arrest, he was arraigned on felony charges of first-degree rape and first-degree sexual abuse and misdemeanor charges of second-degree unlawful imprisonment and endangering the welfare of a child.

Becker was arrested in September and arraigned Sept. 15 on three counts of third-degree rape; one count of third-degree criminal sexual act; four counts of endangering the welfare of a child; and one count of second-degree attempted sexual abuse.He pleaded innocent to charges of having sex with a student and attempting to have sexual contact with two other students.

Delaware County District Attorney Richard Northrup said the new charges bring the number of alleged victims to five.
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LOCALE: Franklin is a small rural community located in the foothills of the Catskill Mountain Region of New York State, located about one-hour from Binghamton, Utica, Albany and three and one-half hours from New York City.
Delaware County

Saratoga Springs, NEW YORK

September 17, 2008 - Thomas Filion, 68, a a former teacher at various schools in the Saratoga Springs area (and a certified school guidance counselor,) pleaded guilty to first-degree sexual abuse, second-degree unlawful imprisonment, forcible touching, and endangering the welfare of a child.for touching a15-year-old boy in the shower at the city YMCA.

Filion was arrested November of 2007 after a three-week investigation. He approached the teen in the shower and grabbed his genitals. The boy did not know him.

D.A. James Murphy said he was seeking jail time as well as a surrender of teaching certificates, lifetime registration on the sex offender registry and an order of protection against the boy and the YMCA. Filion will be sentenced November 17

Solvay, NEW YORK

Mar 14, 2007 -
Anthony Glinski, 31, a Solvay Middle School teacher's assistant has been charged with possessing child pornography.

"The FBI says Anthony Glinski paid to be a member of a website that contained images of pre-teen boys engaging in sexually explicit conduct and then saved some of those images to his computer."

Update Mar 15 - From the Syracuse Post-Standard: [Ellipses theirs.]

The charge reads the defendant: "...did knowingly possess material that contains images of child pornography ... of children under the age of eighteen engaged in sexually explicit activity."

TT - He isn't being charged for paying membership for a child porn site, but for possessing child pornography.

News10: School officials said the charge stems from child pornography found on Glinski's home computer, but the FBI is investigating school computers as well. The superintendent said it doesn't appear the defendant acted inappropriately with students, but he has been placed on a leave of absence.

GUILTY PLEA & SENTENCING - September 18, 2008 - Glinski pleaded guilty in July to felony charges of possessing a sexual performance by a child. He was sentenced today to 10 year's probation. Glinski gave up his job as teacher's assistant as part of the prosecution. He was declared at sentencing today to be a Level 1 sex offender for purposes of the state sex offender registry.

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

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U.S. Dept. of Justice Press Release (dated June 21, 2007)

A criminal complaint filed in U.S. District Court alleges that a laptop computer used solely by DAVID GLINSKI was obtained pursuant to a search warrant issued in March, 2007, in relation to an investigation into GLINSKI’S brother, Anthony Glinski. (Anthony Glinski was arrested on similar charges on March 14, 2007.)

The complaint further states that forensic analysis of DAVID GLINSKI’S computer revealed numerous images of child pornography downloaded to that computer.

Lockport, NEW YORK

Jan 12, 2008 - Marcy L. Cole, 35, a Roy B. Kelly Elementary School teacher, was arrested and charged her with felony driving while intoxicated, as well as aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle. Her license was revoked in October following a DWI arrest in April.

A parent of a pupil in Cole’s classroom said her daughter came home from school on Tuesday and said Cole appeared intoxicated earlier in the day and swore at a pupil before being escorted out of the school.

Lockport School Superintendent Terry Ann Carbone would not address what happened in school on Tuesday. She told The Buffalo News she was unable to discuss personnel matters or health-related issues involving a particular teacher.

Carbone also said she was unaware of Cole’s October conviction and said the Department of Motor Vehicles, according to state law, does not have to inform them of convictions involving employees.

Jan 14 - Cole is no longer in the classroom after a third arrest for driving while intoxicated. This past Thursday, Cole was pulled over on Day Road in the Town of Lockport and charged with felony DWI.

Jan 16 - Lockport School Terry Carbone, Superintendent, 'I knew of a, a..an arrest in April." He says when they learned of her arrest in April, the district laundched an investigation and Cole didn't finish out the "07" school year but she returned last fall. They've decided she won't be finishing off this school year either. Right now Cole is on paid leave.

Feb 6 - Cole appeared Tuesday in court to face charges stemming from her third DWI arrest in one year. CShe was pulled over Jan. 10 on Day Road and charged with felony DWI.She also has a case pending in Royalton in connection with an October traffic stop on Gasport Road.

In November, Cole pleaded guilty in Lockport Town Court to misdemeanor DWI and was sentenced to pay a $500 fine in connection with an April 18 arrest on Beattie Avenue.

GRAND JURY POSSIBLE March 13 - A court appearance was adjourned and the case may be sent to a grand jury. A Royalton Town Court clerk said Thursday the case was expected to be sent to a Niagara County grand jury. Her attorney said that "was not necessarily" the case.

Cole is also scheduled for a court appearance April 1 in Lockport Town Court, in connection with the Jan. 10 arrest. That too, according to her attorney, might be adjourned.

COURT CASE ADJOURNED in Lockport April 1 - Cole was scheduled to appear in Lockport Town Court on a felony DWI charge, but her attorney, Thomas Scirto, said the appearance would be adjourned.

Scirto said this is “probably the last time” the case would be adjourned in Lockport Town Court, though he declined to say what he expects will happen next in the case.

“We have a number of things we’re trying to work out,” he said. “A lot of it is dependent upon what we might be able to work out with the district attorney’s office.”

CASE ADJOURNED in Royalton April 11 - Scheduled for an appearance in Royalton Town Court, her attorney, Thomas Scirto, said the appearance was adjourned.

ARRESTED (AGAIN) June 18 - Cole was arrested for fourth time for DWI in 14 months. She was charged this time with felony driving while intoxicated, first-degree felony aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle, resisting arrest, criminal impersonation and other vehicle and traffic infractions.

About the time of her DWI arrest in January, Cole was suspended for the remainder of the school year following several complaints from parents about alleged inappropriate conduct in the classroom, including showing up intoxicated at school. She remains suspended with pay.

The criminal impersonation is because she gave a false name to the officer, mispelling it several times. She attempted to drive away and there was a struggle to get her out of the car.

In court, she pleaded not guilty and denied that she refused to take a breathalyzer test. She refused to acknowledge that she had been read her Miranda rights, instead saying repeatedly, “I don’t care.”

See the video report at KIVB-TV.

SEPARATION AGREEMENT June 18 - The district Board of Education officially accepted Marcy L. Cole’s resignation at Wednesday night’s meeting.

“The district and Ms. Cole have determined that they wish to resolve her status by agreement,” Superintendent Terry Ann Carbone said. “It allows the district to avoid lengthy and costly proceedings under the New York state education law which would have been required by Cole, given her status as a tenured teacher.”

There is a term of separation agreement, the details of which could not be released because it is a personnel matter, Carbone said. The resignation is effective July 1.

On GRAND JURY calendar - June 20 -Her attorney said that the case, along with the Town of Lockport case, will be sent to Niagara County grand jury on July 1. The attorney waived a felony hearing in Royalton Town Court for the charges stemming from Cole’s most recent arrest Monday.

GUILTY PLEA September 3 - Cole pleaded guilty to two felony charges of driving while intoxicated. Cole pleaded guilty to two felony counts of DWI in connection with her arrests on Oct. 7, 2007, and Jan. 10, 2008. She already had a previous DWI conviction, after pleading guilty in October to misdemeanor DWI in connection with an April 18, 2007, traffic stop in the Town of Lockport. She was arrested a fourth time in June on charges of DWI in the Town of Royalton.

She had been out on $10,000 bail, but her bail was revoked Sept. 12 after probation officers reported she tested positive for alcohol twice. Cole is now in custody at the Niagara County Jail.

She will be sentenced November 6.

Gowanda, NEW YORK

"When I saw that child's body in the morgue, covered from head to foot with bruises, I cried . . ."

September 5, 2008 - Harold Eisenman, 60, a substitute teacher in the Gowanda school district, was abruptly fired after school officials learned that he was convicted in 1973 of killing his girlfriend's 2-year-old daughter by deliberately hitting her in a karate demonstration.

At the time of the girl's death, Eisenman was a substitute gym teacher at Merrick and Bellmore schools. He was sentenced to a term of 2 to 10 years in prison and released in 1982.

Eisenman demonstrated karate kicks to the girl's sibilings by demonstrating on her. He also instructed the 5-year-old and the 8 year-old to kick the child. The mother was convicted of criminally negligent homicide in a separate trial. She sat by and watched as the girl was hit with at least two blows that would have been fatal, including one that ruptured her kidneys. The mother then tried to revive the girl by punching her in the chest and holding her under a cold shower.

After seeing the dead girl's body at the Nassau County morgue, homicide commander Capt. William Meddis said, "When I saw that child's body in the morgue, covered from head to foot with bruises, I cried . . ."

State officials said Eisenman was cleared in 2004 to work as a substitute teacher at the Gowanda school district after falsely claiming his manslaughter conviction stemmed from a reckless driving accident.
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Google Map - Gowanda
TT - State Departments of Education in every state are allowed to give waivers to hire public school teachers who have been convicted of crimes that range anywhere from manslaughter to drug dealing. You would think a felony conviction would preclude any possibility of employment, but it does not.

Most often you find these waivers in state Board of Education minutes. At the New York State Department of Education site, you will NOT find teacher disciplinary actions anywhere. You will find disciplinary actions against other "professionals" in the Board of Regents minutes. (Sample) but NOT teachers.

You can find information about every licensed professional except educators. You can also verify the license of every professional. Except teachers.

UPDATE - CHARGES FILED - September 25, 2008 - Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo today announced the arrest of Harold Eisenman, 60, on a charge of lying to the New York State Education Department about his prior conviction for manslaughter in order to qualify as a substitute teacher.

Eisenman was charged today with offering a false instrument for filing in the first degree (class E Felony), which carries a maximum sentence of four years in prison. The case was referred to the Attorney General by the State Education Department.

Armonk, NEW YORK

April 13, 2008 - Quentin Lindsey , 34, head varsity baseball coach at Byram Hills High School, was arrested Thursday and charged with second-degree unlawful surveillance, a felony.

North Castle police were releasing few details about the coach's alleged actions, but said in a statement that, "This investigation revealed the recording of persons who had a reasonable expectation of privacy and was being done without the victims knowledge or consent."

Lt. William Fisher confirmed that surveillance equipment was in the school building, but could not immediately say where in the building it was.

Lindsey was arraigned and released without bail. He is due back in court April 22.

April 14 - N.Y. High School Coach Arrested For Voyeurism Subhead - Cops: Byram Hills Teacher Filmed Girls For 3 Years, Wanted 'Upskirt' Images For Own Gratification

Cops say the hidden videotaping at Byram Hills had been going on for three years.Law enforcement sources tell CBS 2 HD Lindsey had purchased a small video camera which he hid in a backpack, having a cut a hole in the backpack for the lens of the camera.

Then he would leave the backpack in various parts of the school where young women would congregate.The alleged goal was to obtain so-called "upskirt" pictures.

In a criminal complaint, cops say Lindsey, "Did use an imagining device to surreptitiously record the sexual or other intimate parts under the clothing being worn by numerous female students."

Police confiscated his computer.

GUILTY PLEA September 23 - Lindsey pleaded guilty today to guilty to second-degree unlawful surveillance, a felony, for illegally filming female students in school last year.

The plea agreement calls for no jail time but he must follow terms of sex-offender probation for a year to receive an additional five years probation at his sentencing in 2009. He must appear before the judge on Jan. 13 to show he is complying with his probation, which prohibits him from owning a camera or any videotaping equipment.

He resigned from his teaching job yesterday and must surrender his teaching license within 30 days.

Schenectady, NEW YORK

Good for them.

August 27, 2008 - The George Kozak Scholarship Foundation $1,000 scholarship will not be available for Schenectady High seniors this to protest the continued employment of the school football coach, who pleaded guilty to second-degree harassment this summer for fighting with a man in a restaurant.

The foundation says the district is sending a bad message to its students after the incident involving the high school coach.

Lancaster, NEW YORK

The judge called his behavior "bizarre, creepy and scary."
Yeah.

August 14, 2008 - A 64-year-old school bus aide was spared jail when he was sentenced to three years' probation, continued sex offender treatment, a $1,000 fine and an order that barred him from any online computer not related to the janitorial job he recently obtained.

Last September, Paul W. Buhlig was fired after one of the 16-year-old girls he touched inappropriately went to her school principal with a suggestive note Buhlig had given her on the bus. He pleaded guilty to two non-sexual misdemeanor charges of child endangerment for touching the two girls.

He had given one of them a pack of chewing gun, in which he had inserted a note asking her for a date, the prosecutor said.

Berne, NEW YORK

August 11, 2008 - Police arrested Mary Petrilli, 54, principal of the Berne-Knox-Westerlo High School, on weapons and menacing charges.

State Police charged Petrilli with second degree menacing and fourth degree criminal possession of a weapon following an incident Saturday night during which she allegedly threatened a woman with a knife. Petrilli was holding a 12-inch kitchen knife during the incident, described in one story as a domestic incident.

Petrilli has been on medical leave since October, but resumed her post July 1. She is now on paid leave pending the outcome of the investigation.
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Berne-Knox-Westerloo Junior/Senior High School includes grades 6-12 with 670 students. (Source: GreatSchools.net)
Be sure to read the parent comment.

Google Map (Source: GreatSchools.net)

Saratoga Springs, NEW YORK

The girl was 14 years old. No sex, but, sheeze, even his wife was freaked out.

August 5, 2008 - Mark Oppenneer, 37, a tenured English teacher at Saratoga Springs High School, will be fired after a hearing by the State Education Department determined he had an inappropriate relationship with one of his students in 2007. The 36-page state report recommended the firing, but did not indicate whether Oppenneer will lose his teaching license.

He was charged by the Saratoga Springs City School District with twelve counts of misconduct in September of 2007 after the mother of one of his former ninth-grade students discovered email and online correspondences between the two.

Examples of misconduct, according to the district, included Oppenneer inviting the student to meet for lunch or coffee on several occasions; his corresponding with her via telephone, text messages and MySpace; his exchanging CDs with her; and his giving her a leather notebook.

Throughout those correspondences [with the girl,] Oppenneer admitted several times knowing the relationship had developed to a point that would be deemed inappropriate by his wife, the girl's parents, school officials and "society" at large, saying, for example:

- "My wife became very upset this afternoon. She perused our conversations and found them very disturbing... I also imagine it would freak your parents out, too. And perhaps the school officials... not to mention the police." (June 22, 2007)

- "It's that whole what society thinks thing -- that somehow the mere feeling that I enjoy communication with you is bad. If you were a mom and you knew your daughter was up at 1:36 doing this, you would feel pretty upset." (August 17, 2007)

- "I'd be hard pressed to explain to other adults (my wife included) the nature of our friendship." (August 26, 2007)

District officials began to investigate Oppenneer when the girl's parents discovered the emails the two had been sending each other and contacted State Police, who in turn began talking to school and district officials. No criminal charges were filed, and there were no allegations of a physical relationship.

August 13 - Oppenneer was fired Tuesday from Saratoga Springs High School by a unanimous vote of the school board.

Houghton, NEW YORK

August 1, 2008 - Craig Fellenstein, 55, an adjunct professor and executive-in-residence at Houghton College, was arrested on charges of first-degree sexual abuse, forcible touching, unlawfully dealing with a child and fifth-degree criminal sale of marijuana.

Police received several complaints from students at Houghton College. The arrest came after investigating several allegations.

Full Name: Craig W. Fellenstein