Goleta, CALIFORNIA

August 30, 2007 - Martin Corral, 36, a school teacher who deals with kids at academic risk at El Camino Elementary School in Goleta School District, was arrested for child molestation. The Ventura Police Department conducted the investigation.

The Ventura Police Department believes there may be additional victims in Ventura and Santa Barbara Counties. If you have any information about the suspect or additional victims please contact Ventura Police at 805-339-4465.

Ventura Police Department Press Release (Dated August 30, 2007)

August 31 - Ventura County Star: The alleged abuse occurred when Corral brought the 11-year-old boy from the Santa Barbara area to his residence in Ventura. Corral had allegedly befriended the boy's family and had their consent to bring the boy home.

NO CONTEST PLEA Feb 4, 2008 - Corral pleaded no contest to one count of lewd acts with a child under 14. He could be sentenced to probation with jail time or 8 years in prison when he is sentenced in March.

SENTENCED April 17 - Corral was sentenced to three years in prison and must register as a sex offender. Deputy District Attorney Catherine Voelker said the judge said in court at Corral's sentencing on April 8 that he wasn't going to sentence Corral to the maximum sentence because Corral admitted responsibility early and pleaded guilty. The maximum would have been eight years.

Also, the judge said the victim didn't have to be put through the trauma of going to court and testifying against Corral, Voelker said.

Stuart, FLORIDA

Sentenced to ten years in prison, followed by ten years' sex offender probation..

ARRESTED: Feb 6, 2007 - Shawn Trotter, 34, a history teacher at South Fork High School, has been arrested charged with three counts of sexual activity with a 16-year-old student.

Police began an investigation after two students told school officials they had information about a sexual relationship between a student and a teacher. Detectives interviewed a 16-year-old girl who acknowledged she had sex with Trotter, authorities said.

Trotter is married. His wife is pregnant. He is on paid administrative leave.

Interesting comments at this site.

Feb 7 - Neighbors and students are surprised at the arrest. Trotter is planning to ask for lower bail because his pregnant wife is "having heath complications." A school District Spokesman, citing student confidentiality, would not say whether the district was aware of any other students who might have had inappropriate contact with Trotter

Newspaper reviews three other news stories involving teachers and students, including this one: In 2001, Ken McDonald was sentenced to four years in prison and 10 years of probation after pleading no contest to committing lewd and lascivious acts on a 5-year-old girl.

Feb 9 - Investigators are looking into Trotter was involved with two other students. Interesting comments at the news site on this story.

Mar 3 - There is are "ongoing investigations on the South Fork High history teacher, who was reassigned to Martin County School District headquarters and is on family leave. "

Mar 28 - In a court appearance, the judge granted a motion for a continuance of the case but noted he officially has removed himself from presiding over it.

Apr 4 - The school board officially notified Trotter that his contract will not be renewed.

The "family leave" is family leave under the federal Family and Medical Leave Act.

At the Feb. 9 bond hearing, a detective with the Martin County Sheriff's Office said the department was investigating whether Trotter might have had sexual encounters with two former South Fork students.

Jury selection will begin June 18.

DNA EVIDENCE: June 12 - A crime lab report indicates that Trotter may have had sex with two persons in the school closet in his classroom.

NO CONTEST PLEA: July 25 - Trotter pleaded no contest ("I won't admit it, but you will probably prove it in court.") to the three counts of unlawful sexual activity with a minor, a second-degree felony. The agreement, apparently, includes 10 years in jail, 2 years house arrest after jail, and sex offender probation for five years after he is released.

[Judge] Schack almost declined to accept the agreement, worried that the fact that other DNA tests hadn't been completed would raise grounds for an appeal later.

But both Trotter and his attorney, Nicole Menz, assured him that the other DNA found in the carpet - apparently belonging to another female - would not affect the case.

Publicity in the case and the fact that other students at South Fork eventually found out who the victim was Trotter's accuser forced her into home schooling.

Detectives had said they were pursuing charges against Trotter relating to two other accusers, but Smith said Wednesday those cases stalled after the accusers, both now adults, refused to cooperate with investigators.

Trotter will be sentenced Aug. 24.

SENTENCED: August 24 - Trotter was sentenced to 10 years, followed by 10 years' sex offender probation. He will have to register as a sex offender,

Toledo, OHIO

July 2, 2007 - Tiffany Yglesias, 31, pleaded no contest to one count of theft from an elderly or disabled adult.

Yglesias was a Toledo Public Schools coordinator who helped author a 2006 guide on ways for parent-teacher organizations to avoid theft.

According to county Assistant Prosecutor Jeremy Santoro, Yglesias stole seven checks from her mother-in-law's purse and wrote them for a total of $2,880. She was attempting to pay off cash advances as well as return money to her husband's bank account that she had taken without permission.

She claims she had a shopping addiction.

In 2004, she pleaded no contest to one count of grand theft and two counts of theft. After being found guilty of the charges, Yglesias was ordered to serve four years of community control, including time in work-release, as well as pay $11,710.70 in restitution. She was warned that she faced 42 months in prison if she violated the terms.

Mr. Santoro said the circumstances of the 2004 case were similar to the recent one in that Yglesias stole checks and forged them.

No date for sentencing was given.

SENTENCED: August 8 - Yglesias was sentenced to 17 months in prison. The judge denied her request for time to get her affairs straightened out and ordered her into custody immediately.“You have to know this has to stop,” Judge Cook said.

The judge also extended community control for an additional two years for a previous conviction in 2004.

Yglesias has two daughters, age 9 and 11. The couple is in the middle of a divorce. Her husband denies she has a "shopping addiction."

TT - Unanswered is how she was deemed acceptable to work for the school district in 2006 after her 2004 conviction.

Nov 28 - There are no online disciplinary actions for this teacher at the Educator Conduct database in Ohio.

Paso Robles, CALIFORNIA

"She's not a sexual deviant."

ARRESTED Mar 15, 2007 -
Cora Solorio, 24, a bilingual aide at Flamson Middle School, was arrested, charged with molesting a 13-year-old boy.

Solorio had been warned about discussing sex acts with students in the past. Investigators found several spiral notebooks in Solorio's school office that contained questions about the students sexual experiences and their answers, according to a police report released this week.

She was arrested Feb 26 and pleaded not guilty. A court hearing is scheduled for Mar 26.
Full Name: Cora Marie Solorio
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A California assemblyman has introduced bills to mandate screening for volunteers and another bill to strengthen the definitions of professional misconduct and make investigations of questionable behavior move more quickly. The bills are in response to several incidents in Central Coast schools. [Link at the site to e-mails between a 39-year-old teacher and a 14-year-old student.]

TT - The bills will, of course, never pass or even be considered in the California legislature that is dominated by teachers, former teachers, teacher union-backed representatives and funded by teacher-union contributions. Because, after all, these are just students we are talking about.
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Mar 27 - Solario pleaded not guilty five felony counts of committing a lewd act on a child under 14 years old and five felony counts of orally copulating a child under 14 years old earlier this month. A pre-preliminary hearing is scheduled for April 23, followed by a preliminary hearing April 25.

PLEADED NO CONTEST June 13 - Solorio pleaded no contest to committing a lewd act on a child under age 14 and to two charges of having oral sex with a child under age 14. She will be sentenced July 18.

Her stepfather, Joe Quiroz, is a member of the board of education. Solario is the mother of three children. She maintained a MySpace page.

SENTENCED July 30 - Solario was sentenced to 270 days in jail and five years probation. Solorio must register as a sex offender for life.

Quiroz is a Paso Robles Public Schools board member.
“She’s a good kid,” Quiroz said. “She’ll survive. She’s getting stronger and has made herself stronger because of all this. …I just want people to know that she’s not a pedophile. She’s not a sexual deviant.”

Deputy District Attorney Andy Cadena criticized a county probation department report that he said portrayed Solorio as the victim rather than the boy.

Seminole, FLORIDA

May 17, 2007 - The student sexually involved with
Daniel Zdrodowski, 29, an assistant music instructor at Seminole High School, refused to testify against him.

Facing 15 years in prison as his trial was about to start, Zdrodowski pleaded no contest to a felony charge of engaging in unlawful sexual activity with a minor.

Zdrodowski faces a negotiated maximum sentence of no more than 5 1/2 years in prison. His sentencing is scheduled for June 14.

TT - They have to have bands in prisons. So many band teachers are sentenced. If he does the whole 5.5 years, the band could be competitive.

SENTENCED: July 14 - Zdrodowski was sentenced to 5 1/2 years in prison despite the "Five dozen teachers, parents and students" who asked for leniency.

"I believe those two people fell in love," testified Joyce Ostrom, a 61-year-old elementary school teacher who has known Zdrodowski since he was young. "This is a case where every law doesn't fit every crime."

Pinellas-Pasco Circuit Court Judge Nancy Moate Ley was not swayed. She sentenced Zdrodowski to 5 1/2 years in prison. He could have received 15.

"There's is no rule that says you are excused from having sex with a student as long as you are a nice person," said Ley, noting that she often gives talks at schools. "Mr. Zdrodowski, you have betrayed the trust that was placed on you as a teacher."

The St. Petersburg Times headline the student's refusal to testify: "Student refuses to testify against teacher-boyfriend"

The St. Petersburg-Times also editorialized against the sentence, effectively asking for an exemption for Zdrodowski.

Baltimore, MARYLAND

SENTENCED TO 18 MONTHS for sex with a 13-year-old girl.





ARRESTED: Dec 5, 2006 -
Timothy Nicholas Gounaris, 50, was arrested and charged with sexual child abuse charges related to several incidents last December with a former student at Pine Grove Middle School.

The allegations of improper relations with a 13-year-old student arose in January 2006, almost a year ago. Gounaris left the Baltimore county school in July and was hired by the Baltimore City school district in August.

A school spokesman said it was standard practice to get a reference from a teacher’s previous employer, however, the article does not say whether the previous school actually gave such a reference or whether one was actually asked for.

Another story states that "County school officials would not say what led to his resignation, because of confidentiality rules."

UPDATE: A Baltimore Examiner questions the policy as affirmed by Baltimore County Public School’s communication’s staff that they do not share teacher's records with other districts for fear of lawsuits from teachers.

UPDATE Apr 4, 2007 - Gounaris entered an Alford plea [no contest] yesterday to a charge of third-degree sex offense. I n an Alford plea, a defendant doesn't admit guilt but acknowledges the state has enough evidence for a conviction. Prosecutors dropped five other charges, including second-degree rape and perverted practice.

Gounaris will have to register as a sex offender and pay restitution for the girl's medical expenses. A school spokesman said he would be fired. [He resigned in June which makes the firing odd, but it's possible it's a mechanism to notify state credentialing officials. If so, is it mandatory?]

County school officials asked the Maryland State Department of Education to revoke Gounaris’ teaching certificate, and it did — but not before he was hired to teach eighth grade at Chinquapin Middle School in Baltimore.

William Reinhard, a spokesman for the state education department, said the department is trying to come up with a procedure that will ensure that officials are aware of any suspicions uncovered by another school system before they hire a teacher.“We think we have a workable solution,” Reinhard said.

Gounaris will be sentenced in about two months.

SENTENCED July 14, 2007 - Gounaris was sentenced to 18 months in jail - not prison. He'll be eligible for work release in 9 months. The 10 year sentence was suspended. Gounaris will have to register as a sex offender. He must also pay $10,000 restitution for medical expenses the girl has accumulated.