Mesa, ARIZONA

NOT GUILTY VERDICT

ARRESTED May 25, 2007 - Kyle Hite, 25, a teacher's aide at Westwood High School, was arrested, accused of sexual abuse.

The 16-year old victim told police that Hite started brushing his hand against her breast during class. She says the abuse started in February, continuing until last week. When she told him to stop after the second time, she says, he told her to "cut the attitude". She complained to the assistant principal.

According to police, Hite admitted to touching the girl inappropriately during class. He allegedly told police he continued to do it because he thought the teenager found him attractive.

His contract expired with the end of the school year Thursday.

May 30 - Mesa school officials say they made a mistake in hiring Hite in an e-mail sent to the Arizona Republic.

According to the district, Hite had no record of criminal activity in Arizona. However, he did have "previous police involvement" outside of Arizona but no criminal convictions, district spokeswoman Kathy Bareiss said in an email.

They overlooked information that would have raised concerns about the applicant in the second report.

INDICTED June 5 - Hite was indicted Monday by a Maricopa County grand jury on three counts of sexual abuse. He is scheduled for his arraignment June 13.

Dec 16 - A hearing is scheduled for Dec 17. (Source: East Valley Tribune database)

NOT GUILTY VERDICT August 27 - A jury found Hite NOT GUILTY of three counts of sexual abuse. The allegations prompted the Mesa Unified School District to revise its criminal background checks because an internal investigation found Hite had had “prior police involvement” from another state that had gone unnoticed when he was hired.

Highland, ILLINOIS

FOUND NOT GUILTY OF SEX ABUSE CHARGE.

July 26, 2007 - Thomas Pagliaro, 32, a special education teacher at Highland High School, was arrested after a brief chase with a 16-year-old girl in his car. He was charged aggravated criminal sexual abuse, criminal sexual abuse and aggravated fleeing from a police officer.

He also is charged with speeding, failing to use headlights when required, driving an uninsured vehicle, disobeying a stop sign and criminal damage to property.

Police were on increased patrol in area in response to a number of car break-ins and car thefts when Pagliaro sped away when police approached. He crashed into a mailbox.

Before being hired by Highland, Pagliaro taught at Marquette Catholic High School in Alton.

July 31 - Pagliaro resigned.

NOT GUILTY OF SEX ABUSE CHARGE July 2, 2008 - After a bench trial, Associate Judge Richard Tognarelli found Pagliaro not guilty of aggravated criminal sexual abuse but convicted on a count of fleeing or attempting to elude a police officer. The latter count was for Pagliaro driving away from sheriff's deputies who had spotted him and the girl sitting in a parked car in the 4700 block of D'Adrian Drive, Godfrey, just after midnight last July 26.

No sentencing date given.

FOUND NOT GUILTY OF SEX ABUSE CHARGE.

Felton, DELAWARE

Jury finds her NOT GUILTY.

Nov 29, 2007 - Caroline Fluman, 46, a Lake Forest High business teacher, was charged with a felony count of terroristic threatening.

According to police and court reports, Ms. Fluman approached a state police detective shortly after 9:45 a.m. Nov. 1 with a computer-printed note that read, “bomb in school everyone dies.” The school was evacuated. Three more notes showed up, including a handwritten one hidden near a garbage can outside the school store reading.

Cpl. Barnett said state police reviewed the school’s video camera system, which he said showed Ms. Fluman placing a note behind the trash can.

Delaware State Education Association president Barbara Grogg said she has never heard of a teacher making a bomb threat against a school.
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TT - Actually, Fluman is the third fourth teacher who has been accused of making a bomb threat. A Ludlow, Massachusetts teacher was indicted after police examined video footage. The judge ruled the videotape inadmissible, forcing prosecutors to drop the charge.

Thermond, Maryland teacher Michelle Dohm was convicted of making death threats against students. She left threatening notes, including one that read, "Tick-tock, tick-tock, is it a bomb or is it a clock?" She was sentenced to nine months in prison. The judge also ordered Dohm to get psychological counseling.

In Pennsylvania, a middle school teacher is on trial (June 19, 2008) for making terrorist threats.
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NOT GUILTY VERDICT June 25, 2008 - A jury found Fluman not guilty

Baltimore, MARYLAND

JURY ACQUITS OF ALL CHARGES.

Feb 5, 2007 - Parris McGhee-Bey, 57, a technology/education teacher at Woodlawn High School, has been arrested on charges of sexually abusing a 14-year-old female student from the school.
(Photo: Courtsey of Baltimore County Police Dept.)
McGhee-Bey has been charged with sex abuse of a minor, third- and fourth-degree sex offenses and perverted practice.
Full name: Parris James McGhee-Bey

Feb 23, 2008 - Parris James McGhee-Bey was cleared of all charges. He was acquitted by a jury that deliberated for 2 and 1/2 hours.

McGhee-Bey, the father of 10 children, has been working as an engineer and project manager since leaving Baltimore County public schools.

JURY ACQUITS OF ALL CHARGES.

Napa, CALIFORNIA

JURY FINDS NOT GUILTY ON ALL CHARGES

Sept 13, 2007 - Matthew Shelton, 25, a third-grade teacher at Edison Elementary School, was arrested on misdemeanor sexual abuse charges involving four of his students.

He is charged with four misdemeanor counts of annoying/molesting a child and two counts of misdemeanor sexual battery and reflect inappropriate touching of two 8-year-old and two 9-year-old female student. The molestation is alleged to have occurred in April.

The school district sent arrest forms to the California Commission Teacher Credentials, which will review the case and determine whether to revoke Shelton’s teaching credential.

BIZARRE NOTE:

“We never had any problems with Mr. Shelton while he was a teacher at Phillips Edison. This comes as a real blow to us. The mood of the teachers is very somber. We have had a representative from the California Teacher’s Association talk to the teachers and let them know what support is out there,” [Sharyn] Lindsey, [Napa Valley Unified School District assistant superintendent] said.

Full Name: Matthew Joseph Shelton

NOT GUILTY VERDICT Feb 26 - It took a jury only 20 minutes to find a former Napa third-grade teacher not guilty on six counts of sexual molestation. Last week, after a six-day jury trial, the verdict came in acquitting Matthew Joseph Shelton, 26.

San Diego, CALIFORNIA

ALL CHARGES DROPPED AFTER THREE TRIALS.

Sept 13, 2007 - A California appeals court by a 2-1 decision has reversed the guilty verdict against Thad Jesperson.

The 4th District Court of Appeal in San Diego ruled that Jesperson's attorney was ineffective and that misconduct was apparent in the presiding jurors.

Jesperson was accused of molesting eight students during the 2001-02 and 2002-03 school years at the elementary school. He was serving 15 years follow convictions in three separate trials in 2004.

Prosecutors could ask the state Supreme Court to review the decision, or they could put Jesperson on trial a fourth time.

The article does not provide a link, but the decision can be found here. (PDF) for the unpublished opinion.

Dec 4 - The same attorney accused of being ineffective during the trial represented Jesperson today in a bail hearing. The prosecutor indicated that another trial is planned. Bail was set at $100,000. Jesperson's wife hopes to raise the bail so he can be home for the holidays.

ALL CHARGES DROPPED Jan 18, 2008 - Prosecutors dropped the charges against Jesperson. Jurors across three trials struggled with the case. And each trial was tainted by juror misconduct, according to the San Diego Union-Tribune.

In the first trial, Jesperson was convicted of a single charge of molesting a student, but the jury deadlocked on 12 other counts.

In the second trial, he was convicted of one charge of molesting another student at a second trial but jurors deadlocked or acquitted him on several other charges.

Prosecutors tried him on the deadlocked charges, and in December 2004 convicted him on seven molestation counts, and two months later he was sentenced to 15 years to life in prison.

In September, 4th District Court of Appeal in San Diego overturned all of the convictions.

ALL CHARGES DROPPED.

Ulysses, KANSAS

JURY FINDS NOT GUILTY

August 14, 2007 - Rick Cue, 51, a teacher at USD 214*, was arrested, charged with two counts of rape, aggravated indecent liberties with a child and aggravated incest. The victim is 16 years old.

*USD 214 is Sullivan Elementary (See Kansas schools starting by the letter list)

No other details available. No other stories online at this time.

August 17, 2007 - From the Garden City Telegram: The Kansas Bureau of Investigation is in charge of the investigation. Next court appearance is scheduled for Sept. 6.

Cue was voted coach of the year in 1996 by the Kansas Wrestling Coaches Association and again in 1998 by the Kansas Wrestling Officials Association, according to the KWCA and KWOA Web sites.

PRETRIAL HEARING Oct 10 - At a pre-trial hearing, Cue's attorney asked the judge to bar Cue's prior history from reaching a jury. Smith said he would grant Tate's motion, but that the prosecution could file a motion for an evidentiary hearing if the investigation disclosed prior crimes. An evidentiary hearing is scheduled before the Dec 10 trial to determine what evidence will be allowed.

Tate also requested that prosecution and its witnesses be required not to speak of a polygraph test that Cue took, the responses to the test or the findings of the test.

Smith granted Tate's motion and gave Hathaway a warning. "If a witness even mentions the word 'polygraph' I'll stop the proceeding and declare a mistrial," he said.

Cue is suspended with pay from the school district pending further notification.

NOT GUILTY VERDICT Dec 13 - A jury found Cue NOT GUILTY. A charge of aggravated indecent liberties with a child to include lewd fondling or touching against Cue had been dismissed by the presiding judge, Tom Smith, earlier Wednesday. Because the charge had been dismissed, it was not considered during deliberations.

The jury deliberated for three and a half hours before returning the verdict.

Appleton, WISCONSIN

ACQUITTED OF ALL CHARGES.

Jan 8, 2007 - David Janssen, 55, a middle school gym teacher and varsity girls' basketball coach, will stand trial on sexual assault charges involving two former students.

A judge has scheduled a single trial on Jun 11 for the two cases against Janssen. A trial was scheduled to start Jan. 22 on two counts of sexual assault of a student by school staff and sexual assault of a child stemming from alleged assaults of a girl from 1996 to 2000 when she was in high school.

He had also faced a March 12 trial before Judge John Des Jardins on charges of repeated sexual assault of a child and sexual assault of a child under the age of 16. Those charges stem from alleged sexual contact had with a girl who was 13 and 14 years old at the time.

May 30 - At a motions hearing, Janssen's attorney argued that he needs access to the counseling records of the younger of the two alleged victims to mount an effective defense. The attorney said he had records for the first victim and therefore he would be entitled to the same records for the younger person.

He said the counseling records may reveal "what psychological disorder she may have and what issues there are in her family life."

Maloney said the records might show she came from a dysfunctional family "and projected her problems onto the defendant."

He said the few materials he has so far indicate her family was receiving services from social service agencies.

He also asked that the trial be postponed. He also wants a taped telephone conversation between Janssen and the victim supressed.

The trial is scheduled to begin June 11.

June 2 - The judge granted access to the counseling records of one student. The trial has been postponed.

TRIAL DATE SCHEDULED July 21 - Trial has been scheduled for for Oct. 15.

Oct 13 - Janssen's trial will start Monday and is expected to last three or four days. Good review of the case from the Appleton Post-Crescent.

Oct 16 - Start of trial.

JURY VERDICT (Story dated) Oct 19 - The jury acquitted Janssen on all five charges.

ACQUITTED OF ALL CHARGES.

Chaska, MINNESOTA

NOT GUILTY VERDICT AFTER 2 HR DELIBERATION

Mar 8, 2007 - A date has been set for the trial of Julia Lund, 28, a Chaska High School ESL (English as a second language) teacher arrested Dec 14.

She was charged with third-degree criminal sex conduct after a 17-year-old male student made allegations of inappropriate behavior. See Kare 11 coverage. Third-degree criminal sexual conduct involves sexual penetration with a victim older than 16 but younger than 18 by a person in a position of authority.

She has been on [paid] administrative leave since the allegations were made. Her next court date is April 12. The jury trial is scheduled for May 8.

Update May 8 - Lund's trial date has been rescheduled to begin July 10.

NOT GUILTY - Story dated July 16 - A jury found Lund not guilty after two hours of deliberation.

NOT GUILTY VERDICT AFTER 2 HR DELIBERATION

July 17 - From WCCO.com

Lund's defense argued that not all wrong-doing is criminal. After the verdict was announced, Lund sobbed and hugged her husband.

Norton Shores, MICHIGAN

Found NOT GUILTY OF ALL CHARGES.

Apr 18, 2007 - TRIAL. Peter Morden, 31, a Lincoln Park Elementary School teacher, is on trial, charged with second-degree criminal sexual conduct with a person younger than 13.

He is accused of inappropriate touching of a 11-year-old girl. Morden is married and the father of three small boys.

The trial started Tuesday.
Full Name: Peter Andrew Morden

Apr 19 - Morden was found NOT GUILTY. The jury returned the verdict in just over an hour.

New Bedford, MASSACHUSETTS

UPDATE: Nov 29, 2006 - After testimony, charges were dismissed against Francis Noonan, 61, a retired Wareham High School teacher, who was found not guilty of sexually assaulting a former student in 2001, "although District Court Judge Bernadette Sabra said words such as "immoral" and "reprehensible" might have applied to his conduct."
The judge, after hearing testimony, decided the relationship was consensual. The judge said he “probably shouldn’t be a teacher.”

His court file noted that he has been charged in East Hampshire District Court with witness intimidation against his former student. That case is still open.

Ridgewood, NEW JERSEY

Dec 16, 2006 - Frank Mobilio, 47, principal at George Washington Middle School until his arrest, was found not guilty on Oct. 19 of molesting a 13-year-old girl. Now he wants reinstatement and back pay. The board is waiting for further information.

Interesting trial. He was drunk and made sexually suggestive remarks to the girl (corraborated by two friends of his), and a witness (another friend of his) remembered his self-condemnation, then another witness (another friend of his) recanted his 20-page statement to the police about seeing Mobilio pulling down his pants in the back seat with the girl, claiming "he was coerced by the state police to give a false statement." In addition, the newspaper pushed for more than the testimony of the victim and her friend in a case where the victims were the first to be attacked by the defense.

Since the incident Mobilio has moved from his Wantage home to the Buffalo, N.Y., area and is divorced from his wife. They have three children. Mobilio says he wants to stay in education.

See TT-resources for an overview of Megan's Law implementation in New Jersey.

Harrisburg, PENNSYLVANIA

JUDGE DISMISSES ONE CASE.
JURY ACQUITS IN ANOTHER.

CHARGES DISMISSED Dec 20, 2006 - Charges of inappropriate touching against James D. Frank, 52, Susquehanna Twp. High School driver's education teacher, were dropped when a district judge threw out the charges.

Frank will be tried in a separate case, in which a 16-year-old girl said he forced her to perform oral sex on him. The charges are with involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, corruption of minors and sexual assault in that case that is expected to begin in February. Frank has been suspended from his teaching job.

(Dec 31) District Judge Gregory D. Johnson dismissed the charges against Frank. “We didn’t put our witnesses on,” [District Attorney] McGowan said. “He dismissed it before it got to that point.”

Frank still has one set of charges pending against him from a 16-year-old girl who said Frank forced her to perform oral sex on him. Those charges include involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, corruption of minors and sexual assault.That case could be heard in Dauphin County court as early as February.

HEARING August 8 - There is an ongoing hearing on sex charges from the 16-year-old girl on the oral sex charge.

VERDICT: August 9 - Frank found not guilty by a jury.

ANGRY PARENTS AND STUDENTS August - Even though a jury acquitted Frank, parents and students are upset that he is back on school grounds, working with their children. They will be allowed to talk in a private session with the board's Executive Personnel Committee.

CERTIFICATE SURRENDERED August 18 - Frank surrendered his certificate days before state officials were to decide whether he could keep teaching in Pennsylvania. He gave up his teaching certificate August 8, prompting officials with the state Department of Education to cancel the Aug. 11 hearing. He will be permanently barred from working in Pennyslvania schools.

According to the Patriot-News,

In the meantime, Frank's name has remained on the Department of Public Welfare's registry of child abusers as an "indicated" child abuser.

An "indicated" status in a child-abuse case means there's "substantial evidence" of abuse, but these rulings require far less proof than is needed for a conviction in a criminal case.

Frank's appeal of the status was denied.

ABSURD EDITORIAL August 28 - The case was the subject of an editorial in the Patriot-News in support of Frank.

The question of whether a Susquehanna Twp. High School teacher acquitted of sexual assault can teach again in Pennsylvania has been resolved.

But troubling constitutional rights issues remain in the case of James D. Frank.
Despite being found not guilty by a jury of his peers a year ago, Frank still had to fight for his right to teach, and he wouldn't have had a hearing until this month if he hadn't surrendered his teaching license for health reasons.

TT - Their reasoning is that once found not guilty, Frank should have resumed teaching, but that the Education and Welfare departments continued investigations constituted "double jeopardy." It's a gross ignorance of the law.

By no means, was Frank asked to defend himself in the courtroom on the same charges. The Welfare and Education departments have a duty and obligation to pursue investigations that leave no doubts.

Their primary concern is the safety of children and the level of proof they require is far less than is required in a criminal courtroom, (something the Patriot-News already acknowledges.) These are separate concerns and a decision in a criminal court has no bearing on their responsibility to make a final determination.

In Pennsylvania, you do NOT have to be convicted in order to lose your teaching license. The newspaper should know that. Teacher discipline records are online and readily available.