Fremont, CALIFORNIA

April 30, 2008 - Clifford Clark, a pysical education teacher at Oliveira Elementary School, was arrested on Friday and arraigned Tuesday on two misdemeanor counts, one of annoying or molesting a child and one of battery. He is accused of inappropriately touching a female student.

Details are sketchy. The girl said she was wrongly touched while being weighed in during a PE class last week. Clark is on paid leave and isn't due back in court until September.
Full Name: Clifford Scott Clark

Smyrna, DELAWARE

A fine line.

April 8, 2008 - A substitute teacher at Smyrna Middle School, was accused of endangering the welfare of a 12-year-old boy in his class last month. Police charged Saulsbury with with one count each of offensive touching and endangering the welfare of a child.

A school resource officer in the school was called to a classroom for a disorderly student. An investigation determined that the teacher had grabbed the boy, upsetting him. The student had asked to go to the nurse prior to the incident and the teacher would not let him. Smyrna police spokesman Lt. Norman Wood said the teacher allegedly grabbed the student around the neck.
Full Name: Wayne A. Saulsbury
---------------------
TT - We often elect not to carry stories about coaches and allegations of physicial abuse because so many turn out to be exaggerations of what actually occurred.

For similar reasons, we often avoid stories that allege classroom violence on the part of teachers because in the overheated aftermath of a confrontation, it most often turns out no serious injury occurred, the case is eventually dropped for lack of intent or evidence of harm and is rarely pursued by prosecutors. A story now and again illustrates the difficulty of separating intentional abuse from confrontation.

Ukiah, CALIFORNIA

When the teacher's attorneys are the source for the story and the headline is "Teacher's arrest decried," we feel a little, well, skeptical.

April 30, 2008 - Jeff Burrell, 50, a Ukiah High School teacher, was placed on leave pending the outcome of felony marijuana-related charges. He was arrested last week, along with another man described as "a close friend," after Ukiah police and members of the county's Major Crimes Task Force raided a commercial-style marijuana growing operation inside a rented warehouse.

Police said Laino told investigators that he and Burrell were in "deep financial debt," and that they had agreed to set up the indoor pot operation, sell the crops and split any proceeds "50-50." Burrell's attorneys said they have a signed statement from the co-defendant saying Burrell had nothing to do with the maijuana operation. Burrell is scheduled to be arraigned on May 21.

UHS teacher arrested after marijuana raid (Apr 22, 2008)

Ukiah is still about marijuana - Blog entry from a Ukiah teacher (Apr 20, 2008)
- Measure B, an initiative that is on the June ballot will repeal Measure G, the 2000 initiative that attempted to decriminalize marijuana. "Mendocino County has quickly become a magnet for drug dealers and in terms of schools, basically legitimized the illegal drug trade."

Oakland, Fairfax, Ukiah Pot Clubs Barred From Selling Marijuana (Dec 13, 2007)
- The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco upheld a permanent injunction issued by a federal trial judge in 2002 against the Oakland Cannabis Buyers' Cooperative, Marin Alliance for Medical Marijuana and Ukiah Cannabis Buyer's Club.

25,000 pot plants seized west of Ukiah (Apr 30, 2008)

Elkview, WEST VIRGINIA

April 30, 2008 - Wanda Sheets, a Kanawha County teacher, has not been arrested nor has she been charged in connection with meth-making materials found on her property.

Her son, Robert Sheets, and a friend were charged with operating a meth lab on property belonging to her. Deputies say they found a meth lab in a trailer on Sheets' property. Deputies say Wanda Sheets was arrested last year and charged with obstruction of justice. They say she got in the way of their investigation on her property.
[We can assume from this that it was on her property, right?]

Sheets is a sixth grade teacher at Elkview Middle School.

NO CHARGES May 5 - Roane County Sheriff's Deputies say the Kanawha County teacher will not face any meth charges for the meth lab found in her son's trailer on her property.

Deputies say there is not enough evidence to connect Wanda Sheets to that meth lab. They say Sheets did not live with her son in the trailer. They say she lives in a house about forty yards away from the trailer. It was not, however, the first time deputies has been on her property because of meth.

Baltimore, MARYLAND

There's a reason we call it Trash Education.

April 30, 2008 - After the Associated Press contacted the Baltimore County School system to ask about a coach who was charged in 1992 with inappropriate sexual conduct with several female students, the school district fired Nick Arminio in 2007. At the time he was coaching at Perry Hall High School.

In fact, Arminio was never prosecuted in New Jersey. The case against him was expunged. He did, however, agree to give up his New Jersey teaching license in a deal that allowed him to avoid trial. In 1995, he began as a gym teacher and coach at Eastern Technical High School, which is part of Baltimore County Public Schools. He resigned from the Eastern Technical position in 1999 after New Jersey finalized its revocation, in part because he expected Maryland education officials to follow suit, which they did in 2003.

But Arminio says he cited family reasons in explaining his resignation to the district. That same year, he took the Perry Hall coaching job, a position that does not require a teaching license.

What News11 wonders is why a current assistant principal at Perry Hall High School was charged in 1997 with soliciting sex from an undercover police officer in Anne Arundel County. It was part of a month-long sting operation that targeted complaints of lewd activity outside an Annapolis video store.

At the time of his arrest, the vice principal was a teacher at Perry Hall. The criminal case against him, according to the case record, was put on hold. He was retained by the school system and promoted in 2002.

I-Team lead investigative reporter Jayne Miller said 11 News has repeated asked school officials to respond to questions about the decision to fire Arminio and retain and promote the vice principal. They have not commented.
-------------
TT - Armino agreed to give up his license in 1992 and began teaching in another state until 1999 when - after seven years - New Jersey finalized his revocation. It took Maryland another four more years to follow suit. Fifteen years later he was still working with children.

Shouldn't the news babe be asking how a teacher who had licenses revoked in two states can escape detection for so long?

Los Angeles, CALIFORNIA

April 30, 2008 - In Los Angeles, Steven Rooney, 39, assistant Principal at Markham Middle School, who was arrested in March and faces charges of lewd acts against a 13-year-old girl, was charged Monday with molesting two other students, one a 14-year-old girl at Markham and another girl he is accused of molesting in 2005.

Rooney was accused of molesting a 15-year-old girl in 2005. When no criminal charges were filed because she refused to cooperate, he was appointed assistant principal at Markham. It was in complete defiance of school district policy that dictates that the Los Angeles Unified School District conduct a thorough investigation even if charges are not filed. Common sense alone dictates if someone has been accused of sexual exploitation of a child, you don't make him assistant principal of a middle school. But, hey, it's Los Angeles.

The entry for Rooney is here.

The school district held a meeting with parents at the school that a Los Angeles Times columnist attended. The story illustrates how smug and condescending the school district is as they lectured parents on how to protect their children as if any problems was the fault of the parents. TT entry

SCHOOL RATING Markham Middle School rates a 1 (out of 10, 10 being best) at GreatSchools.net for poor academic performance that even by Los Angeles standards is abysmal. Only 53% of the teachers at the school are fully credentialed. Some 20% are first-year teachers. Unsuprisingly, student population is 71% Hispanic and 27% Black.

Absurdity

There are some stories so absurd they deserve being remembered.

April 30, 2008 - In Canada, a father is asking the court to allow his younger daughter to live with him in the same townhouse where she and another daughter killed their mother. The man told a court today he didn't see any problems with her showering and taking a bath in the same tub where she and her older sister drowned their mother and his ex-wife more than five years ago.

The two girls were 16 and 15 when they drowned their 43-year-old alcoholic mother on the night of Jan. 18, 2003. They got away with it for a year before a friend revealed the plot to police. It had even been discussed on the Internet prior to the murder. The two sisters were sentenced to the maximum of 10 years in prison allowed under the Youth Criminal Justice Act.

He told the court how his daughter's education has "suffered tremendously" since being sent to the federal prison last year because she's only allowed to take one university course instead of the four or five she needs to take in order to pursue a university degree.

He revealed his daughter wants to study pyschology and philosophy and eventually attend teacher's college once she finishes her sentence.
---------------
TT - It's Canada so the likelihood of her teaching is, uh, 50 -50. And, should she be caught murdering someone else, if she's a teacher, her name will, most likely, never be publicly revealed since the teacher discipline records in Canada frequently substitute case numbers. To protect their privacy.

Shreveport, LOUISIANA

April 2008 - Appeal denied by 2nd Court of Appeals

May 1, 2007 - Adrian Sims, 29, a substitute at Lee Junior High, was sentenced to 10 16 years after having pleaded guilty last year to having sex with a student. [See sentencing information from appellate case.]

He was sentenced on one count of carnal knowledge of a juvenile and subsequently pleaded guilty to molestation of a juvenile for a February incident that reportedly took place while he was on bond.

Monroe police first arrested Sims in August after learning of the pregnancy of a 13-year-old student at Lee Junior High, where Sims once worked as a substitute teacher. He was arrested on seven counts of molestation of a juvenile but pleaded guilty in October to the single count of carnal knowledge.

Sims was free on bail pending sentencing when the Ouachita Parish Sheriff's Office arrested him in February for the forcible rape of a 15-year-old family friend.

The judge said he wanted the stiff sentence to serve as a warning to authority figures that prey on students.

APPEAL DENIED April 30, 2008 - The 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals denied Sim's appeal for a sentence reduction, ruling that the 16-year sentence was not excessive and the guilty plea was free and voluntary.
------------
The case is STATE OF LOUISIANA versus ADRIAN K. SIMS. The decision can be found here. PDF

Original sentencing was, as stated in the opinion: "The defendant was sentenced to serve the maximum sentence of 10 years’ imprisonment at hard labor on the conviction for carnal knowledge of a juvenile with credit for time served.

On the molestation of juvenile conviction he also received the maximum sentence of ten years’ imprisonment at hard labor, with the first four years of the sentence to be served concurrently with the last four years of the sentence imposed on the carnal knowledge of a juvenile conviction, and the remaining six years to be served consecutively."

Comstock Park, MICHIGAN

April 30, 2008 - James Idziak, 37, was arrested April 20 after a high-speed chase that ended with police using "stop sticks" to puncture tires on his vehicle.

Idziak was charged with third-degree fleeing and eluding and drunk driving. He teaches at Mill Creek Middle School and the high school. He has been suspended with pay.

Superintendent Dwight Anderson said school administrators have received "additional allegations about Mr. Idziak" that are being investigated. He would not elaborate.

May 1 - Idziak waived his probable cause hearing. Prosecutors and Idziak's attorney Jeffrey O'Hara are negotiating a possible plea agreement.

RESTRAINING ORDER May 9 - A judge approved a restraining order for allegedly stalking a male student. The mother of a 15-year-old male student found requested the order.

The mother claims in the request that Idziak started calling her home multiple times, hanging up when she answered. He later identified himself as a teacher of her child.

Idziak, who did not return calls for comment, showed up drunk at her home and a daughter's picnic, the woman alleged in court records. She claims he was supplying alcohol, cigarettes and transportation to kids at the high school.

Police are investigating that accusation.

TENURE CHARGES May 28 - Comstock Park District Board voted to start the process to bring tenure charges against Jim Idziak. The district superintendent says with tenure, the district can't fire Idziak unless he's convicted on the charges. The tenure charges could allow them to revoke his teaching certificate, but the process takes about 6 months to complete.

Idziak is currently on administrative leave without pay

Tampa, FLORIDA

The headline reads: Another teacher arrested in Tampa
The mugshot: Another smiling female

April 30, 2008 - Jordan Tate, 19, isn't a teacher in Florida. She was arrested in Tampa on for grand theft and grand theft of a firearm charges.

She claims to be a substitute teacher in teacher in Liberty County, Georgia, working in Hinesville, Georgia.
Full Name: Jordan Ashley Tate
-------------------
Hillsborough Sheriff's Office online. No press release online at this time.

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.

North Charleston, SOUTH CAROLINA

Her idea of "helping him" was to rent a motel room, give him alcohol and have sex with him.

Oct 31, 2007 - Janet R. Fackovec, 25, a special education teaching assistant at Stall High School, was arrested and charged with contributing to the delinquency of a minor after authorities say she helped a 16-year-old student leave a group home, gave him alcohol and had sex with him.

The student was not a Stall High School student and police do not know how she met him.

The teenager went mssing in January from a group home. Police interviewed Fackovec at the time, but it wasn't until a month later that the boy's court-appointed guardian told authorities she was afraid there was an "unhealthy" relationship between the student and Fackovec.

A subsequent investigation gathered evidence that she had taken the teen to a hotel.

She isn't being charged with criminal sexual conduct charges because the teen was 16, which is the age of consent in South Carolina. She has been on paid leave since her arrest.

GUILTY PLEA & SENTENCING (SORTA) April 29, 2008 - Fackovec pleaded guilty to two counts of contributing to the delinquency of a minor. She

admitted in court on Wednesday that a student, recently released from a detention center and placed in a group home, last year, told her he wasn't happy at home and wanted to run away.

Fackovec admits she told him to do what he thought was best and she'd help him anyway she could. Fackovec admitted on one occasion she rented a hotel room and on another occasion she let him stay at her house where she gave him drugs and alcohol.

She received a six year jail sentence with all but 90 days suspended received credit for time served. She will spend a total of 84 days in jail.

The judge told her he believed she has learned from her mistake and believes the 17-year old boy knew what he was doing at the time. However, he says he sentenced her due to the fact that the law holds her to a higher standard.

TT - One can only wish the judge held himself to higher standards. If this had been a male teacher, he would not be treated so leniently. Troubled teens are frequent targets of the socially inappropriate and sexually inadequate. They deserve protection from both male and females who sexually exploit them. They deserve more than yet another adult betraying their trust.

Anthem, ARIZONA

The school district did not know about her arrest until six months later. She had a baby with the 16-year-old student.

The lowercase judge - one undeserving of the honorific capitalization of a title - sentenced her to three months in jail - not prison.

Feb 15, 2008 - It took six months for the school district to know about her arrest.

A Florence Unified School District kindergarten teacher remained on the job for six months after she was arrested on suspicion of having sex with a 16-year-old, resigning only after the state notified the district, officials said.

Angela Csader, 25, a Anthem Elementary School kindergarten teacher was arrested in July on charges she had sex with a Gilbert boy who fathered her child.

The state Department of Education has an investigation section that deals with teachers facing criminal charges. But under state law, school districts are responsible for notifying the department, which then revokes the teacher's certification. Police did not notify the school because they were unaware that she was a teacher. She was hired by a Gilbert couple to help teach their 8-year-old in their home. That's where she met the 16-year-old boy who fathered her child.

District spokesman Larry Cline said the school found out on Jan. 30 that Csader's fingerprint card was revoked. This is the same school district that when they found out, sent a notice home to parents about her resignation but refused to name her because "the alleged sexual acts didn't involve Anthem students."

Csader, who is married, faces a family court dispute with the victim, who filed for full custody of their daughter in December.

Csader resigned the day after the district learned of her arrest. Her next court date is set for Feb. 26.
------------------------
TT - If a teacher is arrested out of state or the county, police in that jurisdiction would be no more likely to know the teacher's occupation and wouldn't know to notify the school district either.

That's why most districts require teachers and staff to notify them when they are arrested. f]Failure to do so is grounds for instant dismissal. How hard is that?
-------------------------
Feb 20 - Lengthy explanation of why she continued to teach while police were investigating her.

GUILTY March 28 - Csader pleaded guilty to two counts of sexual conduct with a minor. She will be sentenced on April 28.

Police learned of the situation more than a year before her resignation. The case was delayed a year because the boy and his mother did not want to testify. Her case sparked a new law.

The House of Representatives unanimously passed HB2042, now moving through the Senate.

The bill requires the Department of Public Safety to regularly provide each school district with a list of fingerprint card holders who have been arrested or convicted.

It also would make educators who don’t immediately report their arrests to their schools guilty of unprofessional conduct, a punishment that calls for dismissal and exclusion from future employment in other school districts.

SENTENCED (Sorta) April 30 - Csader was sentenced to three months in jail - not prison - by lowercase judge Mina Menez. Csader faces 15 years of probation and will have to register as a sex offender. Each charge carried a maximum sentence of 1 1/2 years in prison.

[Lowercase judges are those whose egregious sentencing decisions undermine public faith and trust in the judicial system that results in a lowering regard for the court, law and decency and consequences. They dishonor themselves.]
------------------------
CERTIFICATES REVOKED August 3, 2008 Board of Education minutes voted to revoke Csader's teaching certificates.

Yorktown, VIRGINIA

April 29, 2008 - The preliminary hearing for James Wilson, 38, was postponed until June. He is a world history teacher at at York River Academy, a charter school that is housed at York High School.

Wilson was arrested in November on multiple charges of sodomy and consensual sex with a minor. He has been suspended without pay. He is scheduled to appear in York County-Poquoson Juvenile and Domestic Court on June 16.

Full Name: James Scott Wilson

Too dumb to learn

It's been a day for the Too Dumb to Learn to be re-arrested.

In Tampa, Florida, home of the most shameless sexual misconduct teachers in the country, Stephanie Ragusa, 28, was arrested for the third time in a month. Caught at the house of one of the boys she previously slept with, she reportedly went to discuss her case and ended up in bed with the boy. TT entry for Ragusa

Another teacher, James Raymond , 26, was arrested (again) after allegedly violating his release by being in contact with a person under the age of 16. James, who is awaiting trial on unlawful touching charges, previously petitioned to have his bail conditions modified so he could be in contact with children under age 18. His lawyer said it was so that he would be able to socialize and "isn't just sitting alone, isolated." (He thinks teenagers are his peers?) The judge refused the request. The Maine teacher is also under Federal investigation for child pornography. TT entry for James

Kathryn Anagnost, 40, a principal, teacher and substitute, was arrested (again) for hosting (another) underage drinking party at her home. She was arrested April 5th but, apparently, wasn't convinced of the seriousness of the charges. TT entry for Anagnost

We should have a category for the Seriously Stupid.

Montour Falls, NEW YORK

Arrested (again) for hosting a second underage drinking party.

April 29, 2008 - Kathryn Anagnost, 40, a principal, teacher and substitute teacher at schools in two local counties, was arrested (again) and charged with endangering the welfare of a child and providing alcohol to minors for hosting two underage drinking parties.

Police say at least two underage drinking parties happened at the Anagnosts' home in the month of April. The first time, an anonymous caller tipped off authorities and Anagnost was arrested April 5. She was charged then with six counts of endangering the welfare of a child, six counts of unlawfully dealing with a child and second-degree criminal nuisance, all misdemeanors.

On Sunday a caller from Schuyler Hospital across the street called to say they heard a fight going on.

"The fact that it happened again so soon, we felt that she needed more supervision for the time being," said Lieutenant Craig Gallow, on why Anagnost was arrested and taken to the Yates County Jail.

EMPLOYMENT HISTORY Anagnost was a teacher and administrative intern at Hanlon Elementary School in Odessa before being appointed principal of Groton Elementary School in Tompkins County. That was more than four years ago. Up until this school year, Anagnost worked as a substitute teacher in the Odessa-Montour School District.

Photo courtesy Schuyler County Sheriff's Office

Best Read of the Day

Education schools promote alienation.

April 29, 2008 - Richard Kirk on how "Schools promote alienation"

Weatherman radical whose views about American society are only slightly different from what they were when his colleagues and ex-terrorist wife, Northwestern Professor Bernardine Dohrn, were plotting to kill American soldiers and their dates at a Fort Dix dance or celebrating the Manson cult's murder of Sharon Tate.

Ayers is not only a distinguished professor of education at the University of Illinois, Chicago, but also a man whose textbooks for teachers are among the most popular in schools of education. Moreover, this fellow who declared to the New York Times just prior to 9/11 that he was sorry he didn't set off more bombs during his youth, was recently elected vice president for curriculum of the 25,000-member American Educational Research Association ---- the nation's largest organization of education school professors and researchers.

Given such leadership, it's no wonder that Hoover Fellow Thomas Sowell has advocated abolishing schools of education ---- institutions whose academic reputations are notorious for cookie-cutter curriculums that are now laced with anti-American diatribes.

Quote of the Day

QUOTE OF THE DAY

"The UAW union made the US auto industry what it is today. The Teachers Union is doing the same thing to our educational system. "

- comment at news story on of Jon White.

TT - Entry for White who has been sentenced to 60 years.

Lake Luzerne, NEW YORK

April 29, 2008 - Keith Powell, 56, a music teacher at Hadley-Luzerne Middle School, was arrested late Friday on charges he endangered the welfare of two 14-year-old girls by having "inappropriate" physical contact with them.

According to a four-page, signed written statement police say Powell gave them, Powell admitted kissing one of the girls on the cheek and hugging her, grabbing a leg of the other and talking with both about their sexual histories, court records show.Of one, Powell is quoted as saying, "I wanted to discover for myself that (the girl) loved me the way I loved her ... I wanted to be on the same level with her parents."

Powell told police the mother of the girl he had hugged and kissed called him the day after the February incident, and "I promised her (the girl) I would not touch her without her permission."

About a month ago, Powell told police he touched the calf of the other girl and told her, "I wanted to cuddle with her," records show."I felt that if I could touch her, and she did not react, it would be an indication that we had a connection," Powell is quoted as telling police. "I wanted to have a relationship with both of the two girls where we could share a deep emotional connection."

Powell was released pending prosecution in Lake Luzerne Town Court on Wednesday.
Full Name: Keith D. Powell

INDICTMENT & NOT GUILTY PLEA August 20 - Powell was indicted for possession of child pornography. He pleaded not guilty to three felony counts of possession of a obscene sexual performance by a child and two misdemeanor counts of child endangerment. Powell retired after his arrest for inappropriate contact with the two girls.

Police had seized a home computer from Powell after he was first arrested. He is charged with downloading child pornography on three occasions in December.

Lovingston, VIRGINIA

April 25, 2008 - Tim Bennett, 35, a Nelson County Middle School librarian and Nelson County High School high school track coach pleaded guilty this week to soliciting sex from a minor over the Internet.

He was arrested in September. Bennett initiated a sexual conversation and sent a detective sexual images of himself. According to a warrant filed in the case, Bennett told the officer that he should not be having the online conversation with a 13-year-old girl.

Bennett is scheduled to be sentenced on June 26.

Richmond, CALIFORNIA

April 22, 2008 - Ivan Chavez, 24, was arraigned on two counts of contacting a minor with intent to commit a sexual offense and a single count of attempting to fabricate evidence.

Police arrested Chavez last week on suspicion of harassing a teenage girl on the Richmond High School campus. Police said Chavez called the girl repeatedly and threatened to harm her family if she did not have sex with him.

Police also arrested him on suspicion of sexual assault in connection with another teen girl who said Chavez raped her in winter 2006. The District Attorney's Office has not yet filed sexual assault charges against Chavez for that.

Chavez lost his job as the girls varsity soccer coach at Richmond's De Anza High School in 2006 after he was charged with raping a 14-year-old San Rafael girl. The charges were dismissed in 2007 when he took a plea deal and was sentenced to five years probation for assault with a deadly weapon.

Even after his conviction, Chavez visited the school more than once seeking permits to use its soccer field. Richmond High School Principal Orlando Ramos said he did not know about his criminal history.

"Otherwise we would not have been issuing permits to his organization," Ramos said.

Next court appearance is May 16.

Hudson, OHIO

Sentenced to five years in prison and registration as a sex offender.

August 28, 2007 -
Howard Kaplan, 57, a math teacher at Western Reserve Academy, was arrested August 23 and indicted on nine counts of importuning and 1 count of possession of criminal tools.

Kaplan thought was talking to a 12-year-old girl. He has been "released by the school."

Sept 1 - Kaplan was indicted. He has since resigned from the school. He is married. Arraignment is scheduled for September 12.

TRIAL March 19, 2008 - Testimony has begun in the trial of a former math teacher, accused of trying to meet a 12-year old girl online for sex.

GUILTY April 1 - A Cuyahoga County jury found Howard Kaplan guilty on ten felonies, including eight counts of importuning and possessing criminal tools. He will be sentenced April 29.

WRA teacher convicted on nine counts of Importuning (Apr 1)

SENTENCED April 29, 2008 - Kaplan was sentenced to five years in prison. Kaplan was also labeled a Tier 1 Offender, requiring him to report his address annually for fifteen years. The

Urbana, ILLINOIS

Sentenced to a total of 60 years in prison for sexual abuse of little girls in two counties. He's the kind of pervert that is the worst fear of parents, working in school districts that are the worst fear of parents.

Feb 1, 2007 - Jon White, aka Jonathan White, a second-grade teacher at Thomas Paine Grade School, has been arrested on suspicion of sexually molesting children at the school last fall. He was arrested as he arrived at school on Wednesday. [The children were 7-8 years old according to later news stories.]

Police learned Monday of the abuse allegations through a "concerned citizen" and have, with the help of representatives from the state Department of Children and Family Services, been interviewing children since then.
Full name: Jonathon A. White also referred to as Jon White or Jon Andrew White

SCHOOL KNEW Feb 2 - The school district knew about the allegations and after their investigation they allowed White to continue to teach. One of the students remained in his classroom until White's arrest.
There are now three children involved.

Police police served a search warrant at the school superintendent's office Tuesday afternoon and took all of the district's notes, reports and conclusions about White.

White is married and has a 9-month-old child.

Court records in McLean County show White has a 2001 misdemeanor conviction for resisting a peace officer for which he was sentenced to conditional discharge, a form of probation without reporting to an officer. In that same case, two counts of domestic battery were dismissed.

LIST OF VICTIMS GROWS Feb 3 - The list of victims is growing as police continue to investigate.

LAWSUITS Feb 3 - School expects lawsuits.

"We're told now he had a problem over at (his teaching position in) Normal," [Urbana schools Superintendent Gene] Amberg said. "We didn't know."

Disturbingly, the "incident" in the fall that was a "misunderstanding" isn't fully explained.
TT - It's hoped that in addition to suing the school district, that parents consider suing the Normal school as well.

Update Feb 5 - WMBD reports that White was suspended for a week when he worked at a Unit Five school in McLean County.

White taught first grade at Colene Hoose Elementary from 2003 to 2005. During his suspension in November 2004, the district investigated two separate incidents of inappropriate behavior. Sources tell us White was allowed to continue teaching the rest of the school year, and then he was forced to resign. Unit Five Superintendent Alan Chapman would not tell us what the inappropriate behavior was, but said White did not commit any criminal actions while he worked there.

PRELIMINARY SCHEDULED Feb 6 - A preliminary hearing is set for Feb 27 and a pretrial hearing Mar 27 on three Class X felony counts of predatory criminal sexual assault of a child. Police are continuing to talk with additional potential victims.

COMMUNITY RESPONSE Feb 8 - Over 200 community members met in the school gym to demand answers.

In November, the Urbana School District looked into allegations of sexual misconduct against White involving two of his students. Gene Amberg, Urbana School District superintendent, told the Associated Press that the accusations were determined to be unfounded at the time.

Lydia Carter, an Urbana resident and parent of a son in White's class said she wants to know why the school board did not inform parents of the allegations against White when an investigation was conducted at the end of last year. "Just to know that the allegations were brought and the accusations were made back in November kind of burns me because he was still teaching our kids," she said.

The school principal, Janice Bradley, has been placed on indefinite administrative leave.

Update Feb 10 - A parent of one of the victims of another teacher at the school spoke out. The circumstances seem oddly familiar. The school insisted on their own investigations. The teacher, Brian Dyson, 31, is currently serving five years after pleading guilty to a single count of criminal sexual assault for engaging in a sex act with a 14-year-old girl at Urbana Middle School between Jan. 1 and Feb. 14, 2005.

The school notified the parents Feb 10. Dyson was suspended Feb 14. He wasn't arrested until the 24th. In the meantime, he was allowed to DJ a Valentine's Dance where the student had to meet him.

"They said she was a willing participant," the father said. "My daughter is a minor so she doesn't know. Dyson is the adult."

"This is why people don't come forward. It's not an easy task. If the parent comes out and identifies himself or herself, the community automatically knows who your child is ... and the community automatically ostracizes your child. ... Someone who doesn't know any better thinks she asked for it."

The article also states that yet ANOTHER Urbana teacher - a teacher's aide in a special-needs classroom at Urbana Middle School is also charged with criminal sexual abuse for having sex with a teenage girl between July and August 2006. The crime is alleged to have occurred outside of school with a girl who was an employee of his at a store he ran in Urbana.

Cameron Belk, 38, is to appear in court Tuesday for a status call on his case.

NEW ARREST Feb 27 - White has been arrested on new charges. The warrant charges him with predatory criminal sexual assault of a child while he was a school teacher in Normal in October 2004.

His arrest on the McLean County charges, although not unanticipated, still came as a shock to him and several members of his family who had accompanied him to court, including his wife and parents, said his attorneys.

BAIL RAISED Feb 28 - White's bail has been raised to $1 million. White pleaded not guilty and will appear in court March 27 for a pre-trial hearing. He will be arraigned in at McLean County in the next few days.

ADDITIONAL CHARGES Mar 10 - Additional charges were filed. The charges bring to 11 the number of alleged victims in two counties.

Update Mar 30 - Attorneys for White filed a motion Friday to reduce his bond from $1 million to $500,000. An April 13 hearing has been set on the bond motion.

BOND REDUCED Apr 13 - Arguing against a bond reduction, prosecutor Michelle Brooks told Judge Scott Drazewski if the allegations against White are true -- "White is a serial pedophile who presents a tremendous threat to the community." The judge reduced the bond from $1 million to $750,000. White must post $75,000 to bond post in McLean County, but he still must pay $50,000 to bond out of Champaign County.

DNA EVIDENCE WMBD/WYZZ TV reported that White's attorney was "shocked" to learn DNA evidence would be introduced at Friday's hearing. That evidence is part of the Champaign County's case against White. Next court date is is June 22.

REMAINS IN JAIL Update June 7 - White's bond remains $1 million in Champaign County and he remains in jail. Authorities in both counties are trying to coordinate his trials.

BAIL: June 12 - White posted $175,000 bail.

HEARING SCHEDULED: Sept 26 - A hearing is scheduled next month to determine what evidence will be allowed in White's trial in Champaign County.

EVIDENTIARY HEARING Oct 26 - At an hearing to look at the evidence for an upcoming trial, the parents of the first victim to report trouble, said they spoke with then Thomas Paine principal Janice Bradley the night of November 2nd, 2006, but the child wasn't interviewed by a district administrator until November 7th.

A spokesman for the Urbana School District had no comment as to why the girl wasn't interviewed earlier. White was never taken off the job before he was arrested in January of this year.

POLICE LEARN From the News Gazette - Police only learned of the problem when a police officer's wife had been told about the tasting game at a party by the mother who had complained to school officials in early November. Forty-eight hours later, White was under arrest.

Thomas Paine Principal Janice Bradley, District 116 Superintendent Gene Amberg and District 116 Human Resources director Carmelita Thomas – who have all retired since the case came to light

CHANGE OF VENUE Nov 29 - The abuse trial has been moved from Champaign County to Macon County.White's trial in Macon County will begin Feb 25. White also faces sex abuse charges in McLean County. He has another hearing in McLean County is scheduled for Jan 23.

TESTIMONY ALLOWED Dec 18 - Champaign County Judge Harry Clem has ruled that the statement a girl gave to an interviewer about the tasting game with White met the necessary legal standard for it to be admitted at trial.

Because the statement was made to a third party, it is considered hearsay and therefore usually not admissible as evidence at trial. However, the law provides that such out-of-court statements to third parties may be admitted if a judge determines that the "time, content and circumstances provide sufficient safeguards of reliability."

Clem already ruled that interviews done by Department of Children and Family Services workers at the Child Advocacy Center in Urbana in the cases of the other eight girls met the standard of reliability and can be admitted at trial. The ruling on the ninth girl's statement was delayed because her interview was done at a child advocacy center in Florida, where the family had moved in the spring of 2006.

The interviewer and the girl's father had to be brought back to Urbana to testify at hearings on the reliability of the statement. Trial is now expected to begin in late February.

SCHEDULED Jan 23, 2008 - The trial involving the Urbana students is scheduled to open Feb. 25 in Macon County, where it was moved because of extensive media coverage of the case. That trial is expected to last about three weeks. White’s next status hearing on the McLean County case is set for March 26.

GUILTY PLEA Feb 20 - White pleaded guilty to eight counts of aggravated criminal sexual in the Urbana cases. In exchange prosecutors dismissed the other 8 counts filed against him. He left the court room with his family. His parents and wife accompanied him to the hearing.

Attorneys for the 27-year-old former teacher say their client expects to plead guilty later on Wednesday to similar charges brought by McLean County authorities.

White will be sentenced April 3 and 4. The sentences are expected to run consecutively.

SENTENCING HEARING April 3 - John Pye, assistant superintendent at the Normal school district, testified at a two-day sentencing hearing in Champaign County court that Jon Andrew White was briefly suspended in 2004 for looking at porn.

SENTENCED April 4 - White was sentenced to 48 years in prison for the sexual abuse of the eight girls in Urbana. [TT - We still get angry at the grossness of recommending a sexual predator to another school.] LINK

May 5 - Parents mourn daughters' stolen innocence
Parents of 11 victims submitted letters to be read outloud in the sentencing hearing. White's attorneys presented 30 letters of support for him, many of them from relatives, neighbors in Villa Grove and at least one from a fellow Thomas Paine teacher.

April 28 - A two-day sentencing hearing begins today in McLean County.

SENTENCED IN McLEAN COUNTY April 29 - White was sentenced to an additional 12 years on two counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse for acts that happened with two girls, then 6 and 7, while he was a teacher at Colene Hoose Elementary School in Normal between Oct. 1, 2004, and April 30, 2005.

He was previously sentenced to 48 years in prison for abuse of girls in Urbana. The charges will run consecutively.

Missouri City, TEXAS

April 29, 2008 - An unnamed Billy Baines Middle School teacher has been suspended and is being investigated by police after a 1:30 am traffic stop. They found a 16-year-old boy in her car.

She told police that he was her boyfriend and she admitted to an ongoing relationship with boy, according to police sources. According to ABC 13, she was not at school Monday. In fact, investigators are still trying to find her to interview her.

No charges have been filed yet, but police are investigating.
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Baines Middle School report from GreatSchools.net

Dover, DELAWARE

April 28, 2008 - Lamont Downing, 25, a substitute at Dover High School, was arrested, accused of sexually harassing a student during a telephone conversation.

Police say that during a telephone conversation with one of his students, Downing made inapropriate comments regarding sexual activity. Police say they were made aware of the alleged incident following an internal investigation by school officials.
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Dover Police Department Press Release (dated April 25, 2008)

OUTRAGE OF THE DAY

April 28, 2008 -

A certified teacher and a substitute teacher assigned to upper grades at the rural Tabiona School have been reprimanded for saying a teenage rape victim should not object to profane material in a reading assignment.

The substitute teacher, Gayla Hamilton, reportedly admitted telling the 16-year-old Duchesne County girl she had "been around the block" and shouldn't be disturbed by harsh language and sex scenes in "My Sister's Keeper" by Jodi Picoult. The novel was assigned to a group of eight juniors and seniors at the one-building K-12 school in Tabiona.

Hamilton also reportedly admitted revealing the identity of the girl's rapist to a classroom of the girl's peers after the girl said she did not wish to discuss the matter.

Before and after principal Robert Park pulled the novel out of the class for review by the Duchesne County School District two weeks ago, the English teacher who assigned the novel, Glenda Norviel, made statements to reporters saying the girl had "supposedly been raped" and "If she's been through all this, why can't she be allowed to read a little suggestive matter?"

She also said the girl "is not an innocent" and "If she just had a baby six weeks ago, is reading the F-word going to cause her emotional trauma for the rest of her life?"

The girl's attacker was arrested, confessed to committing aggravated rape, and was sentenced to prison. He will not be considered for parole until 2017.

The girl was removed from class after she objected, told to write an essay about her personal history and forced to sit in the hallway while other students continued reading and discussing the novel.

The Duchesne Schools Superintendent said he had given Norviel a letter of reprimand and had forwarded statements from her, the girl and others to Carol Lear, an attorney with the Utah Professional Practices Commission.
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TT - The comments at the story are insightful.

Neches, TEXAS

April 26, 2008 - Lisa Kubena, 48, a Neches Elementary School teacher, was arrested and charged with possessing a controlled substance in a drug-free zone after sheriff’s officials say she was caught stealing amphetamines from the school nurse’s locked cabinet.

She was arrested after she was observed on a hidden camera taking the pills from the cabinet, according to Anderson County Sheriff Greg Taylor.

“She admitted to probably six months worth,” said Taylor when asked over what period of time the woman had been stealing the drugs. “...She apparently did it more than once a day sometimes.”Authorities believe Kubena, who has been employed by the Neches school district for five years, was not distributing the drugs, but solely taking them “for personal use.”

Full Name: Lisa Minton Kubena

Bridgewater, VIRGINIA

April 26, 2008 - Ashley Esposito, 24, a Turner Ashby High School student-teacher, was arrested and charged with sodomy, and taking indecent liberties with a child by a person in a custodial or supervisory relationship.

She is accused of a relationship with an underage student and providing students with alcohol after she left her position in December.

She worked from October to December through a program as a student at James Madison University. The allegations of wrongdoing occurred after she left her job as a student-teacher.

She was recently employed by Waynesboro Public Schools, but was fired after the allegations surfaced. She is scheduled to appear in court May 8.

CASE CONTINUED May 8 - A judge continued the case against Esposito to Sept. 11.

Alton, ILLINOIS

Substitute who reportedly bragged about outstanding traffic arrest warrant to her class is arrested.

April 26, 2008 - Jane Kodros, 50, a substitute teacher at Alton High School, was arrested after she reportedly told students Monday about an outstanding arrest warrant. They told their regular teacher when he returned the next day. Kodros was arrested during a second-hour class on Thursday at the school by the school resource officer.

The school's resource officer learned Kodros had a warrant for failing to appear at a court hearing related to a derelict vehicle in Alton, and also that her drivers license was suspended due to a drunken driving conviction, McLemore said.Madison County court records show that the warrant was issued in October 2003.

Police say she allegedly made an obscene gesture with her middle finger and used derogatory words int he classroom. She told students that she wanted to be called "Miss Bitch," said Madison County Sheriff's Capt. Marc McLemore.

Kudros says that allegations were stirred up by misbehaving students.

Walterboro, SOUTH CAROLINA

April 26, 2008 - Tracy Judy, 36, Forest Circle Middle School teacher was arrested on sex charges and accused of having a relationship with a student - a 15-year-old girl.

Judy is charged with criminal solicitation of a minor and two counts of criminal sexual conduct with a minor.

Full Name: Tracy Lee Judy
Arresting Agency: The Colleton County Sheriff's Office

Encinitas, CALIFORNIA

April 25, 2008 - Richard Curley, 55, the principal at Pacifica Academy, was arrested Friday on suspicion of annoying/molesting a minor. He is accused of molesting a student during a study session (s).

Curley made statements to detectives confirming the student's accusation that she was molested between October 2007 and this month, according to the Sheriff's Department. He was released on $50,000 bond.

Curley founded the private school in 1997. Anyone with information on this case or any more victims should call the Sheriff's Child Abuse Unit at 858-974-2310.

San Diego Sheriff's Department Press Release (dated April 25, 2008) PDF

Magnolia, ARKANSAS

Police do not know what her motive was.

April 26, 2008 - Donna Sanders, 46, a special education teacher at Magnolia Junior High School, was arrested Wednesday and charged with 12 counts of permitting abuse of a minor and 12 counts of accomplice to rape. Police say she rented motel rooms for a 12-year-old girl and a 13-year-old girl to have sex with several men.

She resigned as special education teacher. Her husband, Magnolia High School assistant principal Terry Sanders, was not implicated in the case.

The investigation began after a parent called Magnolia School Superintendent John Moore to inquire about a rumor involving Sanders and the two girls. The superintendent contacted police, who then interviewed Sanders. The police chief says Sanders admitted to the allegations. A 21-year-old man is being sought on a rape charge, and that two male juveniles involved have not been charged

Police allege that Sanders rented motel rooms in El Dorado for the girls, left them overnight, and returned the next day and picked them up. She also provided alcoholic beverages to the juveniles. The incidents happened over seven months.
Full Name: Donna Lou Sanders

FORMALLY CHARGED April 29 - Sanders was formally charged today with 12 felonies for allegedly arranging for a 12-year-old girl and a 13-year-old girl to have sex with others on several occasions.

Prosecutor Robin Carroll today charged Sanders with two counts of accomplice to rape, four counts of third-degree sexual assault, and six counts of permitting abuse of a minor. He said he would prosecute the case in Union County, except for 2 of the counts, which he filed in Columbia County.

A 21-year old male was arrested in connection with the charges. The girls were not special education students. Two underage males have not been charged. A 15-year-old boy said Sanders drove him around while he and one of the girls had sex in the back seat of Sanders’ car, according to a police report. The girls reportedly met the adult male through Facebook.

Sanders has been transported out of state for a mental evaluation.

Alamogordo, NEW MEXICO

He wanted to keep from having to register as a sex offender because it would have a negative impact on his life.

April 26, 2008 - Douglas McIntire, a teacher and coach at Alamogordo High School who was convicted of 12 sexual counts in 2000, appeared in court on Friday to petition that his attorney never told him he had to register as a sex offender. Prosecutor Roxeanne Esquibel said it was the fifth or sixth Habeus Corpus petition that McIntire has filed on his case.

McIntire claims his attorney did not tell him that he would be required to register as a sex offender, a claim denied by his attorney.

Judge Frank Wilson denied the evidentiary hearing. "Unless you can come up with something new, this ruling will continue to stand," Wilson said. "Mr. McIntire has been beating this dead horse for eight years, and the motion is denied."
Full Name: Douglas Brett McIntire

BACKGROUND
In 2000, McIntire pleaded "no contest" to 12 counts of sex crimes which took place at AHS during the 1999-2000 school year between himself, five female students and two male students.
Among the charges detailed in State's Exhibit 1 were that in classroom and coaches locker room McIntire caused female students to touch his genitals and gave a pornographic tape to a female student and encouraged (her) and a friend to watch the tape and that to and from school sponsored athletic events, he discussed sexual acts with and solicited sexual acts from a female student, provided a vibrator to one female student, solicited pornography, and caused or encouraged the manufacture of visual or print medium depicting prohibited sexual acts, including child pornography.

McIntire was sentenced to 17 years, which he is still serving.

Elkridge, MARYLAND

One of three County public school teachers arrested during the 2006-2007 school year accused of having inappropriate sexual contact with students.

Sentenced to five years in prison, followed by five years of supervised probation and registration as a child sex offender.

Jan 8, 2007 - Joseph Ellis, (Joesph Samuel Ellis) 25, a social studies teacher at Glenelg High School, was arrested facing sex offense and child abuse charges in separate incidents involving two female students.

He is free on $150,000 bail. A third girl also reported receiving similar messages on her computer.
Full Name: Joseph S. Ellis

Jan 8, 2007 - The Baltimore Sun reports that Ellis has been charged with several sex crimes in which he is accused of exposing himself to one student in a classroom, sending suggestive computer messages to another and persuading a third to meet him at a park with the promise of alcohol. He is accused of abusing her.

The Sun also looked into his educational background. Ellis graduated from Western Maryland College in 2004. "Students pursuing a teaching degree at McDaniel go through rigorous training that includes repeated warnings against inappropriate relations with students, according to Leiberman. Also, students meet with a lawyer from the Maryland State Teachers Association who specifically talks about appropriate relationships with students."

The Baltimore Sun is one of the few newspapers that takes the issue of teacher abuse seriously.

INDICTED: Feb 9 - Ellis was indicted on the charges of sexual abuse of a minor, two counts of fourth-degree sex offense, indecent exposure, display of obscene material to a minor and telephone misuse. He remains on paid administrative leave.

FIRED: May 3 - The school board fired Ellis. His trial is scheduled to begin Aug 20.

LEGAL: Aug 23 - Legal Theatre: Ellis and his lawyer were in court to demand "surrender" of the search warrants, along with records and materials related to training the officers have undergone. The judge denied the latter. His trial is scheduled for January 7, 2008.

MOTION HEARING SCHEDULED: August 26 - Baltimore Sun: His motion hearing is scheduled for October 31. His trial is scheduled for January 2.

SEARCH WARRANTS UPHELD Nov 1 - (half way down the page) In an Oct 31 hearing, a judge upheld the search warrants police used. Ellis had challenged the warrants and asked that evidence gathered be suppressed. Trial is scheduled for Jan 7, 2008.

GUILTY PLEA on one charge Jan 7, 2008 - Ellis pleaded guilty to displaying obscene materials to a minor. The remaining five counts against him will be decided this week during a jury trial. Those charges are: sex abuse of a minor, indecent exposure, telephone misuse and two counts of a fourth-degree sex offense. Jury selection began today.

GUILTY VERDICT Jan 10 - The jury found Ellis guilty of sex abuse of a minor, indecent exposure and telephone misuse. Ellis was acquitted on two counts of attempted fourth-degree sex offense, which were linked to the girl's accusation that Ellis tried to force her to touch his genitals. The jury deliberated three hours after the three-day trial.

He will be sentenced Mar 21.

SENTENCED April 26 - After an eight-hour hearing that dragged into the night,

Judge Richard Bernhardt declared that former Glenelg High School teacher Joseph S. Ellis had "betrayed the trust that was bestowed upon him as a schoolteacher."

Bernhardt likened the crime to "a shepherd victimizing sheep."

"In many ways, it doesn't seem you can commit an act of indecent exposure under more egregious circumstances than these," the judge said.

He sentenced Ellis to five years in prison followed by five years' supervised probation after he completes his prison term. Ellis was also was ordered to register as a child sex offender.

"Every girl looks forward to her senior year in high school," the victim wrote. "I would rather die than have to relive it."

MOTION DENIED August 14 - On August 4, Judge Bernhardt denied a request by Ellis to have his sentence reviewed and possibly modified.

In a motion filed with the Howard County Circuit Court on July 24, Ellis' attorney, Andrew Levy, requested that the court hold a hearing one year after Ellis' conviction to allow Ellis "to make a showing as to his rehabilitation and why and how his sentence should be modified."

According to the motion, Ellis is currently in group therapy and tutors his fellow inmates who are working toward their GEDs.

Carson City, NEVADA

Arpil 25, 2008 - Brittany Baxter-Stuchell, 20, a pre-school teacher at Capital Christian Daycare Center., was sentenced to 30 days in jail - not prison - as part of her probation for selling cocaine in an undercover sting operation.

She pleaded guilty to sale of a controlled substance stemming from a Feb. 28, 2007, transaction where she sold 24 grams of cocaine to an undercover officer. She also told the officer that she could provide marijuana, Ecstasy or hallucinogenic mushrooms. When she was released from jail, the judge was blunt. "You're accused of selling dope and a lot of it. What's the matter with you?" asked East Fork Justice Jim EnEarl. "You don't have a clue."

The probation was because she cooperated with law enforcement in other drug investigations.

Her lawyer, Derrick Lopez, said Baxter-Stuchell realized the felony conviction put her dreams of becoming a teacher on hold for at least 15 years until her record may be sealed.

"She did have dreams of becoming a teacher," Lopez said. "She knows now that is gone for a very long time. That is a significant punishment."