Is Camden Covering Up Sexual Abuse As Well?

This story is about the Dallas Texas school district, but you will see there are many ways this compares to what is done here in Camden. Remember they have allowed teachers to quit or simply refused to renew their contract as a form of punishment for wrong doing. I myself have said that all they are doing is passing the bad apples on to another district.

My question is how many of these "BAD APPLES" are in our schools. We already know they don't have a problem hiring felons, we just don't know how many they have hired, because they will not discuss it.

We need to open up our BOE so the public knows who is teaching our children.

This story is from the Dallas Morning News:
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/education/stories/022810dnmetsexteachers.409f451.html


Dallas ISD teachers' misconduct with students was kept quiet
11:58 PM CST on Saturday, February 27, 2010
By TAWNELL D. HOBBS /

The Dallas Morning News thobbs@dallasnews.com
Hey Baby – I just wanted to say hi before I go to bed. Good night baby! I'll meet you in our dreams. I miss you baby! Muaah!
The author of the e-mail was a Skyline High School teacher. The recipient: her student.
Dallas school investigators determined last spring that teacher Leslie Michel Finch behaved inappropriately with the 17-year-old boy as early as December 2008, according to district records.
Ten months after the district completed its investigation, Finch was still employed as a teacher at Skyline before she decided to resign last month. In recent weeks, she became a substitute teacher in a Central Texas school district.
The case illustrates a pattern discovered in a Dallas Morning News review of 20 cases involving sex allegations against teachers from late 2005 to 2009 in the Dallas Independent School District. In about half of the cases, criminal charges were pursued. In the other half, educators suspected of inappropriate relationships with students were allowed to quietly resign and maintain clean criminal records, paving the way for them to continue working with children.
In nearly all of the cases, with the exception of Finch, DISD reported the allegations to the state, as is required, and most teaching credentials were revoked. But even so, educators without state credentials can work outside of the public school system, in day-care centers, recreation programs and private schools.
Dallas officials refused to comment on the situation or the specific cases. Finch also refused to comment.
"While we do not comment on personnel matters, the district continues to notify [the state] on a timely basis the names of teachers who have resigned from the district as a result of alleged misconduct as required by law," DISD spokesman Jon Dahlander said in an e-mail.
DISD trustee Edwin Flores did not address the cases or the overall situation but said if the district's case against a teacher reaches the school board in appeal, he does not support allowing teachers to resign.
"As one of the three panel members, if I'm asked if [I] will let the person resign instead of taking their medicine, I say, 'No, they're going to take their medicine.' "
Holes in legal nets
There are legal nets designed to catch cases such as Finch's, to make sure that trained police or child abuse workers evaluate whether a crime has been committed or whether an educator's name should be cleared.
Every school employee – from teachers to administrators to district leaders – is compelled by law to go to the authorities within 48 hours if sexual abuse is suspected.
In Finch's case, the allegations were not forwarded to TEA, and Dallas police were not notified.
Instead, an in-house school district investigative office, which looks at everything from employee ethics to fraud to district spending, determined that something inappropriate took place. And that's where things apparently ended.
Texas Education Agency officials said the district should have erred on the side of caution and reported the case to the state.
"We're definitely going to open up an investigation on this," said Doug Phillips, TEA's director of investigations and fingerprinting, after reviewing a DISD report obtained by The Dallas Morning News.
In its review, The News looked at hundreds of pages of records focusing on sex abuse allegations against educators that were collected over time with public information requests from the Texas Education Agency, the Dallas Police Department and school district investigations.
The most egregious incidents, usually involving intercourse, were pursued and criminal charges resulted.
But at least 10 cases resulted in no charges and ended with resignations rather than firings. They involved kissing, fondling, romantic e-mails and text messages, sexually charged phone calls and admitted inappropriate relationships with students.
Here are a few examples:
• Thomas Edward Hughes Jr., former teacher's assistant at Adamson High School, was found to have fondled and kissed a minor student in a school storage room, according to district records. He resigned and avoided criminal prosecution and is working at an area recreation center and as a coordinator for a mentoring program in several Dallas-area schools through his church.
• Thomas Jefferson High School teacher Cordelia Lakay Wilson admitted having a sexual relationship with a student after DISD investigators said they were found together partially undressed in a school office, according to district records. She was arrested after DISD police investigated, but the case was never filed with the district attorney's office.
• District records describe former Holmes Middle School teacher James R. Bunton as having inappropriate conversations about sexuality with a student and trying to get the child to spend the night at his home. He resigned and opened the private James R. Bunton Math & Science Academy in South Dallas last year.
No information could be found to indicate the former DISD employees faced criminal prosecution. Hughes and Wilson deny the allegations. Bunton did not return calls for comment.
Experts say Dallas ISD is far from alone in allowing some educators to resign rather than pursuing criminal allegations to the fullest extent of the law. And school districts often hesitate to let parents of other students at the schools know about potential issues, losing the chance for other victims to come forward.
"There are many school districts that still believe that the reputation of a school district is more important than the safety of children," said Kansas State University professor Robert J. Shoop, who has provided expert testimony in about 60 cases related to sexual misconduct by educators.
"I call these people 'mobile molesters,' " Shoop said. "I've worked with people who were in their third or fourth district molesting kids. Because each district they were accused or suspected in just allowed them to leave without challenging them."
What the law says
State law requires that any school employee who suspects child abuse, including sexual contact, report within 48 hours to the Department of Family and Protective Services or a law enforcement agency. Individuals who fail to report abuse can face criminal charges.
DISD policy requires that the employee also notify the district's Child Abuse Office.
Child Protective Services spokeswoman Marissa Gonzales said a vulnerable child is at further risk anytime an incident goes unreported.
"It's important that people know that it's not up to you to judge whether or not what you see or suspect was actual abuse," she said. "The important thing is you make the report and let professionals determine that."
Educators in public or private schools who have improper relationships with students can face felony charges. The law applies to any type of sexual intercourse and sexual contact, such as touching the breast or any part of the genitals, including through clothing, with intent to arouse. It's also illegal for an educator to solicit a student online.
Federal law also prohibits sexual harassment of students, such as unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors and other verbal, nonverbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature.
Yet it appears that for years, there has been a gray area for what has been considered bad enough to be sent on to police or pursued.
And even when cases are pursued by police, some sexual acts between teachers and students are not viewed as criminal by the justice system.
One educator mentioned in the records was mailed a Class C ticket, basically the equivalent of a speeding ticket, after he admitted to Dallas police that he'd kissed a student. Another received such a citation for touching students' rear ends.
The citations come with fines and don't require a court appearance. They also typically aren't revealed during criminal history checks because the alleged offender usually is not arrested.
Phillips, of TEA, said the low-level tickets make it difficult for future employers to detect past problems.
"It usually goes down to that useless Class C," he said.
Dallas police deputy chief Michael Genovesi, who supervises the units that investigate crimes against children, said his department has to abide by the Penal Code concerning Class C misdemeanors.
"The notion of a teacher having any kind of what you would view as inappropriate contact like that is going to irritate or upset the vast majority of parents," Genovesi said. "As far as what we can investigate or prosecute, we're going to be guided by the Penal Code."
TEA cases on the rise
Investigations of school employees having inappropriate relationships with students/minors are up statewide during the last fiscal year, according to an analysis of information from the Texas Education Agency, which began using a new system to track cases a couple of years ago.
Last fiscal year, the agency investigated 123 such cases – up from 86. Sexual misconduct investigations, which include sex assaults and fondling, also increased – to 218 last fiscal year from 169.
TEA spokeswoman DeEtta Culbertson said that better reporting, improved awareness of the crimes and more students coming forward are contributing to the higher numbers.
"Certainly, that's what we want," Culbertson said. "As sad as it is, it's still more important to know and to get anyone who is guilty of these types of offenses out of the classrooms."
No state or federal laws require other parents at the affected schools to be notified.
DISD's practice has been to keep sexual incidents private, even if the person is arrested, indicted and convicted. Those that became public were often uncovered by the media.
A current lawsuit against Dallas schools accuses school officials of playing a role in the alleged rape of a 14-year-old girl in 2008, contending that other students made complaints about former band director Calvin Beckton at Boude Storey Middle School and he remained at the school.
Beckton was indicted last January in two cases of sexual assault of a child, one involving the daughter of the woman who brought the suit.
DISD has denied any responsibility in court records. Beckton denies he sexually assaulted the teens and is awaiting trial.
In 2005, DISD trustees discussed a policy requiring parental notifications when educators are jailed for sex crimes. The issue didn't receive much support and was dropped.
Shea Alexander, clinical director at Dallas Area Rape Crisis Center, said most offenders typically have more than one victim. She said those who start off with fondling often can go on to commit a sexual assault.
"That's a mental disease that these people have," Alexander said. "They're sick in the head, pedophiles. A pedophile is not going to be satisfied focusing on one child."
AGENCIES INVOLVED AFTER SEX ALLEGATIONS
Public records show the following agencies at various times have looked into cases regarding sexual allegations against teachers in the Dallas Indpendent School District:
Dallas ISD police: The school district has its own police force that was created in 2003. It is fully commissioned and handles most criminal incidents on school campuses. It has an agreement with the Dallas Police Department to receive assistance from the city force if needed. Generally, the department handles sex crimes involving students 17 and older. The district also has a child abuse office that is supposed to collect tips of suspected abuse.
Dallas Police Department: The Dallas Police Department investigates sex crimes involving DISD students younger than 17, under a longtime agreement with the school district's police department. The city force also is available to aid Dallas ISD police when it needs assistance. Child Protective Services work with police to investigate allegations against children.
Office of Professional Responsibility: The Office of Professional Responsibility was created in Dallas ISD in 2007 to investigate fraud, waste and abuse in the school district. The department, led by managers with experience as federal investigators, has worked with Dallas ISD police on some cases that have resulted in criminal charges. The office forwards its findings to Superintendent Michael Hinojosa and key staffers.
MANDATORY REPORTING
Mandatory reporters All adults are mandatory reporters under state law. Professionals, such as school employees and doctors, have greater obligations and must report suspected abuse or neglect of a child within 48 hours. The professional must make the report themselves, which can be made to any local or state law enforcement agency or the Department of Family and Protective Services. Individuals who fail to report abuse can face varying degrees of criminal charges, depending on the child's injuries. Typically, failure to report is considered a Class B misdemeanor, punishable by a fine up to $2,000 or up to 180 days in jail, or both.
Reporting hotline
The Texas Department of Family and Protective Services abuse hotline is 1-800-252-5400. Reports also can be made at www.txabusehotline.org.

Also Online
Educator profiles: Sexual missteps of DISD teachers
Link: Search Texas teacher certification records
Blog: Dallas ISD Blog: The Education Front