What I learned at school today

Seventh Grader Sues School Over Right to Wear Pro-Life T-Shirt

2009-07-06T15:12:00.001-07:00

Don't go against the thought police. Things like this are only controversial when the schools disagree. Didn't seem that big of a deal during the last election when teachers were advocating their choice of candidates.

A California mom says her public school administrators violated her daughter's First Amendment rights when they ordered the seventh-grader to take off her pro-life T-shirt.

Anna Amador has gone to court on behalf of her daughter, who she says was ordered by her principal to change her shirt on "National Pro-Life T-Shirt Day." The shirt the girl was wearing displays two graphic pictures of a fetus growing in the womb.

The incident occurred in April 2008 at McSwain Elementary School, a K-8 school in Merced, Calif. Amador alleges in her legal complaint that school Principal Terrie Rohrer, Assistant Principal C.W. Smith and office clerk Martha Hernandez mistreated her daughter and denied the girl her First Amendment rights when they ordered her to leave the cafeteria and change her shirt.

"Before Plaintiff could eat [breakfast] she was ordered by a school staff member to throw her food out and report immediately to Defendant Smith's office, located in the main office of McSwain Elementary School," the complaint reads.

"Upon arriving at the main office, Defendant Hernandez, intentionally and without Plaintiff's consent, grabbed Plaintiff's arm and forcibly escorted her toward Smith's office, at all times maintaining a vice-like grip on Plaintiff's arm. Hernandez only released Plaintiff's arm after physically locating her in front of Smith and Defendant Rohrer...

"Smith and Rohrer ordered Plaintiff to remove her pro-life T-shirt and instructed Plaintiff to never wear her pro-life T-shirt at McSwain Elementary School ever again...

"Completely humiliated and held out for ridicule, Plaintiff complied with Defendants' directives and removed her pro-life T-shirt, whereupon, Defendants seized and confiscated it. Defendants did not return Plaintiff's property until the end of the school day."

The school administrators dispute some of the allegations, said Anthony N. DeMaria, attorney for the McSwain Union Elementary School District.

"I think the school district has a very strong defense," DeMaria said. "The complaint does not properly characterize the events that happened. Certainly we dispute some of the events."

He said he was unable to reach the administrators to determine which parts they say are incorrect, because school is out for the summer. Rohrer, the principal, told FOXNews.com on Monday that she could not issue a statement without consulting with the school superintendent and their attorney. The other defendants and school district employees did not respond to calls and e-mails from FOXNews.com.

The school district sought to get the case thrown out due to "failure to state a cognizable claim," but a U.S. Eastern District Court judge ruled last month that all but one of Amador's claims could go forward.

The complaint quotes school district officials saying that they ordered Amador's daughter to remove the shirt because it constituted "inappropriate subject matter" in violation of the school's dress code, which bans clothing with "suggestion of tobacco, drug or alcohol use, sexual promiscuity, profanity, vulgarity, or other inappropriate subject matter."

Amador claims in the legal complaint that other students at the school have been allowed to wear expressive shirts, and she blames the school for “inconsistently applying their Dress Code based upon subjective determinations as to which messages are acceptable and which messages are not.”

One of the girl's lawyers, Mark A. Thiel, said that the images on her shirt of a fetus in the womb were same as those in her science textbooks. He said no student had complained about the shirt, and he said the girl's parents were not called when the incident took place.

"This was a young girl, not even in high school. But they didn't call," he said.

A spokeswoman for the local Planned Parenthood chapter declined to take sides in the case.

"Even offensive speech is protected as long as it doesn’t impinge upon the rights of others," said Deborah Ortiz, vice president of public affairs for Planned Parenthood Mar Monte.

"School administrators have a mission to educate, and the student’s right to political speech should be protected in balance with this education mission."

UCLA law professor and First Amendment expert Eugene Volokh said Supreme Court precedent appears to support the girl's case.

"During the Vietnam War, the Supreme Court ruled that wearing black arm bands [at school, to protest the war] was OK,” Volokh said. “If students can wear armbands in protest, why can't they wear a pro-life shirt?"

He said the case would be different if there was evidence that the shirt could have led to disruption or fighting.

"Schools have a lot more authority than the government does in regulating speech,” he said. “If someone is speaking on a street corner and it looks like other people are going to start a fight over it, the government's job is to protect the speaker. That is not the case in schools. We need to make sure students learn. So if speech is highly disruptive, well … in that case we can suppress it.

"But the school's position that they can restrict speech just because they find it inappropriate is not correct."

But the fact that it's a K-8 school with very young children could change things, said Brooklyn Law School professor William Araiza. He pointed to the 2007 Supreme Court decision in Morse v. Frederick, where the court allowed a high school to suspend students in Juneau, Alaska, who waved a banner that read “Bong hits 4 Jesus” from across the street during an Olympic torch relay, because it was seen as promoting illegal drug use.

“[The school] could almost use a “bong hits” kind of rationale about protecting students from inappropriate messages,” Araiza said. “For instance, would you allow a 4th grader to wear a gruesome picture of a bomb scene? You probably wouldn't.”

First Amendment attorney William Becker, who represents Amador, disagreed that the shirt could be seen as containing inappropriate messages.

"The message of the T-shirt is that life is sacred," he said. "One would be very hard pressed to find anything wrong with that particular idea, except that some people do object to the political message.”

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,530284,00.html

Teacher charged with sexual assault

2009-07-02T22:12:00.003-07:00

http://www.dailyherald.com/story/?id=286867&src=109

EDWARDSVILLE -- A southern Illinois high school health teacher is charged with sexual assault for an alleged five-month relationship with one of her students.

Edwardsville police say 37-year-old Kasey E. Johnes of Glen Carbon was arrested Wednesday. She's being held on $100,000 bond at the Madison County Jail.

Police allege Johnes had a sexual relationship with the male student that started in the fall and ended in February.

The student, a senior at Edwardsville High School, was 17 at the time of the alleged relationship but has since turned 18.

The school district has placed Johnes on unpaid leave.

She's also charged with aggravated criminal sexual abuse. It was not immediately clear whether she has an attorney.

Teacher charged in sex scandal headed for trial

2009-07-02T22:12:00.001-07:00

http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=6981531

FARMINGTON -- A former Bountiful Jr. High School teacher accused of carrying on a sexual relationship with a teenage boy is apparently headed for trial.

During an appearance in 2nd District Court Monday, an attorney for Valynne Bowers, 40, indicated there would not be a plea deal, citing "legal issues" that have complicated the case.

Outside of court, Bowers' attorney Richard Gallegos said Davis County prosecutors had offered Bowers a chance to plead "straight up" to first-degree felony charges of rape and sodomy. Bowers apparently rejected the deal, believing the facts of the case did not match the charges.

Gallegos said prosecutors offered Bowers a chance to plead guilty to the original charges of rape and forcible sodomy, both first-degree felonies. But Gallegos says the charges don't fit the crime. "I certainly don't think there's any coercion or duress or lack of consent on the alleged victim's part," he said.

He plans to ask the court to look at the statute, which says the teen could not consent to sex because Bowers held a special position of trust with the him.

Gallegos noted the alleged victim was not in Bowers' class when she began the relationship with him, nor did it happen at school.

Gallegos planned to file court motions to challenge the enhancement. He would not rule out calling the teenage boy to the witness stand, telling reporters that under testimony, facts of the case might change.

Bowers marched out of the courthouse, refusing to speak.

Bowers is one of two teachers accused of having sex with the same teenage student.

The other teacher, Linda Nef, 46, struck a plea deal with prosecutors earlier this month. She's expected to be sentenced on July 21.

Teacher Charged With Assaulting Pupil

2009-07-02T22:11:00.001-07:00

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/31131551

PONTIAC, Mich. - A Pontiac Central High School teacher accused of hitting a ninth-grade student has been charged with assault.

Bradley Keith Thompson, 39, was arraigned at the 50th District Court in Pontiac Friday.

He was given a $500 personal bond and ordered not to have contact with the victim and not to return to the place where the alleged assault took place.

Thompson has been suspended with pay while the investigation into the alleged assault Tuesday continues.

The ninth-grader's grandfather and mother said school officials told them the incident is on videotape, but neither has seen it. Also, police will not release the surveillance video.

The mother of the student said her son told her Thompson pushed him in the hallway and then slammed his head into the door when he realized the student was back in school when he thought he was suspended. She said her son went to the office and called her to tell her Thompson shoved him.

Teacher Union President Irma Collins is denying the allegations. She said Thompson has been with the school for six years, is well-liked and has a perfect record.

Collins claims the student attacked Thompson and he was only trying to subdue the student until security arrived. "The boy came to the teacher's room and said all of these other things to him. The teacher walked to the door and asked him to leave – it's not on the camera – then he took and just took both of his fists and punched the teacher's chest and knocked him back and walked away.

"The teacher immediately secured him to prevent any further assault on himself. As the boy struggled, he held him firmly to keep from any further injury on himself," Collins said on behalf of the teacher.

"The teacher will be completely cleared of all these charges," she added.

Attorney Cyril Hall, who is representing the student, said he is contemplating a civil lawsuit.

URL: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/31131551/

Teacher Charged With Misconduct

2009-07-02T22:10:00.003-07:00

http://www.clickondetroit.com/news/19108165/detail.html

NEW HAVEN, Mich. -- A substitute teacher and coach at New Haven High School turned himself in to police Monday morning after he was accused of having inappropriate relationships with several female students.

Darryl Anthony Peterson Jr., 27, has been arraigned on three counts of third-degree criminal sexual conduct and one count of fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct.New Haven Police Chief Michael Henry said the department received a call from the school with the allegations on March 27. After an investigation, the Macomb County Prosecutor's Office issued warrants for Peterson.The district's superintendent said Peterson had previously been contracted through an outside agency to work as a substitute teacher and coach, but was immediately removed from the school once the allegations surfaced.Peterson's bond for all charges was set at $25,000. Police said he would be tethered to his home after his release from the Macomb County Jail.Peterson's next court date is scheduled for April 13 at the 42-B District Court.

West Virginia: Former Va. teacher charged with sexual abuse

2009-07-02T22:10:00.001-07:00

http://www.herald-mail.com/?module=displaystory&story_id=178686&format=html

HEDGESVILLE, W.Va. - A former Frederick County, Va., teacher was arrested Wednesday on charges that he had a sexual encounter with a 17-year-old student while he was employed as a teacher in February, the Berkeley County Sheriff's Department said.

Eric Newman, 26, of Hedgesville, was charged with one count of sexual abuse by a parent, guardian or person in a position of trust to a child, Sgt. B.F. Hall said in a news release.

Hall said the alleged encounter with the female student took place at Newman's residence in Hedgesville on Feb. 3, 2007, while Newman was a teacher at Millbrook High School in Winchester, Va.

Newman, who no longer is employed as a teacher, agreed to turn himself in after a joint investigation between the Berkeley County and Frederick County sheriff's departments, Hall said. Investigators served a search warrant at Newman's home March 11 and recovered evidence, Hall said.

Newman was arraigned at the Berkeley County Judicial Center and released on bond, Hall said.

Frederick County (Va.) Superintendent of Schools Patricia Taylor said she could not comment on police matters.

Teacher Charged with Having Criminal Sexual Contact with Woman : WFMZ-TV 69News

2009-07-02T22:09:00.001-07:00

http://wfmz.com/view/?id=720876

A teacher in New Jersey is behind bars, accused of having criminal sexual contact with a woman. Walter Brandt was arrested Wednesday. He works as a teacher here at North Warren Regional High School in Warren County. Officials say he has been suspended.

Teacher charged with having sex with students

2009-07-02T22:08:00.001-07:00

http://www.newsobserver.com/news/v-print/story/1399384.html

DURHAM - A former Southern High School teacher who was charged with having sex with two students turned himself in Monday morning.

Jamal Butler, 30, of Calibre Park Drive is charged with two counts of sexual offense with a student. He is currently out of jail on a $20,000 bond.

Butler allegedly had sex with two 16-year-old female students between July 1 and Jan. 8, according to arrest warrants.

School officials conducted an investigation along with police after allegations were made, said Michael Yarbrough, Durham Public Schools spokesman.

Butler, who became Southern's band teacher in August 2007, resigned Jan. 29, Yarbrough said.

Karate Teacher Charged With Raping Students

2009-07-02T22:07:00.001-07:00

http://www.onntv.com/live/contentbe/EPIC_shim.php?story=sites/ONN/content/pool/200711/453287664.html

NORTH ROYALTON, Ohio - A Brunswick karate instructor has been indicted on 80 sex charges involving two children.

Police said 31-year-old Gary Gray had sex with two students from Gray's Karate for Kids, a North Royalton karate school owned by Gray's wife.

The alleged victims are 14 and 17, police said.

Charges against Gray include rape and sexual battery. He pleaded not guilty and is being held on $2 million bond.

Teacher charged with sex assault

2009-07-02T22:06:00.001-07:00

http://abclocal.go.com/wtvd/story?section=news/local&id=6894182&rss=rss-wtvd-article-6894182

ZEBULON (WTVD) -- Police accuse a teacher at Wakelon Elementary School with sexually assaulting a student.

George Johnson, 60, is charged with indecent liberties with a child and indecent liberties by a teacher.

Investigators say the victim was a student at the school.

Wake County Public Schools says Johnson resigned from his teaching job last month.

Violin teacher charged with student sex abuse

2009-07-02T22:05:00.001-07:00

ELLICOTT CITY, Md. - Howard County police say a 67-year-old violin teacher has been charged with sexually abusing an 11-year-old student.

Police said Ming Yueh Liang of Ellicott City has been charged with eight sex offenses and eight counts of second-degree assault. Police said Monday the victim and her mother told investigators that the teacher touched the child repeatedly during private lessons at his home. The mother said she was present during the lessons between March and May, but had an obstructed view of her daughter and the teacher.

Investigators are urging other students who may have been abused to contact police.

Police said Liang has been released on unsecured bond.

http://www.wtopnews.com/?nid=25&sid=1702230

Teacher charged with making threats

2009-07-02T22:04:00.001-07:00

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22956972

Teacher charged with making threats

Pa. woman allegedly upset over class assignment faces 17 counts

The Associated Press

updated 4:22 p.m. PT, Fri., Feb. 1, 2008

DOYLESTOWN, Pa. - A teacher who was upset because she didn't get her preferred classroom assignment left more than a dozen scribbled threats at her elementary school and a suspicious device in a student's desk, authorities said.

Susan Romanyszyn, 45, was charged Thursday with 17 counts of making terroristic threats in connection with the incidents at Longstreth Elementary School in Warminster in October.

Authorities said the fourth-grade teacher scribbled messages on school walls and on paper that threatened bomb and gun violence. The messages were written in sloppy handwriting with numerous misspellings and some with crudely drawn cartoons, police said.

A prosecutor said the actions stemmed from Romanyszyn's assignment to teach fourth grade rather than fifth grade. "She was upset or disgruntled at not getting the classroom assignment she wanted," Bucks County District Attorney Michelle Henry said.

Police also allege Romanyszyn put a water bottle containing white power and screws into a student's desk and scattered nails around the lot where teachers parked, leading to school trips and activities being delayed or canceled.

In an interview with police, Romanyszyn denied having anything to do with the incidents and said she wasn't upset about not getting a fifth-grade teaching position, according to a court document. Her attorney rejected the allegations.

Surveillance cameras, evaluations
"In a case like this, you go on a person's character, and the character of this woman is out there for inspection," Sara Webster said. "Nobody says she's an angry person. She loved what she did, and she loved her students and she always got good evaluations."

Romanyszyn was arrested after authorities interviewed students, administrators and teachers and reviewed footage from school surveillance cameras, Warminster Police Chief Michael Murphy said.

Romanyszyn, who has been on administrative leave since Oct. 22, turned herself in to police and was released after posting $100,000 bail. She faces up to 10 years in jail if convicted.

Romanyszyn was previously a middle school teacher at Eugene Klinger Middle School, where in 2004 she was one of two elementary mathematics teachers selected as a state finalist for the Presidential Awards for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching.

URL: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22956972/

Teacher Charged With Being Drunk in Class

2009-07-02T22:03:00.001-07:00

LOUDOUN, Va. (AP) - A middle school teacher has been placed on administrative leave after being charged with being drunk in her Loudoun County classroom.

Sheriff's spokesman Kraig Troxell says officials at Sterling Middle School called authorities to report that reading specialist Mary Ann Livoti, 56, of Hamilton appeared to be intoxicated in a classroom before 11 a.m. with students present.

Troxell says Livoti was arrested and placed in the county's adult detention center jail until she was deemed to be sober. Troxell says the county Commonwealth's Attorney planned to review the case to determine whether more charges are warranted.

Livoti has been a teacher with LCPS for about 13 years, Byard said. She worked with the system from 1978 to 1982, then came back in 1998. She has worked at Sterling Middle School since 2000 as the reading specialist, LCPS spokesman Wayde Byard said.

http://www.wtop.com/?nid=600&sid=1284991

Teacher Charged After Alleged Indecent Exposure

2009-07-02T22:02:00.001-07:00

ROCKVILLE, Md. -- A popular Montgomery County middle school teacher is under arrest Thursday for allegedly exposing himself to students.

Montgomery County Police say 43-year-old Charles Bouma, an eighth grade math teacher at Argyle Middle School in Silver Spring, was arrested and charged with indecent exposure, disorderly conduct and disturbing a school operation.

Bouma allegedly exposed himself and engaged in sexual activity while driving in a convertible beside a school bus carrying students from the Academy of the Holy Cross on Monday around 3:15 p.m. near Rockville Pike and Tuckerman Lane, police say.

After the incident, Bouma followed the bus and drove around each side, causing "considerable commotion" on the bus, police say.

The students on the bus were members of the Holy Cross crew team and on their way to practice. The crew team coach wrote down Bouma's license plate and called police to report the incident.

Bouma has been placed on administrative leave, Montgomery County Public School spokesman Brian Edwards says.

"Naturally, this is a very disturbing situation for us," Edwards says. "We will be informing parents of the information we have. If they have any questions, they can speak with the principal about the incident."

Edwards says Bouma is a very popular teacher and passed a background check when he was hired in 2000.

Police are investigating the possibility of other incidents involving Bouma. Anyone with information should call the Montgomery County 2nd District Investigative Section at 301-657-0112.

http://www.wtop.com/?nid=598&sid=1126176

Teacher Puts Sex Clip of Self on Students DVD

2009-07-02T21:55:00.001-07:00

ELK GROVE, Calif. —

A Northern California elementary school teacher sent her students home for the summer with a video of class memories, only the DVD included six seconds of her having sex on a couch.

Officials at the Elk Grove Unified School District asked families of the teacher's 24 students to get rid of the DVD after the unintended clip was found spliced in a scene where children were sharing stories in class.

"Just destroy them," said spokeswoman Torrey Johnson.

Johnson said the teacher, Crystal Defanti, sent the DVD home with her students from Isabelle Jackson Elementary on the last day of class Friday. She learned of the mistake after a parent called her. She then called all the parents to ask them to destroy the DVD.

http://www.foxnews.com/printer_friendly_story/0,3566,529920,00.html

Seven Teens Shot at Detroit Bus Stop Near High School - Local News | News Articles | National News | US News

2009-06-30T16:47:00.001-07:00

Two gunmen in a green minivan opened fire on a group of teenagers at a bus stop near a Detroit high school, authorities said.

At least seven students attending classes at Cody High School were among those shot, and three of them are in critical condition, according to Detroit Police spokesman Rod Liggons.

Five of the victims were waiting for a bus after summer school classes let out. All seven of the victims were between the ages of 14 and 17.

Detroit EMS acting chief Jerald James told FOX News that the victims appeared to be in good condition and were talking in the ambulance on the way to the hospital.

The gunmen exited a vehicle and "asked for a person by name" before they "opened fire at the crowd," said Detroit Public Schools Police Chief Roderick Grimes. Detroit Police were looking for two suspects in a green minivan, said spokesman Rod Liggons.

Another summer school student, 15-year-old Bria Wilson, said she was standing at the bus stop when she heard the gunfire. She said she was facing away from the shooters and ran away after the shots were fired. But she saw a 16-year-old male friend lying on the ground, bleeding.

"They were so close — it almost hit me," she said.

A woman was seen being handcuffed and taken into police custody, but it was not known whether she was a suspect in the shooting, according to local reports.

http://www.foxnews.com/printer_friendly_story/0,3566,529601,00.html

FOXNews.com - Teens Charged as Adults in Football Sex Assault Case - Local News | News Articles | National News | US News

2009-06-04T09:08:00.001-07:00

http://www.foxnews.com/printer_friendly_story/0,3566,525065,00.html

TAMPA, Fla. —

Four Florida middle-school students are being charged as adults in the alleged sexual assaults on a classmate in a school locker room.

The teens are accused of holding down a 13-year-old flag-football teammate and assaulting him with a broomstick and hockey stick. The victim told investigators the boys had harassed and bullied him for nearly two months.

State attorney's office spokeswoman Pam Bondi said Wednesday that each boy faces four counts of sexual battery, stemming from "multiple incidents on different dates."

Each count carries a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison.

Three of the boys charged are 14 and the other is 15.

Each pleaded not guilty at a hearing Wednesday and had a $15,000 bond set.

Tacoma teacher found guilty in kidnap, rape case

2009-04-21T09:27:00.001-07:00

http://www.thenewstribune.com/topstories/v-printerfriendly/story/715185.html

A Pierce County judge Monday convicted Jennifer L. Rice of kidnapping and raping a 10-year-old boy she taught at Tacoma’s McKinley Elementary School two years ago.

Superior Court Judge D. Gary Steiner also found Rice, 33, guilty of raping the boy’s older brother and ruled one of her crimes was predatory, qualifying her for an extra-long prison sentence.

The former teacher faces more than 25 years in prison when sentenced June 5. Steiner ordered Rice, who’s been in jail since her arrest in summer 2007, remain there until sentencing.

Rice, the mother of young children, wiped at tears after Steiner made his rulings.

The convictions followed a brief “stipulated facts” trial. Prosecutors and Rice’s defense team agreed to a set of facts in the case, and Steiner reviewed them before making his decision. Rice agreed to the trial instead of a straight plea in order to preserve some of her appellate rights, said her attorney, Gary Clower.

The arrangement was, in essence, a guilty plea by Rice. She admitted she had sexual intercourse with both boys on separate occasions – the older brother was 15 at the time – and that she kidnapped and molested the younger boy, according to court records.

Steiner convicted Rice of four crimes: first-degree kidnapping, first-degree child molestation and two counts of third-degree rape. Steiner found the child-molestation crime was a predatory offense because the victim was one of Rice’s students.

That designation – required when a teacher is accused of certain sex crimes – invokes stiff sentencing requirements: a minimum term of 25 years or the high end of the standard sentencing range, whichever is longer. In Rice’s case, the high end is 26 years, according to previously filed court documents.

Prosecutors contended in court documents that Rice began a sexual relationship with the 10-year-old boy that lasted from December 2006 to August 2007, when she sneaked him out of his home and drove him to Ellensburg where they had sex at a rest stop before she returned him home.

Prosecutors also charged her with twice having sex with the boy’s older brother in July 2007.

Rice previously argued that the law that classifies some crimes as predatory is unconstitutional because it wrongly curtails the powers of the state’s prosecutors by restricting their discretion. Steiner rejected that argument in July 2008.

Clower indicated in court his client might want to renew that argument at the appellate level.

Prosecutors originally charged Rice with 13 crimes but agreed to drop all but four in exchange for her stipulating to the facts Steiner reviewed Monday.

The deal means the victims won’t have to testify in open court while guaranteeing Rice will get a long sentence, deputy prosecutor Mark Lindquist said.

The victims’ parents last month sued the Tacoma, Bethel and Yelm school districts, contending the districts negligently hired and supervised Rice and didn’t do enough to protect students from her. Rice also taught at the North Thurston School District.

The state has revoked her licenses to teach and serve as a counselor.

Ohio School Says Teacher Resigned After Taking Students to Strip Club

2009-04-17T19:10:00.001-07:00

A southwest Ohio teacher has resigned after acknowledging she accompanied four female students to a male strip club, a school spokesman said.

Butler Tech school district spokesman Bill Solazzo said 47-year-old Lori Epperson resigned Thursday. He said Epperson told Edgewood High School administrators that the students — all cheerleaders at the school north of Cincinnati in Trenton — asked her to take them to the bar in February.

Epperson told school officials in an e-mail that she got permission from the parents of the 17- and 18-year-olds to bring them to Club Masque in Dayton.

Epperson taught marketing at the school and previously served as a coach for the district's eighth-grade cheerleaders.

Student killed in love triangle involving teacher - Yahoo! News

2009-04-14T15:11:00.001-07:00

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090414/ap_on_re_us/teacher_love_triangle

CHANDLER, Ariz. – An 18-year-old high school student caught with his 48-year-old math teacher in her bedroom was stabbed to death by her boyfriend, who was himself a former student of hers, police said Tuesday.

Chandler police said 20-year-old Sixto Balbuena told them he never meant to kill Samuel Valdivia. He allegedly told police "the blade went in like going into butter" and that he just wanted to show Valdivia how much he hurt him by sleeping with Tamara Hofmann.

Balbuena, a Navy sailor on leave from California, was arrested on a charge of second-degree murder after police found him covered in blood and told them about the killing. He was in jail Tuesday and did not have a lawyer.

Balbuena found his girlfriend naked and Valdivia in his boxer shorts in the woman's bedroom around 2:40 a.m. Friday, according to police reports and court documents.

Balbuena told police that Valdivia apologized to him before Balbuena began kicking, punching and throwing things at him, according to a police probable cause statement.

Police said Balbuena told them he "wanted to teach the victim a lesson," and stabbed him in the lower side with a kitchen knife, according to the court document. Valdivia later died at a hospital.

He also threw Hofmann to the floor jumped on top of her and demanded to know how long she had been cheating on him, according to the document.

Police said Hofmann taught Valdivia math at El Dorado High School in Chandler and was also Balbuena's teacher when he attended Marcos de Niza High School in Tempe.

A call to both schools was not immediately returned Tuesday. Hofmann's phone number is unlisted.

Balbuena is the one who called 911. He told officers he felt remorse for stabbing Valdivia after seeing him lying on the floor struggling to breathe, police said.

Arizona School Bus Driver Accused of Having Sexual Relationship With Student

2009-02-28T22:22:00.001-08:00

http://www.foxnews.com/printer_friendly_story/0,3566,502624,00.html

A high school bus driver in Yuma has been arrested on suspicion of having an ongoing sexual relationship with a 15-year-old student.

The Yuma County Sheriff's Office said Friday that Sixto Rocabado Jr., 31, was arrested Wednesday after the parents of the female student reported that he had left inappropriate messages on the girl's MySpace.com page.

Sheriff's spokesman Capt. Eben Bratcher says investigators learned that Rocabado was the girl's school bus driver and had allegedly had sexual contact with her over the last few weeks.

Rocabado was arrested on suspicion of aggravated assault, custodial interference, kidnapping, sexual abuse and sexual assault.

He is being held in the Yuma County jail on a $239,265 bond.

Shooting erupts at high school basketball game

2009-01-12T08:35:00.001-08:00

http://deseretnews.com/article/content/mobile/1,5143,705276541,00.html?printView=true

CHICAGO — Five people were shot as spectators left a crowded high school basketball game Friday in what police called a possibly gang-related attack that sent panicked students running into a snowy street on the city's South Side.

Five males — three in serious condition and two in critical — were taken from Paul Laurence Dunbar Vocational Career Academy around 8 p.m., said Chicago Fire Department spokeswoman Eve Rodriguez. Hospital spokespeople said later that at least three were expected to be treated and released.

"It was crazy. It was like killers on the loose," said Joshua Glaze, 15, a freshman at the school.

The game was in overtime and some students began to leave the building, Glaze said.

A vehicle then drove up and a person or people inside started shooting into the crowd, said Chicago Police Superintendent Jody Weis.

No suspect has been identified or arrested, but the shooting was "isolated" and possibly gang-related, Weis said. Two hundred officers were in the area looking for suspects, he said.

Dunbar freshman Shaneisha Turman, 15, said she saw a silver truck pull up to a bus stop outside the school. People inside the truck pretended to fire a gun and then "they really started shooting," she told the Chicago Tribune.

People were shouting, "'They're shooting!"' Turman said. "It was a lot of people shouting and running."

Police blocked access to streets at least two blocks from the high school to make way for ambulances and police cars.

Andres Durbak, director of the city schools' Office of Safety and Security, said video taken in and around the school has been handed over to police.

"This is a tragedy," Durbak said.

Police spokeswoman Monique Bond declined to characterize the victims beyond gender and would not say whether they had attended the basketball game. She added that they were "not necessarily students."

The high school has about 1,600 students and is the alma mater of Oscar-winning actress Jennifer Hudson.

Mass. teacher accused of having sex with teen

2009-01-12T08:29:00.001-08:00

http://www.foxnews.com/wires/2009Jan10/0,4670,TeacherRape,00.html

ROCKLAND, Mass. — An elementary school teacher accused of having sex with a teenage boy pleaded not guilty to rape charges Friday.

Christine A. McCallum, 29, of Rockland, is accused of having multiple sexual encounters with the boy that began when he was 13 years old. The alleged incidents occurred in Abington and Rockland.

McCallum was released on $10,000 bond after she pleaded not guilty to three counts of rape at Brockton District Court for the incidents in Abington. She also pleaded not guilty later Friday in Hingham District Court on four additional counts for the alleged rapes in Rockland.

The married fifth-grade teacher has been fired from her job at Woodsdale Elementary School in Abington, Superintendent Peter G. Schafer said Friday.

"We are aware and are deeply concerned about the disturbing allegations against her, and we will be fully cooperating with the authorities," Schafer said in a statement.

Rockland police Chief John Llewellyn said his officers and Abington police arrested McCallum at her home Thursday night.

Plymouth District Attorney Tim Cruz said McCallum was working as a teacher's aide and tutoring the boy's younger brother when the relationship began. Cruz said the father of the boy, now 16, went to authorities recently after he found some correspondence between his son and McCallum.

"The allegations are very disturbing, when you are alleging that a grown woman in a position of trust ... is allegedly having a sexual relationship with a child," Cruz said.

In court, Assistant District Attorney Michael Scott said McCallum had become like a surrogate mother to the boy, who lives in Abington and was being raised by a single father. He said the relationship progressed to kissing and sex after McCallum plied the boy with alcohol.

McCallum's attorney, Frederick McDermott, said there was no evidence his client ever had sex with the teen. He said she acted as the boy's surrogate mother, but that relationship ended in July 2007 after she caught the boy stealing liquor from her home.

McCallum was ordered to stay away from the boy, his family, and all children under 16. She also must wear a tracking device and surrender her passport.

A telephone message left at a number for a Christine A. McCallum in Rockland was not immediately returned Friday.

Junior High arrest leads to haul of stolen guns

2008-12-12T20:57:00.001-08:00

http://www.thenewstribune.com/news/local/story/565329.html

When three students were arrested last week at Bethel Junior High School, officers did a routine check of the serial number on the revolver they recovered in a 15-year-old’s book bag.

In a database of weapons, the gun showed up as stolen. That prompted an investigation that culminated with the student, his older brother and two other juveniles being charged with scores of weapons offenses.

Investigators said Thursday that the 15-year-old and his 21-year-old brother, Christopher Aguon, broke into a Vancouver, Wash., firearms store Nov. 30 and stole about 130 weapons within minutes. After deputies arrested the younger brother at the Spanaway school, the serial number on the revolver highlighted the connection.

“That’s a good example of why we should have a national database,” Pierce County sheriff’s spokesman Ed Troyer said Thursday night. “The sooner we can tie our databases together, the sooner these things won’t slip through the cracks.”

The investigation involved the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Pierce County Sheriff’s Department, the Vancouver Police Department and a Clark County task force.

Investigators said students at Bethel Junior High became alarmed last week after hearing of a gun on campus, and told a school resource officer, who notified the Sheriff’s Department. Investigators also found a weapon in a trash can near the school. The 15-year-old and two 14-year-olds were arrested and reportedly were not cooperating with investigators.

The Pierce County juvenile faces 126 counts of theft of a firearm, and charges of burglary and criminal conspiracy to traffic in stolen property, according to the Vancouver Police Department. He was being held at Remann Hall juvenile jail in Tacoma. The News Tribune commonly does not name juveniles charged with crimes.

ATF spokesman Nick Starcevic said the bureau was working with the U.S. attorney to charge the 21-year-old with federal offenses – federal courts do not try juveniles.

Two other juveniles were arrested in Clark County on related charges.

Starcevic said a combination of good investigating and good luck led to the arrests. It’s unusual to make arrests so soon on a theft this large, he said, and it was especially good since most or all of the weapons were recovered.

“It’s a good thing we were able to recover them in short order,” he said. “Now we have 126 guns that won’t become crime guns. We got lucky, to get back 126 is great.”

The store, Brightwater Ventures, reported about 130 missing weapons, and was doing an audit to see if all that were missing have been found, Starcevic said.

Bethel School District Superintendent Tom Seigel said the students brought the two guns to sell at school, and that there wasn’t a threat of violence.

But the extent of the investigation and the sheer amount of weapons are staggering, he said. And what began the investigation was involvement from students.

“We can’t hold school unless people feel secure. We take security very seriously,” he said just after hearing of the recent charges. “But the first line of defense is the kids. It’s OK for them to come forward and tell us there’s a threat.”

Georgia Middle School Staff in Trouble Over Inflatable Mattress Sex

2008-12-11T16:22:00.001-08:00

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,465064,00.html

AUGUSTA, Ga. — Several Richmond County educators are being reprimanded after officials uncovered a sex scandal involving teachers, coaches and the principal of an Augusta middle school.

Superintendent Dana Bedden says seven Spirit Creek Middle School faculty members have been implicated in a series of incidents that included daytime sexual encounters on an inflatable mattress in the school's public safety office.

No students were involved in any of the encounters, which came to light after a former teacher sent an e-mail about the allegations to school system leaders.

Denise Ogden resigned in November after her involvement in a love triangle that also cost former Principal Sharon McAlevy and former school board public safety officer Ronnie Collins their jobs.