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Sexual misconduct plagues US schools
2007-10-21
The young teacher hung his head, avoiding eye contact. Yes, he had touched a fifth-grader's breast during recess. "I guess it was just lust of the flesh," he told his boss. Muzi.com News 10052698-0 (muzi.com)That got Gary C. Lindsey fired from his first teaching job in Oelwein, Iowa. But it didn't end his career. He taught for decades in Illinois and Iowa, fending off at least a half-dozen more abuse accusations. Muzi.com News 10052698-1 (muzi.com) When he finally surrendered his teaching license in 2004 -- 40 years after that first little girl came forward -- it wasn't a principal or a state agency that ended his career. It was one persistent victim and her parents. Muzi.com News 10052698-2 (muzi.com) Lindsey's case is just a small example of a widespread problem in American schools: sexual misconduct by the very teachers who are supposed to be nurturing the nation's children. Muzi.com News 10052698-3 (muzi.com) Students in America's schools are groped. They're raped. They're pursued, seduced and think they're in love. Muzi.com News 10052698-4 (muzi.com) An Associated Press investigation found more than 2,500 cases over five years in which educators were punished for actions from bizarre to sadistic. Muzi.com News 10052698-5 (muzi.com) There are 3 million public school teachers nationwide, most devoted to their work. Yet the number of abusive educators -- nearly three for every school day -- speaks to a much larger problem in a system that is stacked against victims. Muzi.com News 10052698-6 (muzi.com) Most of the abuse never gets reported. Those cases reported often end with no action. Cases investigated sometimes can't be proven, and many abusers have several victims. Muzi.com News 10052698-7 (muzi.com) And no one -- not the schools, not the courts, not the state or federal governments -- has found a surefire way to keep molesting teachers out of classrooms. Muzi.com News 10052698-8 (muzi.com) Those are the findings of an AP investigation in which reporters sought disciplinary records in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. The result is an unprecedented national look at the scope of sex offenses by educators -- the very definition of breach of trust. Muzi.com News 10052698-9 (muzi.com) The seven-month investigation found 2,570 educators whose teaching credentials were revoked, denied, surrendered or sanctioned from 2001 through 2005 following allegations of sexual misconduct. Muzi.com News 10052698-10 (muzi.com) Young people were the victims in at least 1,801 of the cases, and more than 80 percent of those were students. At least half the educators who were punished by their states also were convicted of crimes related to their misconduct. Muzi.com News 10052698-11 (muzi.com) The findings draw obvious comparisons to sex abuse scandals in other institutions, among them the Roman Catholic Church. A review by America's Catholic bishops found that about 4,400 of 110,000 priests were accused of molesting minors from 1950 through 2002. Muzi.com News 10052698-12 (muzi.com) Clergy abuse is part of the national consciousness after a string of highly publicized cases. But until now, there's been little sense of the extent of educator abuse. Muzi.com News 10052698-13 (muzi.com) Beyond the horror of individual crimes, the larger shame is that the institutions that govern education have only sporadically addressed a problem that's been apparent for years. Muzi.com News 10052698-14 (muzi.com) "From my own experience -- this could get me in trouble -- I think every single school district in the nation has at least one perpetrator. At least one," says Mary Jo McGrath, a California lawyer who has spent 30 years investigating abuse and misconduct in schools. "It doesn't matter if it's urban or rural or suburban." Muzi.com News 10052698-15 (muzi.com) One report mandated by Congress estimated that as many as 4.5 million students, out of roughly 50 million in American schools, are subject to sexual misconduct by an employee of a school sometime between kindergarten and 12th grade. That figure includes verbal harassment that's sexual in nature. Muzi.com News 10052698-16 (muzi.com) Jennah Bramow, one of Lindsey's accusers in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, wonders why there isn't more outrage. Muzi.com News 10052698-17 (muzi.com) "You're supposed to be able to send your kids to school knowing that they're going to be safe," says Bramow, now 20. While other victims accepted settlement deals and signed confidentiality agreements, she sued her city's schools for failing to protect her and others from Lindsey -- and won. Only then was Lindsey's teaching license finally revoked. Muzi.com News 10052698-18 (muzi.com) As an 8-year-old elementary-school student, Bramow told how Lindsey forced her hand on what she called his "pee-pee." Muzi.com News 10052698-19 (muzi.com) "How did you know it was his pee-pee?" an interviewer at St. Luke's Child Protection Center in Cedar Rapids asked Jennah in a videotape, taken in 1995. Muzi.com News 10052698-20 (muzi.com) "'Cause I felt something?" said Jennah, then a fidgety girl with long, dark hair. Muzi.com News 10052698-21 (muzi.com) "How did it feel?" the investigator asked. Muzi.com News 10052698-22 (muzi.com) "Bumpy," Jennah replied. She drew a picture that showed how Lindsey made her touch him on the zipper area of his pants. Muzi.com News 10052698-23 (muzi.com) Lindsey, now 68, refused multiple requests for an interview. "It never occurs to you people that some people don't want their past opened back up," he said when an AP reporter approached him at his home outside Cedar Rapids and asked questions. Muzi.com News 10052698-24 (muzi.com) That past, according to evidence presented in the Bramow's civil case, included accusations from students and parents along with reprimands from principals that were filed away, explained away and ultimately ignored until 1995, when accusations from Bramow and two other girls forced his early retirement. Even then, he kept his teaching license until the Bramows took the case public and filed a complaint with the state. Muzi.com News 10052698-25 (muzi.com) Like Lindsey, the perpetrators that the AP found are everyday educators -- teachers, school psychologists, principals and superintendents among them. They're often popular and recognized for excellence and, in nearly nine out of 10 cases, they're male. While some abused students in school, others were cited for sexual misconduct after hours that didn't necessarily involve a kid from their classes, such as viewing or distributing child pornography. Muzi.com News 10052698-26 (muzi.com) They include: Muzi.com News 10052698-27 (muzi.com) • Joseph E. Hayes, a former principal in East St. Louis, Ill. DNA evidence in a civil case determined that he impregnated a 14-year-old student. Never charged criminally, his license was suspended in 2003. He has ignored an order to surrender it permanently. Muzi.com News 10052698-28 (muzi.com) • Donald M. Landrum, a high school teacher in Polk County, N.C. His bosses warned him not to meet with female students behind closed doors. They put a glass window in his office door, but Landrum papered over it. Police later found pornography and condoms in his office and alleged that he was about to have sex with a female student. His license was revoked in 2005. Muzi.com News 10052698-29 (muzi.com) • Rebecca A. Boicelli, a former teacher in Redwood City, Calif. She conceived a child with a 16-year-old former student then went on maternity leave in 2004 while police investigated. She was hired to teach in a nearby school district; board members said police hadn't told them about the investigation. Muzi.com News 10052698-30 (muzi.com) The overwhelming majority of cases the AP examined involved teachers in public schools. Private school teachers rarely turn up because many are not required to have a teaching license and, even when they have one, disciplinary actions are typically handled within the school. Muzi.com News 10052698-31 (muzi.com) Two of the nation's major teachers unions, the American Federation of Teachers and the National Education Association, each denounced sex abuse while emphasizing that educators' rights also must be taken into account. Muzi.com News 10052698-32 (muzi.com) "Students must be protected from sexual predators and abuse, and teachers must be protected from false accusations," said NEA President Reg Weaver, who refused to be interviewed and instead released a two-paragraph statement. Muzi.com News 10052698-33 (muzi.com) Kathy Buzad of the AFT said that "if there's one incident of sexual misconduct between a teacher and a student that's one too many." Muzi.com News 10052698-34 (muzi.com) The United States has grown more sympathetic to victims of sex abuse over recent decades, particularly when it comes to young people. Laws that protect children from abusers bear the names of young victims. Police have made pursuing Internet predators a priority. People convicted of abuse typically face tough sentences and registry as sex offenders. Muzi.com News 10052698-35 (muzi.com) Even so, sexually abusive teachers continue to take advantage, and there are several reasons why. Muzi.com News 10052698-36 (muzi.com) For one, many Americans deny the problem, and even treat the abuse with misplaced fascination. Popular media reports trumpet relationships between attractive female teachers and male students. Muzi.com News 10052698-37 (muzi.com) "It's dealt with in a salacious manner with late-night comedians saying 'What 14-year-old boy wouldn't want to have sex with his teacher?' It trivializes the whole issue," says Robert Shoop, a professor of educational administration at Kansas State University who has written a book aimed at helping school districts identify and deal with sexual misconduct. Muzi.com News 10052698-38 (muzi.com) "In other cases, it's reported as if this is some deviant who crawled into the school district -- 'and now that they're gone, everything's OK.' But it's much more prevalent than people would think." Muzi.com News 10052698-39 (muzi.com)
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