Sex with Little Boys

There were hundreds of stories about a Nebraska teacher who eluded police while on the run with a 13-year-old boy. What's tragic is the age of the victim is getting to be younger and younger. (All links are to TT entries.)

Anne Knopf, 39, a Wisconsin teacher, is accused of a sexual relationship with her daughter's former boyfrield. He is 13. Update: Sentenced to nine months in jail - not prison - and five years of probation. Registration as a sex offender for life.

Jennifer Leigh Rice, 37, a Washington teacher, like Peterson, ran away with a male student. She is accused of having sex with him on the trip. He is 10-years-old. Trial delayed until Octoer 2008.

Virginia Teacher of the Year Karen Patton, 42, was sentenced to four years for sex with a male students. The two boys were 13.

Lois Enden, 55, a school aide in New York was sentenced to six months in jail - not prison - for sex with an 11-year-old boy when she was 47 or 48. Registration as a sex offender.

Buttonwillow, California teacher Sherry Brians, 41, was sentenced to three years probation and counseling for a sexual relationship with a 12-year-old boy.

Another Calfiornia teacher, this one from Paso Robles, Cora Solario, 24, was sentenced to 270 days in jail - not prison - and lifetime registration as a sex offender. The boy was 13-years-old.

Fifth-grade teacher Rebecca Withrow, 30, was sentenced to 120 days in jail - not prison - suspended for sex with an 11-year-old boy. She's a registered sex offender.

In South Carolina, Wendie Schweikert, 37, was sentenced to 10 years in prison for sex with an 11-year-old boy

.Allena Ward, 23, pleaded guilty to sex with five boys. Three 14-year-olds and one 15-year-old. Again, South Carolina. Update: Sentenced to six years in prison.

In New York, Lina Sinha, 40, was convicted of having sex with a 13-year-old. The jury deadlocked on the charges of sex with the 12-year-old-boy. She was sentenced to 14 years.

Released from prison after serving nearly twelve years for sex with a 12-year-old boy, Nancy Marks, now 63, was was labeled a sexual predator by a judge. She was on NBC. The episode was "Love was her defense."

Longtime subsitute Kathleen Bowler, 29, was given suspended sentences for cybersex with a 13-year-old girl and 13-year-old boy. She's now a sex offender and is on probation for life.

New Jersey teacher Amy Burke, 32, was sentenced to four years in prison for sex with a 13-year-old boy who is in counseling, angry at his parents and the prosecutor for pressing the case.

A judge turned down a plea that would have meant only 6 months in jail - not prison - for Melanie Hackett who had sex with a 13-year-old student. The judge sentenced her to 1-10 years in prison.

In Delaware, Rachel Holt, 35, was sentenced to 10 years in prison. The boy was 13-years-old.

If a single one of these women were men, the term "pedophile" would immediately spring to mind.

News Briefs - May 8

Telephone transcript and more
The weirdly-grinning Stephanie Ragusa is in the news again. Investigators say there are at least four underage victims involved A judge ordered prosecutors to release the call between former teacher, Stephanie Ragusa, and one of her underage student victims. They released several documents. (TT entry)

Telephone transcript PDF
Hillsborough County Sheriff's Incident Report PDF
Supplemental Investigation Report 1 PDF
Supplemental Investigation Report 2 PDF
Miscellaneous Documents PDF

Trial delayed (again)
An Ohio teacher charged with fourth-degree felony menacing by stalking for sending love letters to a 13-year-old student has had his trial delayed again while a civil case proceeds. Richard Prusha, a Scio, Ohio teacher, was charged and indicted in 2007. (TT - Entry)

"Highly Educated"
In sentencing speech therapist and teacher (and mother of six chidren) Jane M. Dettmering, for burning down her own house, the judge explained his reasons for the one-year jail - not prison - and the long probation. Judge James Babler explained that the lengthy period of probation was for Dettmering to pay an estimated $115,000 restitution to American Family Insurance. Her jail time will be served with work release privileges. He had difficulty determining the sentence.

Babler said he had great difficulty in deciding on a sentence for Dettmering, partly because she was not a typical criminal. He said he’d gotten a number of letters from community members attesting to her good character. Some said Dettmering couldn’t be guilty, said Babler.

He added that Dettmering was highly educated and that she was at low risk to re-offend.

TT - Of course not, you twit, she doesn't have another house to burn down!
(TT Entry)

Of Interest

Cases and stories of interest updated today
(Continued from here.)

BAIL DENIED
Judges in two states denied bail for teachers. In Connecticut, U.S. Magistrate Judge Thomas Smith agreed with federal prosecutors that there were no conditions of release that would ensure that Avelino Gonzalez Claudio would not flee. His attorney wanted house arrest and electronic monitoring for Avelino Gonzalez Claudio, 65, who was arrested in February of this year. After an armored car robbery in 1983 by Puerto Rican terrorists, Gonzalez went into hiding after his indictment. He is accused of helping to get the Wells Fargo driver who carried out the plot and the half-ton of cash out of the United States. And other crimes. In Puerto Rico, Gonzales changed his name and became a teacher. He escaped prosecution for 23 years. TT entry

In New York, a judge refused to grant bail to Janet Redmond-Mercereau. Her attorney wanted house arrest and an ankle bracelet as well. She was indicted last month on second-degree murder charges, three counts of tampering with evidence, and two counts of weapon possession. in the killing of her husband, a New York fire marshal, with three gunshots to the head while he slept. TT entry

HEARING
Lawyers for Daytona Beach, Florida, high school teacher David Behringer and Daytona Beach city commissioner and mayoral candidate Mike Shallow are trying to get the case thrown out of court. The two men were arrested for lewd and lavacious conduct in a public restroom in a Sears store. Today they had the Daytona Police chief testify and questioned him about his press conference and comments to the media and in interviews following the arrest. TT - entry

VOTE TO FIRE
In a largely symbolic measure, the D-2 board that hired principal Daniel Markofski voted unanimously to fire him. He had already resigned. He was the principal who was found in a motel room with two teenage girls. The board admitted they had never checked with previous employers and promise to do a check with all previous employers. TT - entry

ARRESTED (AGAIN) - FLORIDA TEACHER
Police arrested Stephanie Ragusa for sex with another student at the middle school where she taught. Ragusa did not report previous arrests for DUI and one for aggravated battery on her application. When the district found out, they hired her anyway. She went through alternative certification. The boy was 15 and she is s accused of having sex with the teen about 20 times between Feb. 15, 2007 and March 10, 2008,. The other student was 14 years old. TT - entry

Victimized Twice

We don't exaggerate when we say victims are excoriated by other students when a teacher is arrested, especially when it is a popular teacher. No other victim of sexual abuse is given so little sympathy by students, as well as teachers and the public. Even a prostitute who is raped is automatically afforded more consideration.

Wisconsin
When a Wisconsin teacher was arrested for sending sexually explicit instant messages to the a 16-year-old student that included graphic descriptions of sexual activity and expressing a desire to engage in sex acts with the victim and another female, the student got the blame.

At the hearing, the recipient of the messages spoke emotionally about their effects. She said she was ostracized, lost her self-esteem and confidence, and suffered harassment from her fellow students.

"I lost my reputation," she said. "My brother stopped talking with me for months."

She blamed herself "for everything," she said. "Today, I'm passing that guilt back to him."

The teacher is 33 years-old. TT - entry

Arkansas
A newspaper wanted to know why a science teacher resigned two months into the school year. They repeatedly requested school district records, filed Freedom of Information requests that were ignored, contacted the state Attorney General and then the local prosecutor. They still hadn't gotten the records when they published their story.

One victim who told them about how she was treated by students, teachers and administrators after she came forward with her accusations.

School officials put her into a homebound program requiring her to complete her work at her house for the remainder of the semester. While she was in the homebound program, students had a walk-out to protest her returning to the district. During this time, students and teachers were involved in a fundraiser to raise legal funds for Rose to pay for his attorney.

When she returned to the school she had to leave classes five minutes early to avoid other students. She ate lunch in a school counselor's office because students were so hostile to her.

She and her mother begged the district to allow her to go to another school. They refused. Eventually they did move to another town where she completed school.

What the newspaper found out when they investigated was that the teacher had worked in five different districts. In four of them, students had officially complained about inappropriate conversations and actions. TT - entry

Methamphetamine

Continued from TT entry

Science teacher, Jeff Scheidemantel, 32, in Shafter, California was arrested in December. He was allegedly trying to make methamphetamine in his school lab.

December - Nevada special education teacher Kymberly Tamburello, 43, was sentenced (sorta) for drug trafficking in methamphetamine.

November In Tennessee, Steven Pebley, 58, was arrested and charged with manufacturing methamphetamine at the residence he was renting.

Arrested February - Bethlehem, Pennsylvania principal John Acerra, 50, was sentenced to 4 years in prison and 5 years probation after pleading guilty to two counts of felony delivery of methamphetamine and one count of felony possession with intent to deliver. He was selling crystal meth out of his office at the school.

Sentenced October - Joanna Chavez, 38, a New Mexico teacher, was arrested when deputies found her in the school with what they charged as several bags of methamphetamine in her purse. They also found digital scale, several butane lighters, a personal checkbook and a ledger of moneys. She was sentenced to 18 months in prison.

Arrested October A second-grade teacher, Amy Lee Snead, 36, was arrested at school and led out in handcuffs. she was one of 50 people wanted in connection with a methamphetamine operation. Allegedly, she was a "smurf."

Sentenced July - Maryland teacher Timothy Hartlove, 37, sentenced more than six years in prison for conspiring to distribute methamphetamine worth about $50,000. (Later resentenced.)

Arrested July - An agricultural teacher in Georgia was arrested for allegedly growing marijuana and attempting to manufacture meth. He is James Gibson, 49.

Arrested July - We wondered at the time. Sad for the sad state of education, WPSD Channel 6 reported that "If Tabor is convicted she could lose her job." The fact that it isn't a guarantee says a lot. Tabor was charged with possession of methamphetamine and drug paraphernalia. Amy Hill-Tabor is a kindergarten teacher.

There are more. Just search "methamphetamine" at the top of the blog.

DATABASE numbers

Continued from NASDTEC Clearinghouse

The number of cases reported to NASDTEC by state.
REMINDER: This database dates back to the 1980s.

This is the number of Misconduct Cases reported.** (From high to low numbers.)
California 5,997
Florida 3,922**
Georgia 2,904
Texas 2,124
Ohio 1,021
Oregon 953
Washington 941
New York 897
South Carolina 896
Pennsylvania 704
New Jersey 539
Kentucky 532
Alabama 498
Missouri 476
Minnesota 434
Colorado 427
Arizona 375
North Carolina 353
Wisconsin 338
Maryland 315
Utah 301
West Virginia 255
Michigan 233
Illinois 204
Tennessee 200
Alaska 176
Idaho 175
Nebraska 174
Kansas 171
Indiana 164
New Mexico 160
Nevada 148
Iowa 143
Massachusetts 138
Oklahoma 122
Virginia 117
Connecticut 114
Arkansas 106
New Hampshire 104
Vermont 96
South Dakota 92
North Dakota 90
Rhode Island 90
Montana 85
Louisiana 78
Mississippi 71
Maine 58
Wyoming 30
Delaware 13
Hawaii 2
Unknown or from outside the U.S.492
*People can be reported by multiple states.
**According to NASDTEC, as of February 2007.

The price tag

Obama reveals $18 billion education reform.

Accusing the Bush administration of short-changing American schools, Democratic presidential contender Barak Obama proposed on Tuesday an $18-billion-a-year education plan that aims to make preschool education more affordable, pay teachers better and put a national priority on teaching science.

Unveiling the plan at a packed high school theatre in New Hampshire, the Illinois senator also pledged to pay the expense of a college education for Americans who commit to a lifetime of teaching.

He said the plan would be financed in part by cutting other federal programs, boosting federal revenue and tapping savings from ending the Iraq war. It would also require a five-year delay in the multibillion dollar Constellation program managed by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration to return astronauts to moon by 2020, according to a memo provided by Obama’s staff.

It includes a $10-billion “Children First Agenda” to provide care, learning and support for families with children up to five years old, and grants to help states pay for the program. Funding would also be boosted for needy children.

A “Presidential Early Learning Council” would coordinate the effort, he said. Child care tax credits would be expanded to strengthen day-care programs. .A new Service Scholarship program would recruit teachers for overcrowded and struggling school districts. All schools would be accredited to see which produced the best and worst teachers, and a mentor program would be expanded to match new educators with more experienced teachers.

But unlike rival Democratic presidential contender, New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, Obama stopped short of calling for the scrapping of the Bush administration’s signature No Child Left Behind law signed in 2002. But he said the policy had serious flaws, lacked proper funding and had demoralized and stigmatized students and teachers.

“That’s what is wrong with No Child Left Behind and that is what we must change in a fundamental way,” he said in the speech at Central High School in Manchester, the largest city in the state that holds the first presidential nominating primary.

TT - Eliott Spitzer, governor of New York gave childcare providers the right to unionize. He did this by executive order, not by proposing law. And then he authorized $99 million for pre-school programs.

The whole idea of extending free pre-school to children isn't for the sake of children. It's more union money. The fact that stigmatizing teachers is what testing is all about - finding out which schools and what teachers are not following the curriculum.

The speech by Obama was a wish list for teachers unions across the country. His speech to school students about his use of drugs in high school can't be good news to parents.