Schools need solid protocol to battle sexual abuse of children
Sunday, October 28, 2007
By Tommy Witherspoon and Wendy Gragg
Tribune-Herald staff writers
Alan Eugene Slates had a “fun room” for kids at his home that included toys, movies and video games. He became friends with their parents, buying them movie tickets and other items not readily affordable to the mostly lower-income families.
Slates also liked to molest little children.
The longtime teacher’s proclivity toward children cost the Waco school system $550,000 in a civil lawsuit in July 2002. However, the abuse cost his 20 young victims and their families a lifetime of grief and, in most cases, shame.
"We're screening them every way we know how," said Sharon Fowler, assistant superintendent of human resources.
- Criminal history background check and fingerprint check, as required by the state.
- Background check with the Texas DPS.
- Subscribes to Safe Schools Project, which checks more than 185 databases, including multiple sex offender lists.
- Begins fingerprint check in January, per Senate Bill 9.
- Uses Safe Schools Project for a statewide criminal history and nationwide sex offenders list, with the option of also running a DPS check and nationwide criminal history check.
- Does an annual DPS check on all employees, looking for new offenses
Sources: Sharon Fowler, Dale Caffey, Robbie Edwards-Maness
What parents should watch for
There are no simple rules for determining if your child is the subject of inappropriate sexual attention from a teacher. It is not always easy to distinguish between an encouraging teacher and someone who is pushing the boundaries of acceptable behavior. Predators work hard to groom children so they don't tell anyone.
Investigators and academic experts who have studied teacher sexual misconduct say there are some warning signs that should make you pay more attention.
Their main suggestion: Talk to your child. Make sure she or he feels comfortable telling you if a teacher, or anyone, has said or done something that makes them uncomfortable. Be a good listener.
Other suggestions:
- Communication between teacher and student. Monitor e-mails, text messages, phone calls, Internet social networking and blogs, greeting cards and yearbooks. A teacher's communications should be about school, not the child's personal life.
- Time together. After-school activities should be encouraged, but be aware of time spent with a teacher and what goes on. If it's a pizza party with a teacher and a dozen kids, a parent should be there, one expert says. There should be no out-of-school, one-on-one meetings.
- Gifts or car rides. Most experts say teachers should not be giving gifts to individual students or car rides, except for emergencies.
- How your child talks about teachers. If they say a teacher is a "friend," find out more. If they joke or mention rumors about a teacher's crush, or that a teacher is a "perv," don't dismiss it. Ask why they say that.
- Abusive or sexual behavior. If your child tells you that a teacher made a sexual joke, brushed up against her, discussed sex, or requested a kiss or a date, bring it to the attention of school authorities and the police.
- Question your child if you suspect abuse. Try to stay calm. Children have a hard time differentiating between your disapproval of an adult's behavior and disapproval of them. Try not to ask leading questions like "Did he touch your thigh?"
- Don't keep it to yourself. If you're suspicious, talk to school authorities. They can question other teachers and students. Follow up and make sure school officials take action. If the behavior indicates a crime or school authorities don't take you seriously, contact police.
— Associated Press
Online: General information on child sex abuse
Jason Scott Hayes, a handsome, personable coach, liked teenage girls, so he got jobs teaching and coaching girls’ basketball and volleyball. His academic career ended when he was convicted of having sex with an underage girl amid allegations he was grooming many others for similar activity.
Amber Wolfshohl wasn’t much older than her students when she started teaching high school — and it wasn’t too long before rumors about her and a popular senior athlete in Brady began circulating on campus.
That was before she moved to Central Texas to begin teaching at Waco High School, where she again ignored boundaries that should exist between teacher and student. That led to her conviction for having sex with a 16-year-old male student.
The three are among at least a dozen teachers, coaches and educators in Central Texas convicted of having improper sexual contact with students in McLennan County over the past two decades.
They’re also among a group who had been admonished, disciplined, reprimanded, fired or forced to resign from previous teaching jobs for inappropriate behavior with students, then were hired by other school systems, only to breach the trust of innocent young people again through additional sexual misdeeds.
“School districts who are unwilling to report this type of behavior are just passing the trash and creating mobile molesters,” says Mark Parker, a McLennan County prosecutor.
Texas Education Agency spokeswoman DeEtta Culbertson says she doesn’t see reports of sexual misconduct with teachers and students on the decline.
“I think we’re hearing about more of them now because it’s out in the community more,” Culbertson says.
Now that people are more aware of the problem, they may be more likely to come forward, she says.
Still, making allegations against a respected, popular teacher is difficult, often traumatic, says McLennan County prosecutor Beth Toben. A system must be developed so the person making the allegation isn’t made to feel like the center of the investigation, she says.
“If a student wants to come forward and say this is happening, they are going against the tide,” Toben says. “We know kids want to fit in, they want to be part of the gang, they don’t want to be that kid who made the allegations against that teacher or that coach, and the minute they do come forward, what happens? Suddenly, all the focus, all the criticism is not on the teacher, it is on that kid, and what kid wants to go through that?”
The Texas Legislature tried to tighten security measures involving school employees with Senate Bill 9, signed into law this year. The law includes several pieces related to school safety, including an initiative to have every certified employee in a school district fingerprinted and undergo a national criminal history background check by 2011.
“It’s getting more stringent, and more is going to be done to catch these people before they slip through the cracks,” Culbertson says.
According to Texas Education Code, school districts are required to report to the State Board for Educator Certification if an educator is fired for committing an unlawful act with a student or minor. Any superintendent or director who makes an official report to SBEC is immune from civil or criminal liability.
Toben says the change to remove the fear of lawsuits for those who tell the truth about former employees is overdue.
“I think in the past, there has been a fear that if they give a bad recommendation and if there have not been any criminal charges or a finding by any type of judicial body, that there is the risk that they may get sued.
“They don’t want to get sued, but they don’t want to have the problem at their school anymore, so they just don’t say anything and leave it up to the new school district to do their own investigations,” Toben says.
Robbie Edwards-Maness, Waco Independent School District human resources director, says personnel files don’t move from one school district to the next, so the district where the person is applying won’t know about any former reprimands or admonishments.
Personnel directors’ hands also are tied to a certain degree about what they can say about a former employee.
But if they really don’t believe an employee should be hired elsewhere, that message can be conveyed, Edwards-Maness says.
“You can ask, ‘Would you rehire this person?’ If the answer is no, that’s enough for me,” Edwards-Maness says. “I feel like we have safeguards in place. Are they foolproof? I don’t know that anything is foolproof.”
Texas began fingerprinting teaching certificate applicants in 2003. Senate Bill 9 tries to ensure that people hired before 2003 are fingerprinted and receive background checks. The bill also includes provisions for background checks on noncertified employees, substitute teachers and charter school employees.
The bill also created a clearinghouse, to be operated by the Texas Department of Public Safety, that will contain national criminal history information, including updates. The law requires the DPS to make the information available to school districts, the TEA and the State Board for Educator Certification.
While the new measures might make it harder for sex-offending teachers to simply move to another city or state to continue their careers, Toben says local officials need to join forces to develop a uniform protocol about how to handle these types of investigations once new allegations surface.
School officials who try to conduct their own investigation often “muddy the waters” through the use of ineffective, often harmful techniques, such as interviewing the alleged victim and alleged perpetrator together in the same room, or interviewing the child in front of his or her parents, Toben says.
If school officials, at the least, would call the Advocacy Center for Crime Victims and Children when an allegation arises, that would help, Toben says. It makes an investigation more independent, free of potential accusations that school officials favor one side over the other.
twitherspoon@wacotrib.com
757-5737
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Comments
By Fred
Nov 27, 2007 8:03 AM | Link to this
Waco is full of these criminal predators! Waco is a Mecca for crime, assaults, violence and Crack-cocaine. Waco is one of the worst crime-infested rat-holes in the State of Texas....and Waco has the crime rate to prove it.
By chop off there dinkys
Nov 8, 2007 9:02 AM | Link to this
If these people are repeat offenders and previous districts have not reported these findings then they should be held accountable as well. Anyone ever hear of a background check? I for one would be very angry to learn that these are not being done on the teachers and workers in our schools.
I agree that laws in this state are way to lax. I mean Texas has the highest execution rate in the country. But when it comes to sexual offenders we give them probation?
I am by no means a Christian nor do I believe in the bible. But I do believe that if you can't use "IT" properly you should lose it "properly"!!!! Men and women alike!!!!
By THISISCRAP
Nov 5, 2007 5:48 PM | Link to this
Did anyone happen to see Dr. Phil last week? I know these problems exist - I worked with Amber Wolfsohol Huffhines - she was guilty, needed to be punished (in fact more severly than she was) - and I know there are others. But what about those that are FALSE and they are out there. Not just in the teaching profession but all over McLennan County, the Bill Logue Center is full of them. Little girls and little boys who get a little mad, or just make up a story for a little attention, then the story gets legs and they don't know how to get out of it and the McLennan County Justice System and after watching Dr. Phil last week it appears the Justice System in Texas is a joke and does not know how to deal with it. And don't get me started on CASA - biggest joke in Central Texas. Do a little research - look into this stuff, you are the "supposed" MEDIA. Tell the WHOLE story not just one side.
By wacoMom
Nov 3, 2007 2:53 AM | Link to this
To the person who responded on Nov 2. You said that the girls are going to school and changing into provacative clothes and this is why "BOYS/GUYS/MEN/FATHERS/DADS/CONGRESSMEN/GRANDPAS/UNCLES/NEPHEWS/COUSINS/LAWYERS/JUDGES/MAILMEN/ALL MALES,ETC"
Are you really being serious? There is no excuse for sexual misconduct. A way a person dresses does not give ANYONE the right to assault or molest them. I cant believe I just read that. So now your son has the mindset,that if they (girls) wear revealing clothes its okay to do whatever you want to them, they shouldnt be dressed like that. WOW, what an awful example you have set for him.
By null
Nov 3, 2007 2:41 AM | Link to this
To previous comments-
There seem to be many mixed perspectives on this article. Personally I have had a school experience similar to the other victims and may offer a different veiw. Some of you say spare the victims and the defendants, bring up the past is negative. However, many victims are empowered by speaking up and informing others. I was not upset by the article by any means. Perhaps a few memories resurfaced, but quickly vanished as a proud feeling of exposing many of our local predators took over. Don't complain or be sympathetic to either side. We don't ask for sympathy or pity only justice.
Defendants have lost their rights and are unforgivable. Authorities should require and enforce signs in their yards to notify neighbors. Freedom of information is a public resource why attempt to hide this. In the state of Texas it seems that the our laws reguarding sex crimes are lax. Stricter penalties and required registration for any number of offenses are required.
Although my experience was not mentioned, I am proud for those who were. Being upset by the article, complaining how disgusting it is, how emotionally scarred you are for reading this material is just ignorance. 1st amendment & freedom of information act. Sorry to inconvenience your normal lives. Informing many parents, children, and community may prevent some of these crimes from occuring. Perhaps the article will save someone's parents the pain and cost of medication and years of therapy. Some commit suicide to avoid the pain. Imagine planning your childs funeral. Most victims have Post Traumatic Stress Disorder followed alongside many other chain reaction illnesses (body dysmorphia, bipolar, disassociation, depression, manic episodes, cutting, drugs, alcohol, other addictions, sexual dysfunction, easting disorders, hightmares, sleep talking, sleep walking, anxiety disorders and over 10 others). Of which, I have all of these and a few others undiagnosed, will never be the same person I once was. Might I add that none of these disorders were active prior to the assault. I never figured out what it's like to be happy in life. This is a meaning I will never truly know. I have not been able to attend counseling due to financial difficulty. Since the incident I have been to less than 5-10 sessions. I am dealing with my situation in the ways I know how and suppose I have adjusted without counseling/medicinal therapy, every victim deals with their trauma differently.
There are many out there that have not been exposed. Many times children are afraid, it took me years to say a single word, imagine holding that in and not telling a soul at the critical time when you are growing up. Some will never speak up.
Twelve years later I have not forgotten, will never forget, but knowledge to the public helps some go on. To the victims who feel sorry for theirselves and feel that the article was negative in some way- take one for the team, imagine the lives of others just like you being untouched and never have to have the same experience.
Thank you Waco Trib for not sweeping this issue under the rug, like it has been for years. The truth hurts. Oh and you guys are right.
Let's not hurt anyone's feelings by informing the public. We wouldn't want you to have emotional distress and have to live with something daily, every waking moment (and sleeping) because that's more important than the victims who were truly wronged. Cancel your subscriptions, baracade yourselves indoors, put your head in a hole.
It's even more disgusting hiding information than exposing it.
By null
Nov 2, 2007 3:55 PM | Link to this
dear school officals and parents ---please keep a close look at all the girls who leave home looking and dressing one way and then get to school only to change into something else that one or both of the parents did not approve ---only to have them walk around in school for these boys to google-eye at them and passing out their phone/email addresses to get these boys on the route of getting accused of rape/sexual predators and also piling on that make-up that they are allowed to buy and /or get where from other friends/family members and even steal from our local stores. and even are allowed to buy and/or get what they want when it comes to prom--all these low cut and barely covering anything on their bodies / boobs and nipples just busting out ----AND YOU WONDER WHY BOYS/GUYS/MEN/FATHERS/DADS/CONGRESSMEN/GRANDPAS/UNCLES/NEPHEWS/COUSINS/LAWYERS/JUDGES/MAILMEN/ALL MALES,ETC GET INTO TROUBLE. ALL IN ALL ---PARENTS PLEASE GUARD YOUR DAUGHTERS IF YOU LOVE THEM----YES! THERE ARE A HANDFUL----BUT YOUR THE PARENT---YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE ----NOT THEM---YOU TELL THEM WHAT TO DO---NOT THE OTHER WAY AROUND! AND I KNOW THAT NO ONE WANTS HERE THIS----SO I SAID BY PART AS OTHERS OUT THERE WANT BUT WON'T SAY----IT IS A CRUEL WORLD.---WHY I SAY THIS IS BECAUSE I HAVE PICTURES OF THE GIRL (WHO'S PARENTS ACCUSED MY SON) IS DRESSED LIKE A SLUT AND HER PARENTS LET HER---I KNOW NO ONE WANTS TO HEAR ME BUT THIS COLUMN IS OPENED TO THE PUBLIC AND SO BE IT. P.S. THE STEP MOM GOT BIRTH CONTROL FOR THIS GIRL.
By null
Oct 31, 2007 11:17 PM | Link to this
Anyone touching someone inappropriately should be punished! I have an 11 year old and these days kids are very mature. And they know right from wrong. I also have an 8 yr old. And if anyone touched her I would pray that they was punished reguardless of their age. Stop making excuses for your son, its not like he was 5 when he did it, thats an innocent child, at 11 he was not naive. I pray he knows right from wrong now, or you just might have another excuse for him.
By reader
Oct 31, 2007 8:30 PM | Link to this
My son is 22 when he was 11 he was labled as a sex offender the girl was 8 he touched her and that was it it got all blown out of porportion now his life is ruined he is not a sex offender he is a good person he spent 2 and a half yrs in tyc and now he has to register as a sex offender for 10 yrs he doesnt deserve this.The ones that are out there raping kids and women yes they deserve punishment but not someone that was just doing something alot of boys 11yrs old do being curious........the system is not fair he cant even get a place to live because of this he lives with me.and for girls that say they are 18 when they are 15 and sleep with someone 18 or 20 they should be the one to get punished for lieing they knew perfectly well what they wanted at the time .THE SYSTEM IS VERY WRONG ON SOME OF THIS SEX OFFENDER STUFF BEFORE JUDGING A PESRON FIND OUT WHAT THEY DID FIRST IF IT WAS RAPE BY ALL MEANS THAT IS A CRIME BUT NOT BEING A 11 YR OLD BOY THAT ISNT A CRIME!!!!
By kelly
Oct 31, 2007 12:45 PM | Link to this
I was in the courtroom when the jury handed down the sentence of probation for Tommy George. After the decision was read, all of the lawyers and Tommy George went into the judges chambers for a few minutes. As he strolled out of the judges chambers, Tommy grinned and gave his family an energetic two thumbs up.
No jail time. Just a little money, a few days in court, and one night a year with the other perverts at the Halloween Pervert Party. Unbelievable.
By Amy
Oct 31, 2007 9:52 AM | Link to this
The justice system is pathetic. When a man is found guilty of sexually assaulting a child then receives probation is the worst kind of injustice there is. Now, George is on probation and fined $20,000. What about the victim? What kind of justice is she receiving? George gets to go on with his life...the victim is the one being punished...not George. Knowing that the person who abused her got a slap on the wrist is horrible. Shame on the jury, shame on George, and shame on his "character witnesses" for coming forward to help him in his "punishment" phase. We are to protect our children...not child molestors. How dare these people involved with this case think that probation is acceptable. How dare them!!!
People of Central Texas...stand up and scream to the top of your lungs "THIS IS NOT FAIR! WE WANT CHANGE AND WE WANT IT NOW!" Get the judge of the bench, get the prosecutor removed, get the defense attorney disbared, get the jury to answer for this, get George's "character witnesses" to explain why they went to bat for him. Do something people. This man was found guilty. He should pay. Who held this man accountable for his actions? Not the people who we trust to do it...that's for sure!
My heart goes out to the victim...having to relive this trauma just to have her abuser put on probation must be retched. Have faith young one, those involved in this travesty of justice will have to answer for their actions.
George basically got away with destroying a life. We can't let this happen to another child. As a community, we must band together and make sure this never happens again! We need official and officers of the courts that are going to stand up for the victims of child abuse...not the criminals! We need change and we need it yesterday!
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