DE: Pediatrician Indicted in Child Sex Abuse Scandal

Excerpt from The Associated Press:

http://tinyurl.com/ygdmjwe

By RANDALL CHASE, Associated Press Writer – 1 hr 7 mins ago

DOVER, Del. – A Delaware grand jury returned a sweeping indictment Monday against a pediatrician accused of serial molestation in what could be one of the worst child sex abuse cases in the nation's history.

The 160-page indictment returned by a Sussex County grand jurycharges Dr. Earl Bradley of Lewes with 471 counts of sexual crimes against 103 children.

Attorney General Beau Biden said all of the alleged victims, including one boy, were caught on more than 13 hours of video recordings, some dating to 1998, that were seized from Bradley's office and home.

*********

The charges against Bradley include rape, sexual exploitation of a child, unlawful sexual contact, continual sexual abuse of a child, assault and reckless endangering.

Bradley, who was arrested in December and initially charged with 29 felony counts for allegedly abusing nine children, is being held with bail set at $2.9 million. His medical license was permanently revoked by the state Board of Medical Practice last week.

**********

Authorities would not say whether they think Bradley had videotaped all of his alleged assaults or whether there may be more victims.

Please read the complete article for more information: http://tinyurl.com/ygdmjwe

PA: Lawsuit Filed in YMCA Alum Abuse Case

NOTE: For more information on this story, please see this related article, from last year:

PA: Parents hire attorney to investigate alleged child abuse at daycare center

Excerpt from HeraldStandard.com:

February 10, 2010

By Patti Yauger

http://www.heraldstandard.com/news_detail/article/1631/2010/february/10/bparents-file-suit-over-alleged-child-abuse-by-patty-yauger-b.html

SOUTH CONNELLSVILLE - Several area parents have filed a civil lawsuit against five YMCA Child Development Center workers who allegedly gave pickling salt to their children as a form of discipline.

Through their legal counsel - attorneys Alan Perer and Brian W. DelVecchio of the Pittsburgh law firm of Swensen Perer & Kontos - parents Brian and Janean Ansell, Shannon Partridge, Jessica Harr, Rodney and Lori Humbertson, Amber Doppelheur, Ryan Timms and Hillary Hamborsky have requested that a jury hear the matter on behalf of their children.

Named as defendants in the lawsuit are five employees, including Stephanie Griffith, Kristen Homes, Ann Lancaster, Derek Hillen and Kerri Trich, along with their employer, the Regional Family YMCA of Laurel Highlands and the National Council of Young Men's Christian Associations of the United States of America.

According to the court document, day-care center assistant group supervisor Rebecca DeWitt shared a conversation with Partridge that revealed Griffin had given a 6-year-old child alum as a means of discipline in January 2009.

Alum is a pickling salt that when ingested causes a burning sensation in the mouth or stomach, diarrhea, vomiting, loss of appetite, nausea and choking. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, it also is corrosive upon ingestion.

Alum may cause expressions of fear and behavioral changes in young children when exposed to the substance as adverse stimuli, the court document states.

When Partridge questioned her two children about any incidents involving the pickling salt, she was told that a white powder had been given to them and that "it hurt their mouth."

In the court document, Partridge said that her children had experienced unexplained stomach pain, vomiting and other ailments. One of the children had also experienced nightmares.

*******

The lawsuit charges each of the employees and the national and local YMCA with negligence, assault and battery, intentional infliction of emotional distress and negligent infliction of emotional distress.

DelVecchio said the lawsuit was filed after the YMCA failed to fully acknowledge the workers' abuse of the youngsters.

***********

Fayette County Court Judge Steve P. Leskinen has been assigned the case.

The defendants have 20 days to file a response.

OH: 3 Employees Acquitted in Restraint Death

Excerpt from The Associated Press:

By MEGHAN BARR (AP) –

February 10, 2010

CLEVELAND — A jury on Tuesday acquitted three former employees of an Ohio treatment center for troubled teens of involuntary manslaughter in the death of a 17-year-old girl who suffocated and choked on her own vomit after being restrained facedown on the floor.

Cynthia King, Lazarita Menendez and Ebony Ray were also found not guilty of child endangering in the December 2008 death of Faith Finley. Menendez was also found not guilty of felonious assault and inciting to violence.

Menendez faced additional charges because she initiated the incident by taking Finley's CD player, which the disruptive 17-year-old used to calm herself, and shoved the girl's hand under her as she lay on the floor, prosecutors said.

The women, who pleaded not guilty, were fired from the Parmadale Family Services center after Finley's death. The Cuyahoga County coroner ruled Finley's death a homicide.

The type of restraint prosecutors say the women used was later banned by Gov. Ted Strickland at the recommendation of state agencies that said the technique carries a high risk of serious injury or death.

Ray, of Broadview Heights, and Menendez, of Bedford Heights, were accused of wrestling Finley to the ground on her chest and applying pressure to her back — a technique known as prone restraint — while King watched.

******

Center director Tom Mullen said Tuesday that the workers violated the center's personnel policies and will not be rehired.

A wrongful death lawsuit filed by Finley's family last year against Parmadale, Catholic Charities and the three workers was settled last month. The lawsuit had sought at least $50,000 in compensatory and punitive damages, but both parties were prohibited from discussing details of the agreement.

Plea for Colo. man accused of Haiti school abuse

Excerpt from The Atlanta Journal

By JOHN CHRISTOFFERSEN

The Associated Press

http://www.ajc.com/news/nation-world/plea-for-colo-man-288857.html

NEW HAVEN, Conn. — A Colorado man charged with sexually abusing boys at a school he founded for street children in Haiti pleaded not guilty Tuesday to new charges that raise the number of alleged victims to 18.

Authorities accuse Douglas Perlitz of enticing children at the Project Pierre Toussaint school in Cap-Haitien into sex acts by promising them food, shelter, cash, cell phones, electronics and shoes. They say he also withheld benefits and threatened to expel the boys if they refused his wishes.

Perlitz pleaded not guilty in federal court in New Haven to nine counts of traveling outside the United States with the intent to engage in sexual conduct with minors and 10 counts of engaging in sexual conduct in foreign places with minors.

The 39-year-old Perlitz, of Eagle, Colo., was charged last year with sexually abusing nine boys. Prosecutors doubled the number of alleged victims with a new indictment announced last week.

For the full article, please click the following link: http://www.ajc.com/news/nation-world/plea-for-colo-man-288857.html

OH: Abuse Case Against Local Teacher Dismissed

Excerpt from WPCO.com

Reported by: Lance Barry
Email: lance.barry@wcpo.com
Last Update: 12:47 pm

http://www.wcpo.com/news/local/story/Abuse-Case-Against-Local-Teacher-Dismissed/9Vn7yrPA4UKuSxb0Wy7u3w.cspx

COLERAIN TWP., Ohio -- A teacher at St. John the Baptist School has been cleared of criminal charges after another teacher turned her in last year for being physical with a child.

Kathleen Winters, 57, of Fairfield saw her disorderly conduct charge dismissed on Friday by Hamilton County Judge Bernie Bouchard.

Winters was cited last October in the alleged incident that dated back to August 26.

*****

Winters allegedly grabbed the arm of a 6-year-old student and pulled him away from a drinking fountain, while lecturing him.

It happened in front of another teacher who had escorted the student to the drinking fountain.

9News has learned the child in question has a medical condition that requires him to rehydrate often.

According to Colerain police, Winters was responsible for a group of students in a gym class. Those students were in line at the fountain when the 6-year-old was allowed in to the fountain.

"This case involved an attempt to maintain order in a classroom," Blankenship said. "There was no injury, no physical force, and no risk of injury. This teacher simply attempted to redirect a student away from the water fountain, since he wasn't supposed to be there. We intend to bring legal action against the school and all of those individuals who were involved in the persecution of this dedicated and innocent teacher."

For the full article, please click the following link: http://www.wcpo.com/news/local/story/Abuse-Case-Against-Local-Teacher-Dismissed/9Vn7yrPA4UKuSxb0Wy7u3w.cspx

TN: Coaches' Paddlings of High School Basketball Player Upheld

By Mark Walsh on December 11, 2009 5:04 PM |

http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/school_law/2009/12/coaches_paddlings_of_high_scho.html

A federal appeals court today upheld frequent paddlings of a high school basketball player in Memphis by his coaches over missed practices, tardiness, poor grades, and even, allegedly, for missed shots during basketball games.

Noting that Tennessee law permits corporal punishment by teachers "for good cause in order to maintain discipline and order within the public schools," a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit, in Cincinnati, ruled unanimously that "a reasonable juror could conclude that the paddlings administered by [the two coaches] were for disciplinary purposes, and were not 'excessive' in severity, frequency, motivation, or means."

The case brought by Martin Nolan, a student at Hamilton High School in Memphis from 2001 to 2004, against the two basketball coaches, school administrators, and the Memphis district alleged that the paddlings violated his 14th Amendment right to substantive due process of law.

At trial, the coaches denied paddling Nolan for missing shots, saying he may have been paddled for demonstrating poor technique on the court. But they acknowledged paddling him for disciplinary reasons and, on a few occasions, for poor grades. The district's then-superintendent testified that she believed one of the coaches paddled basketball players for missing shots and that she suspended him from coaching as a result.

The coaches said they did not use much force in paddling Nolan, and the defendants presented evidence that the student did not suffer any serious injuries. The jury ruled for the defendants on all claims.

In its ruling in Nolan v. Memphis City Schools, the 6th Circuit panel said the paddlings "did not amount to a brutal and inhumane abuse of official power that shocks the conscience."

"The Nolans contend that paddling a high school student for a nondisciplinary reason cannot be tolerated in a civilized society," the court said. "The jury, however, was entitled to draw a different conclusion."

MN: Court Rules On Teacher's Time-Out Room Punishment

December 3, 2009

From ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) ―

http://wcco.com/education/time.out.room.2.1347332.html

The Minnesota Department of Education ruled in 2007 that Willmar teacher Lisa Van Der Heiden mistreated the child by failing to take her to the bathroom.

The Minnesota Court of Appeals says a special education teacher didn't violate maltreatment rules when she took a child to a time-out room rather than a bathroom.

The Minnesota Department of Education ruled in 2007 that Willmar teacher Lisa Van Der Heiden mistreated the child by failing to take her to the bathroom. The girl wet her pants while in the time-out room.

The split appeals court says the Department of Education didn't adequately explain its finding that Van Der Heiden mistreated the child by sending her to the time-out room.

The West Central Tribune reports the teacher and Willmar school officials are also defendants in a federal civil rights lawsuit, alleging that Van Der Heiden excessively used physical restraints and a seclusion room. The case was dismissed, but is currently under appeal.

MA: Another hearing canceled in ex-Melrose Y staffer's abuse case

By Travis Andersen, Town Correspondent

Posted November 20, 2009 11:00 AM

http://www.boston.com/yourtown/news/melrose/2009/11/another_hearing_canceled_in_ex.html

The third straight hearing in the child sexual abuse case against former Melrose YMCA staffer James Conner was canceled on Tuesday in Middlesex Superior Court, this time at the request of his lawyer.

"Probably the defense had scheduling concerns," said Jessica Venezia, a spokeswoman for Middlesex District Attorney Gerry Leone.

Conner's attorney Alan Tuttman did not return a call.

Conner, 51, was arrested in February and later indicted on five counts of rape of a child by force, among other charges. He pleaded not guilty to all charges and posted $25,000 bail. Conner is under home confinement, but can leave for work, meetings with his attorney, or medical appointments, according to the case summary on file at the court. His trial is scheduled to begin on April 5.

Tuttman told the court on the day before a dismissal hearing in July that he wouldn't be filing a motion to drop the charges. Prosecutors canceled a pretrial hearing in October, most likely due to a scheduling conflict, Venezia said.

An evidentiary suppression hearing is scheduled for Dec. 16.

The state Department of Early Education and Care, which licenses after-school programs at nonprofit organizations, reported in April that YMCA administrators hired Conner despite knowing of allegations of impropriety at other facilities and warning signs at the Melrose Y. The agency said the Melrose Y had “failed to protect children from abuse.’’

Though the YMCA has disputed the report, it prompted three top executives to step down, including longtime president and CEO Richard Whitworth. Interim president Ralph Yohe took the reins in October.

NJ: Judge: Denville teacher's rights weren't violated in sex abuse probe

BY PEGGY WRIGHT • DAILY RECORD • NOVEMBER 17, 2009

http://www.dailyrecord.com/article/20091117/UPDATES01/91117057/Judge--Denville-teacher-s-rights-weren-t-violated-in-sex-abuse-probe

Police did not violate any constitutional rights of a former Denville teacher -- who is accused of molesting a student -- when they obtained his unlisted cell phone number and had the victim call him.

''I find nothing egregious about the manner in which the phone number was obtained,'' Superior Court Judge John B. Dangler said.

After a near-five-hour hearing today, Dangler rejected defense arguments that police violated a reasonable expectation of privacy that Patrick DeFranco had in regard to keeping his cell phone number confidential.

DeFranco, 43, of Fairport, N.Y., was charged in November 2005 with sexually assaulting a student at the Valley View Middle School in Denville when he was a 13-year-old, 8th grade student in DeFranco's computer class.

To corroborate the victim's claims of a long-ago assault, police asked if he would contact DeFranco while they listened in, or conducted a so-called ''consensual intercept.'' The victim had an outdated number, so the help of a school resource officer -- Denville Officer Jeff Tucker -- was enlisted and he secured DeFranco's phone number from school administrators. The victim called DeFranco and the ex-teacher incriminated himself on tape about a past sexual liaison with the student.

Defense lawyer Edward Byrne argued that law enforcement should have gotten a grand jury subpoena to get the number but instead trampled on DeFranco's privacy right and expectation that the district wouldn't give out his number.

DeFranco also testified today, saying he is very protective of his privacy. But Morris County Assistant Prosecutor Meg Rodriguez noted that he freely disseminated his phone number to students and parents when he was coordinating a school trip abroad and expressed no surprise as to how the victim got his phone number.

TX: Juvenile jail sex abuse trial postponed

11/17/2009

Associated Press

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/APStories/stories/D9C1EBC00.html

A former Texas juvenile jail official won't face trial in a sexual abuse case until April.

State District Judge Jay Gibson this week postponed the trial of former West Texas State School administrator Ray Edward Brookins from December until April 19.

Brookins, along with John Paul Hernandez, is accused of sexually abusing teen inmates at the Texas Youth Commission jail in remote Pyote (PYE'-oht), Texas. Brookins' case was originally set to be tried in Monahans, but it was moved earlier this year about 35 miles north to Odessa.

A trial date for Hernandez hasn't been set.

PA: Luzerne officials deny knowing of abuse

By William Ecenbarger

For The Inquirer

November 11, 2009

http://www.philly.com/inquirer/local/pa/20091111_Luzerne_officials_deny_knowing_of_abuse.html

WILKES-BARRE - To the frequent frustration and occasional exasperation of a special panel investigating judicial corruption in Luzerne County, yesterday's testimony gave off the steady and unmistakable sound of the buck being passed.

Phrases like "I was not aware," "Yes, but," and "It was not my responsibility" wafted from the witness chair as officials who oversee the county's courts denied knowing that thousands of adolescents were being locked away, often for petty offenses, after hearings in which they had been effectively denied lawyers.

When Luzerne County District Attorney Jacqueline Musto Carroll challenged the 11 members of the state-appointed Interbranch Commission on Juvenile Justice to "tell me what you do when you have a judge who is a crook," she was promptly interrupted by the questioner-in-chief.

"You report him," interjected John M. Cleland, the commission chairman and a judge on the state Superior Court.

Cleland and his fellow panelists have until May 31 to discover how two former judges, Mark A. Ciavarella Jr. and Michael T. Conahan, managed to get away with what federal prosecutors say was a five-year, $2.8 million kickback conspiracy, a scheme that one juvenile-justice advocacy group called "one of the largest and most serious violations of children's rights in the history of the American legal system."

Musto Carroll said she was unaware that more than half the teenagers whose cases came before Ciavarella did not have legal representation. She said the judge's "zero-tolerance" policy was a result of the 1999 Columbine High School shootings.

"I think Judge Ciavarella was probably doing what he thought he ought to do," the district attorney testified. "I have heard in a number of cases, what he did actually straightened out kids' lives. Some went on to get scholarships and college educations."

That brought an angry response from panel member Robert L. Listenbee, head of the juvenile unit of the Defender Association of Philadelphia. "Ms. Carroll, I remind that you and I as attorneys took an oath to uphold the Constitution. There were children here whose basic constitutional rights were being violated every day. Let's keep that in mind."

Lawyer Kenneth J. Horoho Jr., a commissioner from Pittsburgh, offered a litany of questions about Musto Carroll's having not known or questioned Ciavarella's methods. Horoho concluded, "The bottom line is that 'zero tolerance' went unchallenged by your office."

"Don't worry about Luzerne County," Musto Carroll assured the commission. "As long as I'm here, it's in good hands."

Yesterday's first witness was David W. Lupas, Musto Carroll's predecessor as district attorney and now a county judge, who said that none of his assistants ever brought concerns about Ciavarella's conduct to his attention.

Panel member Dwayne D. Woodruff - the head juvenile judge in Allegheny County, and a former Pittsburgh Steelers safety - noted that 54 percent of the children brought before Ciavarella did not have lawyers. "Would you expect your assistant D.A.s to come to you with that?" Woodruff asked.

"No one came to me," Lupas said.

Cleland interjected, "I could understand a case here and a case there. But 6,000 cases? This went on for years, and it was a massive deprivation of rights. No assistant D.A., no public defender, no private lawyer ever raised a question? That's hard to believe."

Basil G. Russin, who has been chief public defender in Luzerne County since 1980, said that even if he had known the extent of Ciavarella's denial of rights to juvenile defendants, he would not have had many options. "We don't have the time or the money to look into things very deeply. We just do the best we can," he said.

Besides, Russin said, the judges' get-tough stance against juvenile misbehavior had wide public support.

"Everybody loved it. The schools loved it because they got rid of every problem kid. The parents loved it because there were kids they couldn't control. The cops loved it because it got kids off the streets, and the D.A. loved it because they were getting convictions."

In earlier testimony, Sandra Brulo, a former Luzerne County probation official, said she had raised concerns about Ciavarella with her boss, but did not hear back.

"Don't you think you should have taken it further when you didn't get any satisfaction from your supervisor?" asked Ronald P. Williams, a panel member from nearby Wyoming County, raising his arms in amazement.

"I took it to my boss," Brulo replied. "That's as far as I thought I should go."

She testified that probation officers, not attorneys, asked young defendants to sign forms just before they entered Ciavarella's courtroom that waived their right to a lawyer. Commissioner George D. Mosee, a deputy Philadelphia district attorney, asked Brulo if this was a proper role for probation officers.

"We did what the judge instructed us to do," she said.

"Even when their very liberty was at stake?" Mosee asked. Brulo did not answer.

Joseph Massa, senior counsel for the state Judicial Conduct Board, which investigates complaints against judges, told the panel that his agency had acted properly more than two years ago when it referred allegations it received against Ciavarella and Conahan to federal prosecutors.

By not acting on its own, the board allowed the jurists to stay on the bench until they resigned this year. The judges stepped down after a federal grand jury indicted them on racketeering, bribery and fraud charges.

"To allege the [Judicial Conduct Board] members put their heads in the proverbial sand while juveniles in this county were sent to the hoosegow is a disgrace," Massa told the panel.

Ciavarella is accused of taking bribes from operators of two for-profit detention centers in return for sending children to the centers. Conahan is accused of securing lucrative contracts for the private jails, which the state paid according to the numbers of inmates they housed.

Once the scheme was set up, prosecutors say, Ciavarella guaranteed that the jails were filled with a steady stream of juvenile offenders.

Ciavarella and Conahan are awaiting trial. They initially pleaded guilty but withdrew their pleas after a federal judge rejected the terms of their plea agreements.

CA: VIGIL PUTS SPOTLIGHT ON WHAT PARENTS SAY IS ABUSE AT SCHOOLS

By MARISELA SANTANA, Staff Writer

Story Published: Nov 4, 2009 at 10:17 PM PST

Story Updated: Nov 4, 2009 at 10:17 PM PST

http://www.wavenewspapers.com/news/local/lynwood-press/69261467.html

LYNWOOD — About 40 people gathered Monday night for a candlelight vigil in front of the Lynwood Unified School District’s headquarters hoping to put a halt to child abuse, neglect and violence at schools sites.

While the vigil was specifically organized to show victims of any type of distress that they have parental and community support, the event was not organized to publicize Tuesday’s school board election or Tuesday’s court appearance by former Firebaugh High School Principal Jonas Silverio.

Silverio was supposed to be arraigned Tuesday at Compton Superior Court, but that was continued to Nov. 23.

Carrying candles and placards with messages such as “Save Child,” “Stop the Abuse” and “We Support You For Speaking Out,” parents who organized the vigil say their plans simply fell on the eve of both events by coincidence.

One of the organizers, Jackie Espinoza, said the gathering originally began with the intention of showing victims who have testified against Silverio — currently charged with 18 counts of committing lewd acts on children — some community support.

“This is our way of showing them that we are proud of them for speaking up,” Espinoza said. “We know that doing so must have been very difficult. We don’t know any of these girls, and we’re not saying that [Silverio is] guilty, we just wanted to show these girls that we are behind them, and that are prayers are with them.”

Showing the victims identified in the case their support first came up after Silverio’s Oct. 20 preliminary hearing, Espinoza said.

“We heard that a lot of people attended that hearing in support of Silverio,” she said. “I lost a brother to violence and it feels awful to be sitting in a courtroom thinking that you might be alone. We’re here to tell [these victims] that they’re not alone. We want them to know that we’re here for them.”

On Oct. 20, the judge and the lawyers heard the testimony of four alleged victims — two of whom are former Firebaugh High School students — and an additional witness.

Over the last few weeks, however, the gathering took on a new meaning, as parents from different schools approached organizers of this event about other types of abuse they’ve witnessed or experienced throughout the school district.

Blanca Mendoza, who took part in the vigil with her young son, said she doesn’t know any of the victims in the Silverio case, but she said she has been a witness to other types of abuse at the school site level — abuse, she said, that on many occasions has gone on without being addressed.

“I’ve seen it firsthand, how adults at the school sites mistreat some of our children,” she said. “I know changes can’t happen overnight, but we need things to change. The system needs to change. Our children are in school to learn, not to be physically mistreated by the adults at their schools.”

Another parent, Rabbii Parrot, said that she believes her daughter was sexually harassed by a Lynwood school teacher in June. “And I’m very upset about the matter, and I’m frustrated, because there seems to be a lack of trying to resolve the matter, there’s a lack of communication in this district,” she said. “I don’t know what’s going on, I don’t know what’s going to happen to this teacher. … I’m just learning that when things like this happen, a lot of these teachers are just moved from one school to another. They’re not held accountable, so where is the justice with that? That’s very appalling to me.”

Through the vigil, Parrot said parents are hoping to see some change at the district level on how it handles such cases.

“We need these allegations to be followed through, we need complete background checks conducted on people the district hires, and we need investigations to be thorough and complete,” she said. “Because it seems we are at a point where that isn’t happening.”

Carrying a placard that read “We Support You For Speaking Out,” parent Arturo Ramos said it is important to reach out to victims of abuse, to show them that they are not alone.

“It’s very hard for any victim to speak up,” he said. “It’s very easy for them to just give up, but then the people who commit these crimes get away without justice being served. That’s why we want [these victims] to know that we support them.”

The support goes out to all victims, said Ramos, who added that recently more and more cases of teacher on student mistreatment are popping up.

“Our students need change now,” Ramos said. “The system needs to change, because right now, administrators are being allowed to cover up for a lot of these wrongdoings … and honestly, enough is enough. We are tired of people not being held accountable for their actions and just getting slapped on the wrist.”

Espinoza reminded parents that it is important to “tell our children that they need to speak up” when something happens to them.

“If they speak up, then maybe there are others,” Espinoza said. “When you speak out, you can be a role model to others, you can help those who think they’re alone, but most of all you can put a stop to the abuse by speaking out.”

School board member Rachel Chavez also participated in the vigil. She said the district is taking every concern seriously and is taking the time to investigate each incident thoroughly. “At times, it takes a while to get to the bottom of these allegations for different reasons, but they are getting addressed,” Chavez said. “As board members, we hear parents, we hear their concerns. Unfortunately, the wheels of justice a lot of times turn slowly.”

Chavez also said she wasn’t participating in the event to place guilt on any one person or to point any fingers. She wanted to participate because she believes in the saying “It Takes a Village to Raise a Child.”

“Parents have come to me with their concerns, and they personally know that I do the best that I can to help them,” she said. “[This] is a wonderful idea, to show our students that whatever they face, that they’re not alone and that they have a community that supports them.”

MT: Parish pleads not guilty in North Middle School abuse case

Posted: Nov 5, 2009 06:53 PM

Updated: Nov 5, 2009 10:19 PM

http://www.montanasnewsstation.com/Global/story.asp?S=11453789

Julie Ann Parish, a former North Middle School paraprofessional accused of child abuse, was in a Great Falls courtroom today to enter her plea.

Parish pled not guilty to two charges: assault on a minor, which is a felony, and endangering the welfare of a minor, a misdemeanor.

The charges stem from the alleged abuse of one autistic student, but more and more families are coming forward. Nine other families are now involved in the case and attended today's hearing.

Parents we talked to say it was difficult to be in the same room as the woman they believe abused their children.

Molly Gillis, said, "Emotionally, it's very straining...when your child is abused by someone. It's the mother's intuition to protect the child, and unfortunately the only thing I can do is pursue it legally and hope that she gets prosecuted."

Tifonie Schilling, the mother of the autistic teen, explained, "It's very difficult. Very, very difficult to be in the same room with someone you know hurt your child. Very, very difficult."

Parish is just one of two paraprofessionals accused of abuse at North Middle School.

If found guilty, she could face up to five years in prison and over $50,000 in fines. Her trial is scheduled for March 29th.

WEB EXTRA: here are the court documents charging Parish (new windows, PDF):

Page 1; Page 2; Page 3; Page 4: Page 5: Page 6

NY: Trial date set for Victor art teacher accused of sexual abuse

http://www.whec.com/news/stories/S1241367.shtml?cat=566

The suspended art teacher, accused of sexually abusing a 16-year-old student at Victor High School, got his [trial] date today but Ronald Bartlett's supporters still say he is wrongly accused.

The 49-year-old from Penfield, walked into court this morning with his wife and some student supporters.

Bartlett's defense attorney says he doesn't understand why this case left Victor Town Court and was elevated to Ontario County Court. The prosecution says it's because that's what the Grand Jury decided.

Bartlett’s attorney says his client has a great deal of support but it's still a difficult time. Scott Green said, “To be accused of anything like this I can't imagine. I can't pretend to know what's going through the Bartletts mind but we hope come the week of March 1st, this will be a long memory.”

The reason Bartlett’s attorney mentioned March 1 is because that’s when the trial begins.

Opinion/Commentary: Georgia Court of Appeals Finds School not Liable for Hanging Death

November 6, 2009
By Jennifer Searcy
Founder/Director of Public Policy & Affairs
The Coalition for Positive Behavioral Interventions & Supports
http://tcfpbis.blogspot.com

On November 15, 2004, Johnathan King hung himself with a macramé belt in a locked "time out room" while a student at the Pioneer Regional Education Service Agency.

Johnathan's parents filed a lawsuit against the GA Dept of Education and Pioneer RESA, alleging that Johnathan's rights were violated when the school failed to keep him safe while in confinement. Pioneer contended they were "not responsible or negligent in any way" and had no "affirmative duty" to prevent Johnathan's suicide.

A Hall County Superior Court judge dismissed the lawsuit, but suggested that school employees acted with negligence.

The Kings then filed an appeal.

On November 5, 2009, the GA Court of Appeals heard the case of KING v. PIONEER REGIONAL EDUCATIONAL SERVICE AGENCY and confirmed that Pioneer RESA was not liable in the Jonathan King case.

One reason the school was found not liable for his hanging death while in a "time out room" was because the two paraprofessionals working with him that day (one was a substitute) were not told of his multiple prior suicide threats, some made while in seclusion just 2 weeks before. Alpine psychologists and other staff members knew of these threats, yet did not inform those parapros; therefore, the Court reasoned that the parapros were not "deliberately indifferent" - just "uninformed" - so could not have violated Johnathan's "due process rights."

An argument could have been (and should have been) made that Alpine was "deliberately indifferent" by not informing staff who had been assigned to Johnathan of his previous suicide threats - threats he'd made while in seclusion.

The Court also did not appear to have addressed how Johnathan's could have committed suicide in the first place, as a paraprofessional was assigned to keep an eye on him through a window in the "time out room's" door. Supposedly the child's hanging occurred out of the parapro's line of site...

Perhaps if his previous threats of suicide had been taken more seriously, perhaps if staff had taken possession of the macrame belt, perhaps if those assigned to him had paid more attention while they were standing outside his door and actually took the time to look through the window and notice he was tying that belt around his neck and stringing himself up - perhaps THEN Johnathan would be alive today.

Yet the school is not liable for his death...

Below is a partial transcript. The full text can be found here:

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Here, there is no evidence that the two Alpine employees who were responsible for putting Jonathan in the time-out room (Trotter and Jackson) on the day that he committed suicide acted with deliberate indifference. Both Trotter, who was working only his second day as a substitute paraprofessional at Alpine, and Jackson testified that they were not made aware by other staff that Jonathan had ever threatened to harm himself and did not know of any reason why he would do so. In fact, the Kings acknowledge that neither Jackson nor Trotter had been made aware of the alleged suicidal threats that Jonathan had made while confined to the time-out room a few weeks prior to his death. Thus, in sending Jonathan to the time-out room, neither Trotter nor Jackson deliberately disregarded a strong likelihood that Jonathan would harm himself. See id. at 955 (III).

Accordingly, even if we were to conclude that Jonathan's confinement created an affirmative duty for Pioneer RESA to protect him from harming himself, the Kings
have not demonstrated that the two school officials actually responsible for that confinement deprived Jonathan of his substantive due process rights.

(b) Pioneer RESA was not responsible for Jonathan's suicide. The Kings also contend that Pioneer RESA's conduct, policies, and employee training procedures demonstrated a deliberate indifference to its duty to protect Jonathan from harming himself. This contention is without merit. As discussed in Division 1 (a), the Kings have failed to show that Jonathan was deprived of his right to substantive due process by any school officials. Without an underlying violation of Jonathan's constitutional rights, Pioneer RESA cannot be liable on the ground that its conduct, policies, or training procedures caused a constitutional violation. See Collins, supra, 503 U. S. at 120 (I); City of Los Angeles v. Heller;[ 27 ] Gish, supra, 516 F3d at 955 (III). Accordingly, the trial court did not err in granting summary judgment to Pioneer RESA as to the Kings' claims under 42 USC § 1983.

PA: High court tosses ‘kids for cash’ convictions

WILKES-BARRE, Pa. - The Pennsylvania Supreme Court on Thursday dismissed thousands of juvenile convictions issued by a judge charged in a corruption scandal, saying that none of the young offenders got a fair hearing.

The high court on Thursday threw out more than five years' worth of juvenile cases heard by former Luzerne County Judge Mark Ciavarella, who is charged with accepting millions of dollars in kickbacks to send youths to private detention centers.

The Philadelphia-based Juvenile Law Center, which represents some of the youths, said the court's order covers as many as 6,500 cases. The justices barred any possibility of retrial in all but a fraction of them.

"This is exactly the relief these kids needed," said Marsha Levick, the center's legal director. "It's the most serious judicial corruption scandal in our history and the court took an extraordinary step in addressing it."

Children appeared without lawyers

Children routinely appeared in front of Ciavarella without lawyers for hearings that lasted only a few minutes. Ciavarella also failed to question young defendants to make sure they fully understood the consequences of waiving counsel and pleading guilty, showing "complete disregard for the constitutional rights of the juveniles," the Supreme Court said.

After being found delinquent, the youths were often shackled and taken to private jails whose owner was paying bribes to the judge. Federal prosecutors have said that Ciavarella and another Luzerne County judge, Michael Conahan, took a total of $2.8 million in payoffs.

"Ciavarella's admission that he received these payments, and that he failed to disclose his financial interests arising from the development of the juvenile facilities, thoroughly undermines the integrity of all juvenile proceedings before Ciavarella," the Supreme Court said.

The judges pleaded guilty in February to honest services fraud and tax evasion in a deal with prosecutors that called for a sentence of 87 months in prison. But the deal was rejected in August by Senior U.S. District Judge Edward M. Kosik, who said the two hadn't fully accepted responsibility for the crimes, and the ex-judges switched their pleas to not guilty.

A federal grand jury then returned a 48-count racketeeringindictment against the judges, who await trial.

The Supreme Court had previously overturned hundreds of juvenile convictions involving low-level offenses. Thursday's ruling covered all cases heard by Ciavarella between 2003 and 2008, including ones involving more serious crimes.

"We fully agree that, given the nature and extent of the taint, this Court simply cannot have confidence that any juvenile matter adjudicated by Ciavarella during this period was tried in a fair and impartial manner," the court wrote.

Prosecutors in Luzerne County had agreed that none of the convictions should stand, but they wanted the right to bring dangerous offenders back into court for retrials.

The court said the district attorney's office may seek to retry youths who remain under court supervision — a group that Levick said likely numbers fewer than 100. And those youths may challenge any attempt to retry them on double-jeopardy grounds, the court said.

Ex-judges seek immunity

Berks County Senior Judge Arthur Grim, whom the justices appointed in February to review cases handled by Ciavarella, will consider any retrial requests made by the DA's office and forward his recommendations to the high court.

Meanwhile, the two ex-judges have asked to be dismissed as defendants in a series of civil lawsuits filed in the wake of the juvenile justice scandal.

Ciavarella and former Luzerne County Judge Michael Conahan already face criminal charges.

Now, they're seeking judicial immunity from civil lawsuits filed on behalf of hundreds of youths they sentenced.

A federal judge in Wilkes-Barre heard arguments on Wednesday but did not immediately issue a decision.

Immunity is designed to give judges freedom to rule without fear of legal retribution. But plaintiffs' attorneys say the judges' conduct went beyond the scope of normal court business.