VA: Washington Post Article Highlights Alleged Sexual Predator; Abuse World-wide, Goes Back Decades

Author's Note: The Washington Post has published an article about alleged sexual predator Kevin Ricks. Ricks has allegedly sexually abused boys and documented his exploits in journals, photos, and videos.

Below is an excerpt:

Kevin Ricks' career as teacher, tutor shows pattern of abuse that goes back decades

By Josh White, Blaine Harden and Jennifer Buske

Washington Post Staff Writers
Sunday, July 25, 2010

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/07/24/AR2010072402605.html

Kevin Ricks was a gregarious, well-traveled English teacher at Osbourn High School, a Walt Whitman devotee who was so popular that a photo of him in class was chosen to fill the opening page of the yearbook. A writer and photographer himself, Ricks would walk the halls of the Manassas school with a leather-bound journal of his musings tucked in his bag, next to his laptop computer.

What teachers, parents, students and even his wife didn't know was that his journals contained decades of dark secrets, a running handwritten commentary of Ricks's world of obsession, infatuation, pursuit, sexual abuse and international child exploitation.

They didn't know about his library of homemade pornographic videos and explicit photographs capturing his tequila-soaked sex acts with teenage boys he had handpicked. They didn't know about the makeshift shrine boxes containing mementos of the episodes, including sex toys, soiled tissues and hair trimmings.

Even some of the victims didn't know they were victims.

A four-month Washington Post investigation of Ricks's career as a teacher, tutor, foreign exchange host and camp counselor has revealed a pattern of abuse that dates to at least 1978 and has left a trail of victims spanning the globe. But despite the abuse, Ricks moved from one teaching job to the next over nearly 30 years, navigating the nation's public and private school systems undetected, evading traps designed to catch him.

For the full article, please follow this link:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/07/24/AR2010072402605.html

OR: Volunteer, 19, arrested/Charged with sexual abuse of middle-schooler

Excerpt from Statesman Journal.com:

http://www.statesmanjournal.com/article/20100413/NEWS/4130330/1001

Man made advances at orchestra event, document says

BY STACEY BARCHENGER AND ALAN GUSTAFSON • STATESMAN JOURNAL • APRIL 13, 2010

A Salem-Keizer school volunteer has been arrested on accusations of sexually abusing a 13-year-old middle school student at a music competition.

Salem police arrested Darian Seth Laughlin, 19, of Salem on Friday on a charge of first-degree sexual abuse, said Salem police spokesman Lt. Dave Okada.

The suspect allegedly rubbed the girl's knee and upper thigh several times while they sat together at the Thursday event at South Salem High School, according to jail documents released Monday.

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The girl told police that she pushed Laughlin's hand away to stop his sexual advances, according to a probable-cause statement written by Salem Police Detective Jeff Staples. The document was released Monday after Laughlin made his first court appearance.

In an interview with Staples, Laughlin acknowledged that he knew that the girl was 13, and he reportedly said that he would have had sexual intercourse with her if she would have let him, Staples wrote.

Laughlin also talked to the alleged victim and her friend, also 13, about "having a threesome" at his apartment, according to the detective's report.

Please follow the link for the full story: http://www.statesmanjournal.com/article/20100413/NEWS/4130330/1001

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.

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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

NC: Wake Co Police Investigating Sexual Abuse Allegations involving Coach

Excerpt from WTVD:

February 15, 2010

http://abclocal.go.com/wtvd/story?section=news/local&id=7277788

FUQUAY-VARINA (WTVD) -- Officials with Wake County Public Schools confirm that Fuquay-Varina High School women's coach Mardy Cutchin has been suspended with pay while they investigate sexual misconduct allegations.

Cutchin is accused of having sexual relations with a player.

The Fuquay-Varina Police Department is also investigating. No charges have been filed.

Police Captain Bob Adams told ABC11 that WCPSS contacted police and reported that someone came forward with the allegations. Adams says the person who reported the information was not the alleged victim and so far police have not spoken with her.

"We plan to do that today," Adams said. "This was reported to us late Thursday. We started investigating Friday. In dealing with students and faculty and everyone out for the weekend, we are back on the case today."

Cutchin also teaches at Fuquay-Varina Middle School. He has been told he's not allowed on Wake County Public Schools property pending the outcome of the investigation.

Right now he's suspended with pay from both teaching and coaching while the investigation continues.

For more details on the story, please click the following link: http://abclocal.go.com/wtvd/story?section=news/local&id=7277788

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

OR: Former teacher, coach arraigned on sex abuse charges

Excerpt from: NewsReview.com

February 2, 2010

By: KATHY KORENGEL/The News-Review

http://www.nrtoday.com/article/20100202/NEWS/100209955/1063/NEWS&ParentProfile=1055

A former teacher and boys basketball coach at North Douglas High School in Drain was arraigned Monday on sex abuse charges allegedly involving an underage female in Douglas County.

Shane Adrian Mast, 31, was arraigned on five counts of third-degree sexual abuse, five counts of contributing to the sexual delinquency of a minor and one count of furnishing alcohol to a person under 21 years of age, Douglas County Deputy District Attorney Jodee Jackson said after the arraignment.

A grand jury indicted Mast on the charges on Dec. 18. The charges stem from alleged contact with a female between June 1 and Aug. 1, 2009, in an unspecified place in Douglas County, Jackson said, citing a copy of the indictment.

The female was younger than 18, according to the indictment. Jackson declined to say whether Mast knew the alleged victim and if so, how.

For the full article, please click the following link: http://www.nrtoday.com/article/20100202/NEWS/100209955/1063/NEWS&ParentProfile=1055

PA: Delaware Valley School District to Pay $815,859 in Student Molestation Case

Excerpt from PRWeb.com:

Pike County, PA (PRWEB) January 11, 2010 -- The Delaware Valley School District and its insurer have agreed to pay $815,859 to a former elementary school student who was sexually abused by her teacher. The lawsuit (Civil action # 08-CV-581) filed on behalf of the Freeman family by Jack Cohen, Esquire, of Levy, Baldante, Finney, Rubenstein, Cohen & Chizmar, P.C. contends that school officials, including former Principal Robert L. Smith and former Superintendent James Melody, and current Superintendent Dr. Candis Finan, failed to heed numerous warnings about the teacher's conduct. The student, now 18-years-old, suffers from a multitude of psychological and social concerns.

The former student, identified as SF in the lawsuit, was a 7-year-old at Shohola Elementary School when she was sexually abused by Thomas Harvey Matthews, 51, her third grade teacher. Several years earlier the District had knowledge and documentation of Matthews' inappropriate behavior toward several students and one teacher but "failed to take necessary action", according to Cohen as stated in the civil suit filed in The United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania.

In 2000, four years after the alleged incident with SF, a female student of Matthews' came forward with allegations of sexual abuse. Later that year the District agreed to actively conceal Matthews' unlawful conduct in exchange for his alleged "voluntary resignation", and was even offered employment verification for a new teaching position in Virginia. Says Cohen, "All of these actions by the District and its officials demonstrate a clear evidence of deliberate indifference of the victims to the heinous actions of Matthews."

In the criminal case against Matthews in 2006, Matthews was sentenced to eleven and one-half years to twenty-four years for crimes committed against his former students. The sentence provides that he will serve his time in a state correctional institution. Prior to the sentence, Matthews was also held as a "sexually violent predator" under Pennsylvania's version of Meghan's Law.

The civil case, which was settled on December 17, 2009 (Civil action # 08-CV-581) in the United States District Court, Middle District of Pennsylvania, concludes that the district, principal and superintendents should have taken immediate action against Matthews.

The lawsuit is the latest in a series of suits against school districts alleging that the districts knew or should have known of potential sexual abuse and failed to investigate the allegations adequately. "This case was especially egregious because there were so many signs that Matthews was a predator to the young children at the school," says Cohen, "The District, responsible for the caring of these children, did absolutely nothing to protect them from this monster. As parents we trust our school administrators and principals will act in our children's best interests, yet sadly this does not always happen, and this case is a perfect example of what happens when those in charge turn a blind eye."

"Principals and administrators want to believe it couldn't happen in their town," said Cohen. "Schools need to be vigilant, and hopefully this settlement will lead to increased programming for teachers and administrators."

The former student's parents, Karen and Matthew Freeman called on the superintendent and the school board to raise public awareness of the problem.

"The suit was never about financial compensation," said Mrs. Freeman. "Rather, we believe it was a necessary vehicle to raise the district's consciousness toward issues concerning the manipulation of power by a teacher over his or her students and the failure of administrators and the district to recognize and report such an abuse of power."

To read the article in its entirety, please click the following link: http://www.prweb.com/releases/2010/01/prweb3430514.htm

CA: D.A. to review case against Del Norte coach

Excerpt from the San Diego Tribune:

BY DEBBI BAKER, UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER

KRISTINA DAVIS, UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER

ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED JANUARY 8, 2010 AT 1:45 A.M., UPDATED JANUARY 8, 2010 AT 5:20 P.M.

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2010/jan/08/del-norte-coach-charged-sex-crimes/

NORTH COUNTY — A 35-year-old high school soccer coach was arrested Wednesday on suspicion of committing sex crimes and fired from his job after reports of inappropriate behavior.

Robin Alarcon, who coached the girls freshman soccer team at Del Norte High School in 4S Ranch, was arrested by San Diego police officers on suspicion of luring a minor for a sexual offense and sending harmful material to a minor with intent to seduce, San Diego sex crimes Lt. Rick O’Hanlon said yesterday.

Alarcon, a coach on other campuses as well, is accused of sending a few “very inappropriate” text messages to a female student Tuesday night, O’Hanlon said.

The victim’s mother told The San Diego Union-Tribune that the incident began when her 14-year-old daughter, a freshman on the soccer team, texted Alarcon asking what color jersey she was supposed to wear in the upcoming game.

****

His response was flirty, and the girl tried to end the conversation, her mother said. The texts started up again the next morning and got more sexually explicit, including one text in which he reportedly invited the girl and a fellow teammate to join him and his girlfriend in an “orgy.”

****

“She didn’t do anything to provoke that kind of behavior. I’m thankful nothing worse happened,” she said.

The girl informed school officials about the messages shortly after, and police were immediately notified, O’Hanlon said. Alarcon was arrested at the school about 2 p.m. and is being held on $75,000 bail at the downtown San Diego jail.

For the full article, please click the following link: http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2010/jan/08/del-norte-coach-charged-sex-crimes/

PA/DE: Many missed horrors of Dr. Earl Bradley's alleged sex abuse

Excerpt from DelawareOnline.com:

By Chris Barrish

January 10, 2010

Despite suspicions, no action was taken

Pediatrician Earl Bradley's strange behavior, especially with the young girls he treated, became known in recent years to many medical professionals, police and prosecutors.

At Beebe Medical Center in Lewes, administrators knew police had investigated him in 2005.

Doctors who worked with him were told by parents of Bradley's former patients that he forced reluctant girls to undress, performed long vaginal exams and took girls alone to get treats. One doctor didn't mince words with police, calling Bradley a pedophile.

Workers in the Lewes and Milford offices of his BayBees Pediatrics knew he kissed, hugged and cuddled girls. An office manager said Bradley took antidepressants from the office and told police she wrote a letter about his problems to the Medical Society of Delaware.

Police had tried since at least 2005 to build a criminal case against Bradley. They documented his questionable behavior and reputation in reports that were not made public until last week about Bradley, 56, who was charged in December with raping nine girls since August -- eight of whom he videotaped. Authorities said there could be 100 victims.

As allegations piled up over nearly five years, though, unaware parents kept sending their girls and boys to his one-man, Disney-themed medical practice, which drew patients from nearby resorts and distant farming towns.

Yet no one in the medical or law enforcement communities did what Delaware law mandates -- put their observations and suspicions in writing to the Delaware Board of Medical Practice, which investigates physician misconduct. Failure to report such behavior, which the law deems an "affirmative duty," can bring a fine of $250 to $5,000.

If even one had followed the law, the 16-member board's medical professionals and lay persons would have had to investigate, and if warranted, discipline him publicly.

Though police said officers questioned Bradley in 2005 about kissing a toddler, he grew bolder and his alleged crimes, many of which he filmed, became brutal.

*****

After his arrest, police searched his office and said they found haunting videotapes of rapes against eight girls on a computer flash drive -- all since August.

In one, he had intercourse with a girl between 2 and 3 who was naked from the waist down, police said. In another, he forced a girl 3 to 6 months old to perform oral sex while the baby "screams and resists.''

For the full article, please click the following link: http://www.delawareonline.com/article/20100110/NEWS01/1100367

NY: Man extradited from Guatemala in child sex-assault case

BY TIMOTHY O'CONNOR • TPOCONNOR@LOHUD.COM • DECEMBER 12, 2009

http://www.lohud.com/article/20091212/NEWS02/912120381/-1/newsfront/Man-extradited-from-Guatemala-in-child-sex-assault-case

BEDFORD — A man has been extradited from Guatemala to face charges he sexually abused a 9-year-old Bedford girl in a case that touched off a firestorm of allegations that school officials knew about the abuse for months but didn't notify police.

Cesar Joel Sagastume Morales, 30, was taken into custody Friday by Bedford Town police detectives and the Westchester County police warrant squad, Bedford police said.

"After a three-year investigation the Bedford Police Department is pleased to report the extradition of Cesar Joel Sagastume Morales," Bedford police said in a brief statement about the arrest. A Bedford police sergeant said no one was available Saturday to comment on the arrest.

The case led to the firing of Bedford Hills Elementary School Principal Victoria Graboski in 2006 and the filing of criminal charges against her for allegedly failing to report the abuse. The mother of the girl charged in a lawsuit filed in April 2007 in state Supreme Court in White Plains that school officials knew about the sexual abuse in December 2005 but failed to properly notify authorities.

The sexual assaults continued until August 2006 when Bedford police charged Sagastume Morales, a day laborer, with first-degree course of sexual conduct against a child, according to prosecutors in the criminal case against Graboski. It is unclear when Sagastume Morales fled the country.

A lawyer representing the alleged victim's mother did not return phone calls and e-mails Saturday seeking comment. Susan Elion, the president of the Bedford Central School District Board of Education, also did not return calls seeking comment.

Sagastume Morales, the boyfriend of the alleged victim's mother, abused the girl at her Bedford Hills home, according to the lawsuit against the school district, Graboski, and former school psychologist Kelly Cieslinski-Schluter.

In December 2005, the girl told other students she had sex with an adult and those girls were then overheard discussing it at a slumber party the next day, prosecutors in the criminal case against Graboski said. A parent of one of the girls told Graboski about the allegations. At another point, the girl's mother came to the school to ask if the girl's behavior had changed at school because she was "acting sad at home," according to prosecutors.

Prosecutors said that instead of reporting the abuse to authorities, Graboski undertook her own investigation.

"As a result of the defendant's failure to report the suspected child abuse, the 9-year-old child victim continued to be sexually assaulted repeatedly over a period of approximately eight months following the victim's disclosure," prosecutors said in court papers filed in the criminal case against Graboski.

In December 2006, Graboski agreed to be part of a public education effort on reporting suspected abuse as part of a deal to have Westchester County prosecutors drop misdemeanor charges against her. She was re-hired by the school district that same month as a special education teacher at Fox Lane High School.

Graboski, Cieslinski-Schluter, and four other school staffers were placed on leave while the school districts investigated the allegations that they failed to report the abuse.

Sagastume Morales is due in Westchester County Court on Monday, according to booking information from the Westchester County jail, where he is being held without bail. Bedford police said he was extradited with the help of the Westchester County District Attorney's Office, Westchester County police, and federal authorities. He faces up to 25 years in prison if convicted

UT: Boarding school employee charged with sex abuse of boys

By Lindsay Whitehurst

The Salt Lake Tribune

Updated: 12/09/2009 06:44:23 PM MST

http://www.sltrib.com/news/ci_13962968

A therapeutic boarding school employee was charged this week with sexually abusing two 15-year-old students.

Geary D. Oakes, 57, worked at Cedar Ridge Academy in Roosevelt for 10 years as director of social services, arranging off-site medical trips and phone calls to parents, among other jobs, said Sean Haggerty, director of admissions.

Last month, he gave a 15-year-old boy cigarettes in exchange for oral sex, once at a school building and once at his house, according to charges filed last week in 8th District Court.

He allegedly abused a second boy, also 15, once after checking him out of school to for medical treatment, and later gave him two Vicodin pills, according to the charges.

One boy reported the abuse to school administrators, and the other told his parents, who then told school officials, Haggerty said. When interviewed by police, Oakes admitted to some of the abuse, according to charging documents. He was charged with two counts of forcible sodomy, first-degree felonies, and two counts of sexual abuse of a minor, second-degree felonies.

Administrators at the school for troubled youth are contacting alumni to find out if there have been other victims, but none has come forward so far.

"We're very surprised, it's hard to believe just looking back at the history of all the good things he's done," Haggerty said. "It was difficult to see, but we followed through with the
investigation anyway."

See Related Story:

UT: School nurse faces sex abuse charges

FL: Babysitter accused of molesting 6 yr old child

December 09, 2009 10:56 AM
Mona Moore
Daily News

http://www.nwfdailynews.com/news/front-23494-accused-jumping.html

CRESTVIEW — A man has been charged with lewd or lascivious molestation for crimes committed against a 6-year-old girl.

The young girl visited the home of Gregory Allen Johnson, 32, on or around July 23 to play with two children he was babysitting. She was left alone with Johnson while one child played in another room and the other was in a timeout.

Johnson exposed himself, made the child stroke his genitals and jumped up and down. At one point, he had the child lay down and rubbed his pelvic area on her stomach.

Once the other child came back from timeout, Johnson started picking the kids up from behind, held their buttocks up to his pelvic area, then jumped up and down and walked around.

A Georgia counselor who interviewed the 6-year-old determined she had been sexually abused by an adult.

Johnson was charged Dec. 2 and is due in court Jan. 19.

UT: School nurse faces sex abuse charges

Written by: Dan Metcalf Jr.
Email: dan.metcalf@abc4.com
Last Update: 1:44 pm

http://www.abc4.com/content/news/top%20stories/story/School-nurse-faces-sex-abuse-charges/hqRBe5jELkGVy7667pieKQ.cspx

CEDAR VIEW, Utah (ABC 4 News) - A former school nurse faces felony charges over allegations that he had sex with two teen aged boys at a school in Duchesne County.

57-year-old Geary Oakes was arrested and charged with two counts of forcible sex abuse and two counts of forcible sodomy over allegations that he had sex with two boys at his home and at the the Cedar Ridge Academy, where he worked as a nurse for more than 10 years.

Police say the alleged sex acts happened sometime in November.

In a statement released by Duchesne County, investigators say the investigation into the alleged sex abuse is continuing to determine whether Oakes was involved in any other sexual misconduct at the school.

See Related Story:

UT: Boarding school employee charged with sex abuse of boys

UT: Former school custodian charged with sexual abuse

December 3rd, 2009 @ 9:23am

From KSL.com: http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=8893807

SALT LAKE COUNTY -- A former school custodian who got a helping hand from students now faces a sexual abuse charge following claims that he groped a woman.

Terry Birch, 44, was charged Tuesday in 3rd District Court with sexual abuse for allegedly touching a 35-year-old woman who has Down syndrome.

According to the Deseret News, court documents say it happened at the woman's residence near 3300 South Pearce Drive (2750 West). Court documents say the woman, who functions on a 5- to 7-year-old level, claims she told Birch no when he touched her.

Birch is hearing-impaired and is a former janitor at Olympus Jr. High School. In 2006 students raised money for a surgery to improve Birch's hearing.

Birch now faces a second-degree felony. His bail is set at $150,000.

NY: Albany preschool teacher arrested in sex-abuse of boy

By Lynne Terry, The Oregonian
December 03, 2009, 12:21PM

http://www.oregonlive.com/news/index.ssf/2009/12/albany_preschool_teacher_arres.html

A preschool teacher in Linn County has been arrested on suspicion of sex abuse with a 14-year-old boy.

Jenifer Stitzel, 34, faces two counts of third-degree sex abuse following a complaint from the boy's parents last Saturday, according to the Linn County Sheriff's Office.

Sheriff Tim Mueller said the boy's parents recovered his cell phone after grounding him. That was when they discovered the sexual messages, Mueller said.

"They were the kind of thing that you might read in Penthouse Forum," Mueller said. "They were X-rated."

Once they had the boy's cell phone, investigators quickly tracked the messages to Stitzel, Mueller said.

He said Stitzel is also suspected of kissing the boy and having sexual contact with him on and off school grounds.

The boy is an eighth-grade student at Central Valley Christian School in Tangent, a Seventh-day Adventist institution serving preschool through ninth grade.

Stitzel teaches preschool there, Mueller said.

Central Valley Principal Mike Meadows declined to make any comments about the case. In fact, he would not even confirm that she is a teacher there.

Neither Stitzel Nor her lawyer could be reached for comment.

Mueller said that Stitzel, who lives in Albany, is married. With no criminal history and because suffers from diabetes, she was booked into Linn County Jail and released on her own recognizance on the condition that she have no contact with the boy.

She is due to appear in Linn County Circuit Court on Dec. 23 on two counts of third degree sex abuse, a Class A misdemeanor.

Mueller said she faces as much as a year in jail and a fine.

"Had this happened after January 1st, it would have been a Class C felony because of the sexting part of it," Mueller said.

House Bill 2641, which passed March 31, added text and video messages to the felony of online sex abuse of a child.

-- Lynne Terry

CA: 5 Long Beach students arrested in alleged groping

updated 4:55 p.m. ET, Sat., Nov . 21, 2009http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/34082968/ns/us_news/

LONG BEACH, Calif. - Authorities say five male students have been arrested on suspicion of sexual battery after two ninth-grade girls were attacked at a Long Beach high school.

Long Beach Police Lt. Ty Hatfield says one of the victims told Poly High School officials they were groped on their breasts and buttocks during a lunch break Tuesday.

The five freshman boys were arrested separately throughout the week as the investigation into the assault progressed.

Hatfield says the attack may not have been an isolated incident and investigators are looking for any other victims who may not have come forward.

None of the suspects has been identified because all are minors.

TX: School cop pleads no contest to abuse

Express News

Web Posted: 11/17/2009 11:34 CST

http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/local_news/School_cop_pleads_no_contest_to_abuse.html

A former Edgewood Independent School District police officer agreed Tuesday to surrender his badge after pleading no contest to molesting a teen.

In addition, Jose Manuel Sanchez, 59, faces up to eight years in prison next month when state District Judge Juanita Vasquez-Gardner is scheduled to sentence him on the sexual assault charge. As part of the plea agreement, prosecutors have agreed not to contest how much prison time Sanchez should face.

Sanchez’s accuser, now 20, reported the abuse to San Antonio officers in 2007, saying Sanchez fondled her from the time she was 11 to 16 years old. The incidents were not related to his job with the school district, authorities said. Sanchez was suspended from the district that same year.

The victim approved of Tuesday’s plea bargain because it would save her the pain of having to revisit the memories on the witness stand, said Adriana Biggs, chief of the district attorney’s white-collar crimes division.

IL: School superintendent investigated before death

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-ap-il-superintendentinv,0,5996298.story

BELLEVILLE, Ill. - A newspaper has learned that Illinois State Police had been investigating sexual abuse allegations against Freeburg District 70 Superintendent Robin Hawkins in the weeks before Hawkins' apparent suicide.

State police reports obtained by the Belleville News-Democrat under the Freedom of Information Act showed agents interviewed Hawkins on April 13 and confiscated several computers.

In May, Hawkins' body was found in a 1964 Mustang convertible in a barn near Belleville. The cause of his death appeared to be suicide by carbon monoxide asphyxiation.

Reports showed at least five possible victims, including a minor who was interviewed by police the week after Hawkins' death.

In an interview with Illinois State Police, Hawkins denied sexual relationships with any student but admitted to having what he called inappropriate sexual conversations with some students.

TX: Freshman says fellow student sexually abused her in school gym

November 19, 2009 9:55 AM
By JARED TAYLOR/The Monitor

http://www.valleymorningstar.com/news/div-63924-marginmidside-class.html

ALAMO — Police arrested a high school senior after an alleged sexual assault behind the bleachers in a high school gymnasium.

A 14-year-old freshman girl told a school counselor about 1 p.m. Monday that Moises Martinez, 17, had sexually assaulted her there, said Alamo Police Chief Arturo Espinoza.

The alleged incident reportedly occurred Monday morning during school hours. No one else was in the gym at the time.

Investigators are “going under the assumption” that the girl and Martinez did not know each other before the suspected sexual assault, Espinoza said. He added that the girl was “doing OK” and underwent an exam that supported her sexual abuse claim.

It is The Monitor’s policy not to identify those who may be victims of sex crimes.

Because Martinez is 17 years old, authorities charged him as an adult. He was arraigned Tuesday in Alamo Municipal Court on one count of sexual assault, a second-degree felony punishable by up to 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $10,000 upon conviction. He remained at the Hidalgo County Jail late Wednesday afternoon in lieu of an $80,000 bond.

Alamo police plan to turn the case over to the Hidalgo County District Attorney’s Office, which will present it before a grand jury, Espinoza said.

“It’s probably something where they met and it happened and now they have to deal with that,” he said of the alleged incident.

In a prepared statement, Pharr-San Juan-Alamo school district officials confirmed the sexual assault investigation and said they were cooperating with Alamo police.

KY: Police department investigates alleged sexual abuse on a school bus

Posted: 4:20 PM Nov 19, 2009

http://www.wkyt.com/wymtnews/headlines/70542592.html

Two children are accused of sexually abusing another child on a school bus.

The alleged incident happened on a Clay County school bus a few weeks ago. Police say it happened during a trip to Hacker Elementary School.

The victim's mother is outraged. She says the bus ride for her child is only three miles, and during that time, her child should be safe.

"You think from the time that your child leaves your house, and they go to school, the person that is in charge of them should be able to keep them safe," the victim's mother said.

But a few weeks ago, this mother's five year-old child told her that they were sexually abused on the bus ride to school.

"I was shocked, I was angry, I wanted something done immediately," the victim's mother said.

The mother quickly informed the school and police. Manchester Police investigated and filed formal charges against the two children, ages 10 and 11.

One faces sexual abuse, indecent exposure, and terroristic threatening charges. The other faces one charge of harassment.

"Due to the ages of the students that are allegedly involved, our department will not comment on any details of the investigation at this time," Manchester Police Chief Jeff Culver said.

Chief Culver says the department does everything it can to prevent incidents like this from happening, but there are other ways to watch children.

"Every bus should have monitors, and some may need more than one monitor. Each complaint should be looked at more thoroughly," Culver said.

The victim's mother says she had to pull her child out of school because the child did not feel safe anymore.

"I gotta get my child back. Got to get my child back," the victim's mother said.

The mother says it may be a long time before her child feels safe again in a group setting.

The accused children are still at school. They will face their charges in juvenile court in the coming months.

The Clay County Schools superintendent was unavailable for comment.