Teacher Tyranny

Educators increasingly accused of sex crimes

2001-06-17
By Christy Watson, Staff Writer
Oklahoma City, OK
During the last four years, while Kerr's team was tromping opponents on the football field, the (17-year-old) girl alleged the coach continually took advantage of her, sexually touching her and trying to force her to commit sexual acts. Kerr is now charged with a dozen sex-related crimes. Nearly all involve students. There's no consensus on whether the problem -- in Oklahoma and nationwide -- is growing, or whether abuse is being reported more often. But there is concern the number of cases will grow as schools struggle to find qualified teachers. Some fear predatory teachers are getting away with sexual misconduct.because students and parents are afraid to come forward. "You are looking at a person who is in such a position of authority and is in a position of manipulating a young mind, somehow it just seems worse" said Lesley March, the Grady County assistant district attorney prosecuting another sex-crime case involving a teacher and two students. "These children are in a situation of loving this person and admiring this person, and that's what makes this difficult." The problem of educators and sex-related crimes is either growing or at least the reporting of such crimes has increased tremendously. Since 1994, the board has revoked 27 certificates, including 17 for teachers involved in sex-related crimes. It's the startling number of cases in the past few years that has the attention of education officials. "There's obviously more cases," said Kay Harley, attorney for the state Education Department. In 2000, three teachers lost their certificates after being convicted of sexual crimes involving their students or lying about such crimes on their certificate applications. Another was convicted on six felony counts of owning obscene videos of minors.. A former Harrah high school biology teacher, who students said joked in class about orgasms, is charged with sexual battery and indecent proposals to a child under age 16. The former Moore High School girls basketball coach is accused of molesting a teen-age student in the locker room. A band director at Turpin High school is charged with sexual battery and rape of a student. The teacher resigned. An Apache High School agriculture teacher resigned last month after he was accused of having sexual encounters with two students, including a consensual relationship with a 15- year-old girl. Kerr, the Pioneer football coach, will be in court later this month. The former Skiatook girls basketball coach, Harry Red Eagle Jr., pleaded no contest June 7 to six felony charges after prosecutors accused him of secretly videotaping girls in the locker room. Education officials soon are expected to revoke the teaching credentials of Ronald K. Cunningham, who was sentenced to five years in jail and five years probation after he pleaded no contest to oral sodomy, rape by instrumentation and 10 other sex felonies. He wrote sexually explicit notes and e-mails to a 14-year-old student. "They need to understand the gravity of the situation. Students are simply off limits," Garrett said. But court officials and documents tell their stories: It was March 1997 when a girl, then age 13, walked into the coach's office at Pioneer High School. The girl said Kerr told her to lay on a table while he massaged her left thigh. Kerr's massage moved further up her leg, the girl said, until Kerr "popped" her underwear. She asked what he was doing but says he told her to "lay down and relax." Then, she said, he went too far, touching her inappropriately with his pinkie finger. Over the next four years, Kerr took her to his house, kissed her, rubbed her breasts and would touch her in a way prosecutors describe as second- degree rape by instrumentation, according to a court affidavit. She resisted when he tried to force her to perform oral sex, police said. Kerr said he trusted her and told her she was special, court records show. He said she shouldn't tell anyone, the girl told investigators. The girl was having family problems, said her attorney, Matt Davis. She felt trapped, scared and confused, he said. Davis said school officials were alerted as early as 1998 about the allegations and did nothing. Davis plans to sue the school district for what he calls its deliberate indifference. "You have this guy who's basically the superhero of the school. It was not a relationship of equals," Davis said. Prosecutors charged Kerr earlier this month with a dozen sex-related crimes, and police say they have him on tape saying "he was ashamed to talk about what he had done." Manipulation was key in another case that led to the resignation of a popular teacher in Apache. Donald Kip Boggs, a high school agriculture teacher, acted more like his students' friend than their teacher. "He would talk to them on their level. He came across more like a cool friend or someone more their age than an authority figure," she said. Authorities believe he had oral sex with one student on a school-sponsored trip and asked another girl to meet him in the school's greenhouse to perform sexual acts. "At this point in the investigation, it has gone back 10 years, but due to the passage of time and statute of limitation problems, we anticipate it would be very difficult to file charges." He would encourage them, make them feel good about themselves. Here's someone that is an attractive, intelligent grown-up telling you all the things you want to hear." Boggs resigned but will be paid until his contract ends this month, which has angered the girls' families, March said. Most of the cases involve men sexually assaulting girls. But cases in Oklahoma also have involved a female cheerleading coach molesting an eighth-grade cheerleader and a male coach molesting boys on his team. Ages vary, but coaches and teachers involved in extracurricular activities appear most susceptible. They win championships and awards, giving them popularity among students and everyone in the community. "You've got two issues: sex and power," said one veteran high school principal. "I don't think it's as much about sex as it is about the power.
All content copyrighted 2001 The Oklahoma Publishing Co.

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Teacher accused of relationship with student, 17

2001-08-31
By Christy Watson
Staff Writer
Oklahoma City, OK
An art teacher who made headlines nearly two years ago after he put tape over the mouths of two elementary school students is out of a job again, this time amid allegations he had a relationship with a high school student last school year. An Oklahoma City police report filed Aug. 23 alleges Manuel Siemens, 28, had a sexual relationship with a student last school year while he was a teacher at U.S. Grant High School. The student's mother told police about the relationship. She also said the girl was found at the teacher's house last week when she ran away. Police said prosecutors declined to charge Siemens because the girl was 17 and the sex was consensual. Siemens, reached at home Thursday, had no comment. The mother -- whom police would not identify -- said Siemens was teaching in Tulsa and she wanted him charged with rape under a new law that bars a teacher from having a relationship with a student. The law -- which doesn't take effect until Nov. 1 -- will make it a crime for a school district employee to have sex with a student under age 18 in the same district. Under existing law, teen-agers can consent to a sexual relationship at age 16, and a teacher having a consensual sexual relationship with a 16- or 17-year-old student is not committing a crime. Siemens resigned from the Oklahoma City School District in 2000 just before termination proceedings over the tape incident at Columbus Enterprise Elementary. He was not charged with a crime, and the district rehired him to work at Grant for the 2000-01 school year. When questioned about his rehiring in January, district officials said they thought Siemens deserved a second chance. The tape incident was done "in jest," Siemens said, and when the tape fell off, one student even asked for more tape. Three months after his rehiring, Siemens resigned from Grant for "personal reasons." Warren Gardner, the district's executive personnel director, refused further comment, saying he couldn't talk about personnel issues. The Oklahoman filed an open records request Wednesday with Tulsa Public Schools for Siemens' employment application and information about his teaching assignment. Bill Naftzger, Tulsa's chief human resources officer, said Thursday that Siemens had been assigned to teach art at Central High School since school began earlier this month. After receiving the records request Wednesday, the district withdrew its hiring recommendation to the school board and Siemens no longer is teaching. Naftzger said the records request prompted the district to "backtrack," but he refused to detail why the recommendation was withdrawn, citing confidentiality associated with personnel matters. He said the district found "obvious concern." Naftzger said it isn't uncommon for official board action on hirings to come after the start of the school year because of the last-minute hiring frenzy. A substitute teacher will be hired, he said. The application provided by the district shows further problems. Siemens said he'd never been suspended or forced to resign at previous jobs, but Oklahoma City school officials suspended him for at least three months over the tape incident and then pulled him out of the classroom as part of a resignation agreement. Siemens also didn't list his employment at Columbus or Grant on the Tulsa application.
http://www.newsok.com/cgi-bin/show_article?ID=745288&pic=none&TP=getarticle

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Former Moore coach convicted of molestation

2001-09-01
By Greg Kennedy Staff Writer
NORMAN, OK -- A former girls basketball coach at Moore High School was convicted of lewd molestation Friday in Cleveland County District Court. A jury, after more than 12 hours of deliberations, convicted Scott Randell Webb, 27, and recommended he serve a one-year sentence. Formal sentencing has been set for 9 a.m. Jan. 17. Webb was charged with molestation in November 2000 after a 15-year-old student alleged that Webb kissed her and touched her breasts in a boys locker room. Other students later came forward with similar stories. Webb maintained his innocence outside the courtroom, but would not comment further as he walked away. Attorney John Coyle also declined to comment. Tracy Schumacher, assistant district attorney for Cleveland County, said the jury's long deliberations gave her a good sign about the verdict. "I'm very pleased with the verdict and that the jury took so long to reach this verdict," Schumacher said. "He will not be able to teach as a result of the conviction." Schumacher had called three other girls to testify. One girl, 17, told the jury Webb had forced her to have sex and to perform oral sex in his office at the high school. Another girl, 19, testified Webb pulled her out of class one day, touched her leg and tried to kiss her. Coyle argued during the trial that the girls were lying and had built their stories on rumors. He and Webb each said in court the stories were not true. He also said nothing could have happened in the boys locker room because it was locked and Webb didn't have a key. Webb taught and coached the high school girls basketball team since August 1998. He resigned in January.

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Junior high teacher pleads guilty to violating minor

2001-08-28
By The Associated Press
BENTONVILLE, Ark. - A former junior high special education teacher admitted today that she had a sexual relationship with a student. Jennifer Williams, 26, was sentenced to five years of supervised probation after pleading guilty to first-degree violation of a minor, a felony. Prosecutors say she will have to register as a sex offender and that the state will pull her teaching certificate. Williams was a part-time special education teacher and cheerleader sponsor at Lincoln Junior High School. She resigned from the school system Feb.23, the day police began investigating the allegations against her. In court, Williams admitted she had a sexual relationship with the student, who now is 16. Outside of court, she apologized for her actions. Circuit Judge Tom Keith ordered that the woman be assessed at the Ozark Guidance Center for sex offenders and comply with any recommendations. She was also barred from any contact with the victim. Keith also accepted a motion that Williams' probation be transferred to Oklahoma, if Oklahoma agrees to supervise her. If not, she would be monitored by the Benton County Probation Office, he said. Deputy Prosecutor Candace Taylor said that, since White must register as a sex offender, any school system would learn about her record if they do a proper background check. According to police reports, the alleged sexual encounters between Williams and the boy took place at William's Bentonville home and the home of eighth-grade teacher Sharon White in Rogers. White had faced trial as an accomplice Tuesday, but the trial was put off when prosecutors added another charge against her. White was charged Monday with failing to report suspected abuse or neglect, and she pleaded innocent. A hearing was set for Sept. 5. Previously, White was accused of letting Williams and a boy meet at her home for a sexual encounter. White's attorney, Chadd Mason of Fayetteville, said he will argue that both charges against White should be dismissed. Mason says White did report the alleged sexual relationship. Mason stated that, because she reported the tryst, she could not be considered an accomplice. State law requires that teachers who suspect abuse or neglect of a child, including alleged sexual relations, report the abuse to authorities. "Any statement you give as a mandated reporter, you are immune. People shouldn't be fearful for their own prosecution to come forward and say something," Mason said. The Bentonville School Board granted White a leave of absence Feb. 19 so she could take care of her child. She has since asked for leave through spring 2002. White was a full-time pre-algebra teacher at Lincoln Junior High School and has taught in Bentonville since September 1996. She will remain on leave pending the outcome of her case, Superintendent Gary Compton has said.

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Coach charged in sexual battery

8-17-01
TULSA, OK - Tulsa County prosecutors have accused a Broken Arrow high school coach of groping a member of the school flag corps. Jaime Vargas was charged Wednesday with one count of sexual battery on a 16 year old girl. Vargas, 32, was hired to conduct private coaching sessions with the flag corps teams members and wasn't a permanent member of the staff, school officials said. His contract will not be renewed

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Ex-teacher enters exposure case plea

By BILL BRAUN World Staff Writer
5/8/01
TULSA, OK
The sentence a judge orders will not mean any more time behind bars for the man. A former Tulsa teacher who already has been sentenced to prison for indecent exposure received no additional time behind bars upon pleading no contest Monday to two other exposure charges. Todd Bennett Jenkins, 29, received two seven-year sentences Monday, to run concurrently with each other and with a seven-year prison term that Tulsa County District Judge Michael Gassett imposed April 23 when he found that Jenkins violated his probation in a 1998 case. Jenkins was accused of exposing himself to a 73-year-old woman while she was at a bus stop in 1998. Jenkins was a middle school social studies teacher who was suspended from work at Tulsa Public Schools after that allega tion came to light. His employment with Tulsa schools ended in late 1998. He entered an Alford plea to the first exposure charge, allowing him to continue to maintain that he was innocent while conceding that there was a basis to find him guilty. Gassett sentenced him to two years in prison in 1999, but eight months later the judge set aside that punishment and granted probation. Jenkins was later charged with exposing himself on Aug. 6 and again on Oct. 4, 2000. In the latter case, police chased a naked man identified as the defendant through yards and streets, according to reports. Jenkins pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor count of resisting arrest linked to that capture, and he received a concurrent six-month term that also will not add to his time in custody. Gassett imposed more than $1,700 in court-related costs and fines on the cases resolved Monday. Bill Braun, World staff writer, can be reached at 581-8455 or via e-mail at bill.braun@tulsaworld.com.

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Former high school coach charged with sexual assault

2001-05-31
By Dawn Marks
Enid Bureau
ENID, OK - The man who guided Pioneer-Pleasant Vale High School to four state football championships in the past five years was charged Wednesday with sexually assaulting a student. Former head coach John Kerr, 30, surrendered Wednesday and posted $15,000 bail on 12 sexual assault-related counts. Khristy Strubhar, Garfield County assistant district attorney, filed seven counts of lewd molestation, two counts of first-degree rape by instrumentation, one count of second-degree rape by instrumentation, one count of forcible oral sodomy and one count of attempted forcible oral sodomy. In addition, Kerr is charged with one count of furnishing alcohol to a minor. Kerr's Pioneer teams won four Class B state championships in the past five years and had an overall record of 60-7. He had won 28 straight games when the Pioneer-Pleasant Vale School Board relieved Kerr of his coaching duties in February. Since then, he has resigned from teaching at the school, said Kerr's attorney, Stephen Jones. According a defense motion for bail, Kerr no longer is employed and is living with his parents in Morrison. The charges stem from his relationship with a student who is now a senior at the school. The affidavit outlines several times when the two had sexual contact, some of which occurred when the student was 13. It also states that Kerr made admissions during a recorded telephone conversation regarding the incidents when she was 13 and admitted to his assistant coach that those incidents had happened. A defense motion filed by Jones states that the student was overly flirtatious, dropped by the coach's home often and that Kerr told an assistant coach, Richard Grady, that he thought the girl was unstable. The defense motion also contains exhibits of cards from the student declaring her love for Kerr. The defense alleges that Grady conspired with the girl to get a friend of Grady's the football coaching job, and that the student helped in exchange for a scholarship. Bret Brown, former Kremlin-Hillsdale High School coach, whom the motion refers to by name, has been hired as the Pioneer football coach. Brown said he had no knowledge of Kerr's claim that Grady tried to help him get the job. Brown said he knows both men. Neither Pioneer school Superintendent Bill Noak nor Grady could be reached for comment. Kerr will return to court June 26.

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Child porn case brews

By JAY COOPER World Staff Writer
5/30/01
Illicit images were found on a school computer allegedly used by a former volunteer.
OWASSO, OK -- A former volunteer mentor in Owasso Public Schools faces charges of possession of child pornography. More than 700 images of child pornography were found on a school- owned computer that allegedly was in the possession of Jimmy Wayne Tilley, 50, Tulsa County District Court records show. The charge was filed and an arrest warrant was issued May 17, but Tilley had not been jailed as of Tuesday evening. A police report also raises questions about how school officials handled the case against Tilley. The report quotes a witness who said school officials didn't want to pursue criminal charges because they feared "negative publicity" regarding the school system. Tilley was a volunteer from 1997 to 1999 at Mills Elementary School, a police report indicated. While there, Tilley never had access to any Owasso student unsupervised or alone, police and court records state. The images were found by Tilley's brother, Jerry, who notified police. The brothers had lived together until Jerry Tilley filed a protective order against his brother on April 5, 1999. When Jerry Tilley was cleaning out his brother's room, he found the computer and called Mills teacher Brad Dishman and Mills Principal Brenda Casey, a police report indicates. Dishman identified a digital camera as belonging to Owasso Public Schools, and Casey tentatively identified the computer as being the district's as well, a court affidavit shows. Casey and Dishman met with Jerry Tilley at his home, a police report said. Jerry Tilley, who also was a volunteer mentor for Owasso schools, said he agreed to examine the computer for "offensive material" before returning it to the school. "Jerry said that the school did not want to pursue criminal charges against the suspect, as they didn't want to bring any negative publicity on the school system," a police report stated. School officials referred questions on Tuesday to Superintendent Dale Johnson, who did not return calls. The police report does not specify what type of criminal charges the school allegedly wanted to avoid. In the context of the police report, the statement about not wanting negative publicity was included in a narrative of the case after school officials suspected theft and Jerry Tilley agreed to examine the computer for "offensive material" but before the images were discovered. Jerry Tilley found alleged pornography and child pornography on the computer's hard drives, reports indicate. The 711 "child pornography or erotica images" include six video-clip images depicting young prepubescent or postpubescent children posing nude or engaging in sexual acts. Police said they had received no indications that the photos were of Owasso students. Police said Jimmy Tilley volunteered in the district's Business Education Support Team program. Jay Cooper, World staff writer, can be reached at 581-8474 or via e- mail at jay.cooper@tulsaworld.com.

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Taped girls sue ex-coach

2001-05-11
The Associated Press
TULSA, OK -- Attorneys for seven Skiatook girls who allege they secretly were videotaped by a former coach have filed lawsuits against him and the school district. The civil lawsuit filed Wednesday in Tulsa County District Court seeks an unspecified amount of compensatory damages from Harry Red Eagle Jr. and Skiatook Public Schools. Each plaintiff is identified as a student at Skiatook schools during the 1997-98, 1998-99 and 1999-2000 school years. Red Eagle Jr. was a teacher and coach who allegedly made videotapes of students in a girls' locker room. He resigned after the existence of the tapes was revealed, and he faces criminal charges in Osage County. The lawsuit seeks punitive damages from Red Eagle Jr. alone and alleges that the students were videotaped and watched when they "had a reasonable expectation of privacy from members of the opposite sex."

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Skiatook teacher's firing is upheld

By BILL BRAUN World Staff Writer
4/28/01
TULSA, OK
A Tulsa County judge on Friday affirmed the Skiatook school district's dismissal of teacher Dennis Curtis in connection with a locker room videotaping controversy. For Curtis, "the taping involved wrongdoing serious enough to implicate him and perhaps end his career, but not serious enough to require reporting to the authorities," District Judge Jane Wiseman determined. "This was not unintentional concealment but a violation of the teacher's moral duty to protect students from further harm," Wiseman wrote in rejecting Curtis' request to be reinstated to his teaching job. The high school science teacher was fired after Skiatook school officials learned of the tapes, made in the girls' locker room allegedly by Harry "Noonie" Red Eagle Jr., who was then a Skiatook coach. Red Eagle resigned after the existence of the tapes was revealed. He faces criminal charges in Osage County Curtis has alleged that he was fired in retaliation for helping to blow the whistle on the videotaping, which depicted girls in various stages of undress. He feared bringing the tapes to the attention of school officials because Red Eagle's father, Harry Red Eagle Sr., was the district superintendent, according to Curtis' attorney, Phyllis Walta. Curtis lost his job in November after KOTV, channel 6, aired a portion of a videotape. The school district cited grounds of incompetence, willful neglect of duty and moral turpitude. Based on the Teacher Due Process Act, Wiseman on Tuesday threw out incompetence and willful neglect of duty as a basis to fire Curtis. The act states that a career teacher must get a letter of admonishment before being dismissed for those reasons. Curtis, who taught at Skiatook for 13 years, received no such letter. That left the matter of whether his actions constituted moral turpitude. Wiseman said it is clear that Curtis "believed Noonie Red Eagle made the tapes and that this conduct was wrong." Curtis "unfortunately hid the tapes until he could decide what to do, apparently more out of concern for his own possible implication or effect on his career due to the influence of Noonie Red Eagle's father than concern for the welfare of the students involved," the judge ruled. Attorney John Priddy, representing the Skiatook district, maintained that any adult should know that withholding tapes that sexually exploit children is wrong. A teacher who "obtained evidence of another teacher/coach's wrongful conduct of this kind involving students," and then "takes affirmative steps to hide this evidence and not report its existence for several months, is guilty of conduct constituting moral turpitude," Wiseman decided Friday. Curtis reportedly found out about the tapes while living with Noonie Red Eagle, and Curtis said he gave the tapes to his ex-wife until he could decide what to do with them. The ex-wife kept the tapes for months before giving them back to Curtis, who turned them over to an assistant principal. Curtis can appeal the district court decision to the Oklahoma Supreme Court. Bill Braun, World staff writer, can be reached at 581-8455 or via e-mail at bill.braun@tulsaworld.com.

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Drugs cost ex-teacher her certificate

McKinley, OK
4-20-01 Teacher Mary Ellen Martiniz, 43, convicted of drugtrafficing
The state Board of Education on Thursday revoked the certificate of a former Tulsa teacher convicted of trafficking drugs. Mary Ellen Martinez, 43, was teaching fifth grade at McKinley Elementary in December 1999 when police found about 340 pounds of marijuana and drug paraphernalia in the Sapulpa home she shared with her husband. She was fired from her teaching job last year and pleaded guilty in Creek County District Court. She received a 20-year suspended sentence on the trafficking charge and a five-year suspended sentence on another drug-related charge. The sentences will be served concurrently. Oklahoma law forbids anyone convicted of a felony from teaching in the state for at least 10 years.

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Thomas J. Carmichael, Star Spencer, chgd w sex assault of 9 yr old gir

4-18-01 DAILY OKLAHOMAN
A Star Spencer High School photograph teacher has been charged in Oklahoma County District Court with sexually assaulting a 9 year old girl. Charges against Thomas J. Carmichael, 56, include first degree rape by instrumentation, indecent of lewd acts with a child under 16 and indecent exposure. The sexual assaults occurred March 13 and 14 during a camping trip to Lake Arcadia in Edmond, a court affidavit said. The victim, Carmichael and two other children were sleeping in a tent, the affidavit said.

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Clarence Matthews, 62, math teacher arrested for lewd acts

Teacher arrested in investigation of lewd acts
2001-04-18
By Robert Medley and Christy Watson
Staff Writers
OKLAHOMA CITY, OK
An Oklahoma City school teacher was arrested Tuesday on complaints of performing lewd acts on three girls, police said. Clarence Matthews, 62, a math teacher at John Marshall High School, was arrested Tuesday afternoon, Capt. Jessica Cummins said. The allegations do not involve Matthews' students. Police went to John Marshall High School in north Oklahoma City on Tuesday morning and took Matthews to headquarters for questioning. He was then arrested and taken to the Oklahoma County jail, Cummins said. He was held Tuesday on complaints of engaging in lewd acts with children under 16. Bail was set at $30,000. His arrest stems from complaints that surfaced in September when a girl told a neighbor she had been fondled. The report said Matthews had fondled her on other occasions during the past five years. Detective Jamell Shields initially investigated the case. He presented evidence to the Oklahoma County district attorney's office in January. Detective David Amuck then took over the case. Further investigation led to accusations from two other girls, 10 and 13. An Oklahoma City School District spokeswoman said the district is investigating. The district refused to release Matthews' basic employment information, including his school assignment, what he teaches and how long he has worked for the district. According to the state Education Department, Matthews worked in the district for part of the 1992-93 and 1993-94 school years. He rejoined the district for the entire 1999-2000 school year and continued teaching this year. He is certified to teach high school math and science. Matthews is the fifth Oklahoma City educator arrested and accused of a sex-related crime since December. Two of the cases involve sexual misconduct with students.

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Student's claims of sex with coach investigated

2001-09-06
By Penny Owen
Staff Writer
POND CREEK, OK -- Claims that a Pond Creek basketball coach had sexual relations with a female student have prompted an investigation by the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation, as well as the resignation of the coach and his wife. No charges have been filed against Brandon Long, 30, who resigned after being questioned by Pond Creek-Hunter School Superintendent Jerry Miller about a parent's complaint that Long had sex with a 16-year-old girl on his basketball team. On Aug. 23, the school board accepted the resignations of Long and his wife, who taught at the school. Long coached girls basketball and was an assistant coach in football and track, Miller said. Long worked for the Grant County School District for five years, Miller said. Long's wife, Andrea Long, was a teacher for seven years in the district and taught computer courses. Both have applied for jobs in the Dallas area after resigning, but Miller said neither had secured a position as of Wednesday. Miller said he approached Long after a parent complained the coach had sex with the parent's daughter. Both Long and the girl denied the relationship, Miller said. "My gut feeling, until I get more information, is the girl had an infatuation for her coach, and I think what happened is she expressed a desire, in talking with other kids, that she'd like to run away with the coach or something of that nature," Miller said. Miller, however, said he believed Long's resignation was appropriate. "It's kind of a no-win situation for the coach," Miller said. "Every time you turn around, he's going to have somebody accusing him of that. ... I think it was better for him to leave." Miller said he did not report the allegations to authorities, but Pond Creek police heard about it and turned it over to the Grant County district attorney's office, which asked the OSBI to investigate. OSBI spokeswoman Kym Koch said agents have just started the investigation. The sexual misconduct allegations prompted Miller to address his staff about maintaining proper relationships with students. He also said the resignations of the Long couple upset some students. However, Miller said replacements have been found for the teaching and coach's positions. "He was a well-liked coach by the majority of the student body," Miller said. Miller said rumors are dying down and school is returning to normal.
http://www.newsok.com/cgi-bin/show_article?ID=748443&pic=none&TP=getarticle

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Teacher arrested in porn case

8-26-2001
by The Associated Press
STILLWATER, OK -- An elementary school teacher has been arrested after police found photographs in his computer of young boys having sex. Shane Brent Murnan, a 5th grade teacher at Will Rogers Elementary School, is free on $20,000 bail pending arraignment on a felony charge of possessing child pornography. Murnan, 30, was arrested Thursday at his Stillwater home, two weeks after Stillwater police seized computer and camera equipment. Murnan was suspended with pay before school began last week when police told school officials about their investigation. Authorities filed an additional charge of possession of a controlled substance against Murnan on Friday. Stillwater police said they found six grams of marijuana in Murnan's house during an August 9 search. Computers seized during the search were submitted to the OSBI for analysis. Four pictures depicting adolescent boys having sex with each other were discovered in the computers, an affidavit says. Murnan could face up to five years in prison and a $5,000 find if he's convicted.

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Hearing set for former high school coach

2001-06-27
By Dawn Marks
Enid Bureau
ENID, OK - A former high school football coach charged with sexual assault is scheduled to face his accuser in court Sept. 5. On Tuesday, Garfield County Special District Judge J. Bruce Harvey set a preliminary hearing date for John Kerr, former football coach for Pioneer High School. Kerr faces 12 counts of sexual assault-related charges involving a student. Kerr's attorney also filed a motion Monday to allow Kerr to defend himself against another accuser in a federal civil lawsuit. The motion seeks to add Kerr as a defendant in the lawsuit filed earlier this month in the Western District Court of Oklahoma by a former student against the Pioneer-Pleasant Vale School District and school Superintendent Bill Noak. The lawsuit charges that school officials knew about the inappropriate sexual relationship in the 1997-98 school year and did nothing to protect the plaintiff. Attorney Stephen Jones said the action would allow Kerr to defend himself against allegations that he repeatedly molested and took advantage of the girl, who is now graduated from the Garfield County high school. The motion also states that perhaps Kerr could recover some costs of his own. Noak has stated earlier that he interviewed the student and she denied that anything inappropriate happened between her and Kerr. The motion also includes a letter of apology to Kerr from the plaintiff regarding past allegations that states, "we both know nothing happened between us, right?" Kerr also states in an attached affidavit that the plaintiff called him in May 1998 to apologize for the accusations that she had made against him and that no charges were filed against him after a Garfield County Sheriff's Department investigation. Kerr states that because he is not named as a defendant "she may continue to repeat the allegations against me in the most public of forums, but I do not have the opportunity to defend myself." The motion states that Kerr, who won four state championships in five years at Pioneer, has been unable to find a teaching position because of the allegations. Kerr resigned from the school in March. The school board relieved him of coaching duties in February. Attorneys for the plaintiff and the school district could not be reached for comment Tuesday.