Hearing held for Kentucky school custodian
charged with child sexual abuse
By Charles Gazaway
SHEPHERDSVILLE, KY (WAVE) - Bond has been reduced for the Bullitt County Public Schools custodian charged with child sex abuse.
Kentucky State Police arrested Jessie Bray, 51, of Shepherdsville, on January 21. An arrest warrant says that Bray had sexual contact with the victim, who was 13 or 14 at the time, during a period between August 2014 and August 2016.
The school district says the contact happened off school property.
In court, Bullitt District Judge Jennifer Porter found there was sufficient evidence for probable cause and waived the case to the grand jury.
Bray, whose bond was lowered from $20,000 to $10,000 cash, has been released from the Bullitt County Detention Center.
According to BCPS, Bray is suspended without pay.
Maryland school officials knew school culture
was 'problematic,' feared closure
A report released Monday found 10 adults in authority positions at the Key School engaged in sexual misconduct or inappropriate relationships with at least 16 students from the 1970s through the 1990s. (Courtesy of Dan Harris)
Lauren Lumpkin, Capital Gazette
Minutes from Key School Board of Trustees meetings during the mid- to late-1970s indicate school officials turned a blind eye to alleged sexual abuse of students by teachers.
Investigators retained by the school pored over minutes from board meetings, which revealed concerns about the school’s culture. However, those fears were framed around the school’s business operations.
“The minutes reflect that in the mid- to late-1970s the board and administrators recognized that Key's informal culture might be problematic,” according to a report released Monday by Baltimore-based law firm Kramon & Graham. “But these concerns were framed primarily as worries about the negative impact the culture had on enrollment and fundraising goals.”
Investigators concluded 10 adults in positions of authority engaged in sexual misconduct or inappropriate relationships with at least 16 students from the 1970s through the 1990s. And since making the report public, Key School officials have shared information about policies and safeguards put in place to protect students.
School leaders issued an apology to former students who have alleged abuse.
Anne Arundel County police say they are investigating the allegations, but no charges have been filed.
Decades of abuse
Perturbed by low enrollment numbers, board members shared serious concerns about shuttering the Annapolis private school during the 1970s. The school relies heavily on tuition dollars. It is one of the most expensive private schools in the county, with current upper school tuition set at $28,000.
The report indicates board members were focused on protecting the school’s reputation. During the years when the abuse was occurring, board members were advised not to share concerns with friends and, instead, were encouraged to speak positively about the school to attract students.
The state of the school was evident to teachers, students and parents, said a former Key School student, who asked that her identity remain anonymous. The former student, who still lives in Maryland, left Key School after ninth grade, in 1976. Uncomfortable interactions she had with male teachers contributed to her decision to leave.
“It’s something you knew was wrong when you were there,” she said about school’s culture. “I was definitely in the midst of the really intense time when it was really visibly evident. Some of my friends the next year after I left, they were pretty open about the relationships that they were having.”
The former student said she felt teachers were “mental grooming” students. She remembers male teachers asked about her personal life and made comments about her body.
“When I was 12, those men made me feel as if I was like 25,” she said. “I always felt as though they put me on a pedestal.”
The former student told her mother about her experiences at the school, who later relayed those concerns to other parents. Some parents refused to acknowledge the complaints. Others were “accepting and aware” of what was going on, she said.
Some teachers mentioned in the report were fired from the school after students or parents came forward with complaints. One worked at the school until 2015. Investigators said the “school’s response, or lack thereof, to their misconduct spans decades.”
Nine of the 10 people named as abusers declined to participate in the investigation; declining interviews or failing to respond to investigators. One of the accused was also a victim. Three of the alleged abusers — Eric Dennard, Vaughan Keith and Tad Erickson — have died, investigators said.
The Capital is not naming the others because they have not been charged with a crime.
Reports of sexual abuse and harassment of students by teachers did not go unnoticed by school leadership, according to the report.
Ronald Goldblatt — a former headmaster who reported potential child abuse from the 1970s to the Anne Arundel County Department of Social Services — told investigators that “there were tradeoffs being made.”
The report found that “highly talented teachers were on some level forgiven for transgressions.” Goldblatt, who was not accused of being involved in the abuse, served from 1989 until 1999.
Another headmaster, David Badger, served for four years in the mid-1970s. He told investigators he was aware to a “surface degree” that teachers hosted parties with students but did not take any action regarding those incidents.
Badger did, however, tell investigators he fired Keith after the English and foreign languages teacher confirmed he had an ongoing relationship with a student. Badger was not among those identified in the report as being involved in the abuse.
A former school admissions employee, Barbara Vaughan, told investigators she confronted a teacher whom she suspected was in a relationship with a student, but “wished she had been stronger” in their interaction. Vaughn also was not among those identified as an abuser.
That teacher was fired in the late-1970s after a parent saw him holding hands with a student.
The Key School was founded in the 1950s by faculty members at St. John’s College. Investigators speculate Key’s culture was modeled after St. John’s, where instructors are encouraged to have close relationships with students.
But parents, students and faculty members were vocal about what they perceived as “unhealthy” and “unprofessional” relationships between teachers and parents, according to a fundraising survey the school conducted in 1975.
Board of Trustees members discussed feedback from that survey, but minutes do not indicate officials took any further action.
Key School apologizes
The Key School has made the results of the investigation available to the public. Officials issued an apology to former students who have alleged abuse.
“Reading this report is incredibly difficult. Actions, and inaction, described within are hard to process and have left us in shock and dismay,” said Head of School Matthew Nespole and Board of Trustees President Joe Janney, in a letter sent to the Key community.
“It is clear that adults at Key in the past abused, mistreated and failed to protect children entrusted to them. It is also evident that reports of misconduct from the past, made years later, were neither acknowledged nor addressed as they should have been by previous leadership at the school.”
Key School officials declined an interview request from The Capital.
School officials in a statement said they handed over the report to Anne Arundel County police.
It is unclear what the statute of limitations is regarding the alleged abuse.
“That depends on the specific charges and at this point, we can't speculate,” said Emily Morse, a spokeswoman for the county State’s Attorney Office.
The Key School has removed a plaque recognizing one of the accused teachers from a school bench and is communicating with the leadership of other schools where former instructors identified as abusers have worked, or are currently working, officials said in a statement.
School leaders have also committed to a “recurring and systematic review of its policies and procedures” regarding misconduct reporting and interactions between students and school employees.
Faculty and staff are trained in partnership with Praesidium, a national firm dedicated to preventing child sex abuse and employee misconduct, administrators said. It is unclear when Key School hired the firm.
Praesidium offers a 24-hour helpline that individuals can use to report suspicious or inappropriate behavior. The helpline is available at 866-607-SAFE (7233).
Pennsylvania Police Officer accused of
child sex abuse, child porn
By Nick Quattrini,
CANTON, Pa (WENY) -- A member of the Canton Borough Police Department is facing a slew of serious allegations after being accused of an inappropriate relationship with a minor during his duties as a police officer.
Troopers say the inappropriate relationship spanned from June of 2017 until June of 2018.
During the course of the investigation into the matter, Gleco's cell phone was seized and sent to the Pennsylvania State Police Computer Crimes Unit for forensic examination. Troopers say the investigation revealed images of child pornography, dozens of illegally recorded phone calls with local businesses, agencies, and people. Police say the forensic examination also revealed recorded conversations with the minor that were lewd and sexually explicit in nature. During the examination, images of Gleco and the juvenile victim in an "inappropriate interaction" were also allegedly recovered.
Lawsuits target alleged sex abuse at
Duke U's children's camp
VANCE COUNTY, N.C. — For nearly 40 years, Duke University's Camp Kaleidoscope served as a place of hope and healing for chronically ill children.
But lawsuits filed by parents now blame Duke for alleged sexual abuse that happened among young campers in 2017.
Beginning in 1979, Duke employees launched Camp Kaleidoscope during summers along Kerr Lake in Vance County.
According to a series of lawsuits, in July of 2017, four boys ranging in age from 7 to 10 years old were left unsupervised in a cabin until they were discovered performing oral sex on each other.
The boys had various illnesses, including brain cancer and sickle cell anemia. One of the boys was also diagnosed as HIV-positive.
One child who wasn't sick, but whose father worked at the camp, is described as the instigator.
Parents claim camp counselors were negligent and that Duke attempted to cover up what happened.
"Duke is committed to protecting the privacy of minors and their families, and will thus decline to comment on this lawsuit," Doug Stokke, a Duke spokesman, said in a statement.
Duke suddenly shut down Camp Kaleidoscope in 2017, telling parents it needed to re-evaluate policies.
Connecticut man sentenced to prison for decade-long sexual abuse of girl
By DAVID OWENS
| HARTFORD COURANT |
A Manchester man was sentenced to 12 years in prison and 10 years of special parole Tuesday for the decade-long sexual assault of a child.
Jose Vasquez, 44, pleaded guilty in November to first-degree sexual assault and risk of injury to a minor as part of a plea agreement.
Prosecutor Donna Mambrino told Hartford Superior Court Judge Laura F. Baldini that Vasquez’s sexual abuse of the child began when she was 8 and continued until she was 17. The victim, who was in court Tuesday, was prepared to testify at trial, but that became unnecessary when Vasquez opted to plead guilty.
Mambrino praised the work of Manchester police Det. Claire Hearn, whose methodical work resulted not only in a strong case against Vasquez, but a statement in which he admitted to his crimes.
The victim prepared a statement that Mambrino read to the judge. The young woman described how when the abuse began, Vasquez made it seem like a game. “I didn’t really know that it was wrong,” she wrote. “I didn’t know what to think or how to feel. The only thing I knew was that it hurt. It hurt physically and emotionally.”
And then he would justify his assaults as a form of punishment “if I didn’t clean the kitchen,” she wrote. As the abuse continued, the victim wrote, Vasquez sought to isolate her from others, including friends.
“He ... would not let me have any friends,” she wrote. “I couldn’t have friends come to my house and I was not allowed to go to their houses. He did everything he could to prevent me from having friends. He even convinced my mom that I didn’t need friends.”
Mambrino told the judge that Vasquez was in a position of authority over the girl and was responsible for her welfare. Vasquez admitted to sexually assaulting the child, but claimed she initiated the contact. Investigators recovered Vasquez’s DNA from the victim’s underwear, which was collected during a sexual assault examination.
Vasquez declined to address the judge. His public defender, Molly Arabolis, noted that Vasquez has no record and is hopeful people will be able to heal and move on.
Baldini then sentenced Vasquez to 12 years in prison to be followed by 10 years of special parole, and signed a standing criminal protective order that requires Vasquez to stay away from the girl for 50 years.
Massachusetts man gets 6-8 years for
sexual abuse of 6 y/o
By Julie Manganis
MIDDLETON — A Middleton man has been sentenced to six to eight years in state prison after pleading guilty Tuesday to sexually abusing a 6-year-old girl, a child he claimed to investigators was being "provocative."
Wow! The second pedophile in a row who blames a little girl for his perversion.
Paul J. DiNatale, 59, pleaded guilty to two counts of rape of a child and one count of indecent assault and battery on a child during a hearing in Salem Superior Court.
The sentence was the result of a plea agreement accepted by Judge Thomas Drechsler.
DiNatale was arrested last October after the mother of the girl went to authorities, prosecutor Kate MacDougall told a judge last fall. The abuse occurred on multiple dates between June 2017 and October 2018, when DiNatale was arrested.
MacDougall said at a prior hearing that DiNatale appeared to "minimize" his own behavior and blame the child. DiNatale's attorney, John Morris, said previously that his client suffers from several serious medical issues.
Apparently not enough to keep him from exercising his perversion.
DiNatale, who has been held without bail since his arrest, had worked as a plumber at Hogan Regional Center.
Following his prison term, he will be on probation for five years. The charge of child rape will require him to register as a sex offender and wear a GPS bracelet.
Drechsler also ordered that DiNatale have no contact with the victim or her mother, starting immediately.
Former Texas Baptist children's minister charged
with child sex crime
by Diana Chandler,
FLOWER MOUND, Texas (BP) -- A former children's minister at The Village Church has been charged with indecent contact with a child, allegedly in 2012 during his church ministry.
Matthew David Tonne, the 35-year-old accused, was dismissed as associate children's minister from the Southern Baptist megachurch on an unrelated matter in June, senior pastor Matt Chandler said Jan. 24 in video and printed comments at thevillagechurch.net. The alleged crime occurred at the Mt Lebanon Retreat and Conference Center, a Baptist ministry in Cedar Hill, Texas.
"We want to state clearly that there are no persons of interest in this investigation that have access to children at The Village Church," Chandler said. "We would not let anyone who is under investigation for a crime like this be near any of our children at TVC."
Tonne, a husband and father of three, had been out of jail since Jan. 9 on $25,000 bond. His original court date of today (Jan. 29), has been rescheduled to Feb. 7, based on documents filed in Dallas County District Court.
The Village Church is making at least one change in its ministry to children, Chandler said in the website comments.
"We have decided to no longer do overnight events with elementary children based on counsel from MinistrySafe," Chandler said, referencing the ministry founded by attorneys to help churches, camps and ministries protect children from sexual abuse. Additionally, the church has hired a director of care, Summer Vinson Berger, whom Chandler described as a licensed professional counselor skilled in trauma care.
"She is helping us evaluate all of our current practices and will help us further strengthen our ministry here," Chandler said. "We view physical and emotional safety as a top priority and will continue to pour resources into that area."
Chandler, president of the Acts 29 Network of congregations focused on church planting, participated in a Baptist21 panel discussion on abuse in advance of the Southern Baptist Convention 2018 Annual Meeting in Dallas.
"We need to be trained in this," Chandler said on the 2018 panel, encouraging churches to get expert help in avoiding abuse of all kinds. "I don't care how well you know your Bible, we are not ready for this. We have got to get Christian outside help that helps us understand what to do in a fallen world."
No details of the 2012 incident were available, other than a statement about the health of the victim and the victim's family.
"Earlier this year, the minor came to a place where it was possible to verbalize the memory of what happened for the first time through ongoing therapy. (Cedar Hill Police) Detective (Michael) Hernandez has been investigating the case since that time," Chandler said. "It took courage and strength for the child and the family to share this information, and we want to support them in any way possible."
The church has no other reported incidents of abuse at the 2012 camp event, Chandler said.
"We have been working with the family and Detective Hernandez to do all that we can to bring healing and the light of justice to this situation," he said, "including the decision to make this investigation public now."
Parents and children at The Village Church have no need to fear for their safety from sexual predators at church events, Chandler said.
"We are committed to doing all that we can to protect our children," he said.
Illinois man at large, wanted for
child sexual assault charges
By WIFR Newsroom
ROCKFORD, Ill. (WIFR) -- A Rockford man is wanted on charges of sexual assault to a child that stem back to November.
Charles Jones, 35, is charged with predatory criminal sexual assault and aggravated criminal sexual assault.
Police received a report on Nov. 14, 2018 alleging that a child under 13 had been sexually assaulted by a family member. After an investigation, Jones was accused of the crime.
A warrant has been obtained for Jones, but he is currently at large. If you have any information on Jones' location, contact the Rockford Police Department at 815-966-2900 or Rockford Area Crime Stoppers at 815-963-7867.
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