By TIM WOODS
Waco Tribune-Herald
Thursday, August 07, 2008
A 26-year-old former Brazos Middle School special education teacher was arrested Wednesday after Waco police investigators alleged that she was having sex and smoking marijuana with a 14-year-old student from the school.
Tara Allison Hodges, now living in Katy, Texas, surrendered to police Wednesday morning and was charged with sexual assault of a child and improper relationship between educator and student, said Waco police Sgt. Melvin Roseborough.
Both charges are second-degree felonies. Hodges remained in the McLennan County Jail late Wednesday, held in lieu of $300,000 bond, a jail spokeswoman said.
Hodges' arrest warrant affidavit states that she "had sexual contact with (the 14-year-old boy) on at least 10 seperate occasions, and that during several of these encounters Tara Allison Hodges also smoked marijuana with (the boy)."
She was not charged with any drug-related offenses, officials said.
The affidavit says the sexual relationship lasted for about two months and specifically cites one occasion, on June 6, when Hodges picked the boy up in her car and took him to her apartment at Pecan Ridge Apartments, 2736 Lake Shore Drive, to have sex and smoke marijuana.
Hodges also gave the boy money and bought him shoes on at least two occasions, according to the affidavit.
Hodges' relationship with the boy extended until as recently as July 26, the affidavit says.
Waco Independent School District spokesman Dale Caffey said Wednesday he does not know whether the youth was a special education student.
Hodges had just completed her third year working for WISD as a special education inclusion teacher, he said. Inclusion teachers, as Caffey described, work with special education students to incorporate them into mainstream classrooms.
Caffey said Hodges resigned earlier this summer, telling WISD human resources that she had taken a teaching position in Katy. He said WISD officials learned of the police investigation last week.
"From the district's standpoint, when we learned of the investigation, we were shocked, extremely upset," Caffey said.
Caffey said the district does thorough background checks on all teaching hires, but acknowledged that it's not always possible to prevent such incidents, particularly when a job applicant's history gives no indication of threat.
"In this certain circumstance, I think it would have been hard to (foresee Hodges' alleged crimes)," Caffey said. "According to what I could see in her personnel file, this was her first professional teaching assignment."
Hodges' Web page on Facebook.com says she graduated from Texas State University in 2004 and lists her hometown as El Campo, Texas, just southwest of Houston. The page says she moved to Katy on Aug. 1.
Hodges' wrote on her Facebook page that her favorite TV shows included "Cops, I love shows about crime and I like watching prison, gang and drug documentaries for some reason!!!"
A current teacher at Brazos Middle School who asked to remain anonymous because he did not want his name associated with the story, said that he always knew Hodges as "a really nice person," and was surprised by the allegations. The teacher did not want to comment specifically about the charges.
http://www.news-journal.com/news/content/news/stories/2008/08/07/08082008__Teacher_charges.html
Showing posts with label Sexual Abuse. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sexual Abuse. Show all posts
Saturday, August 16, 2008
Sunday, June 22, 2008
Texas town reels from horrific abuse in its midst
By PAUL J. WEBER, Associated Press Writer
Sun Jun 22, 5:44 PM ET
MINEOLA, Texas - In the windowless front rooms of a former day care center in a tiny Texas community, children as young as 5 were fed powerful painkillers they knew as "silly pills" and forced to perform sex shows for a crowd of adults.
Two people have already been convicted in the case. Now a third person with ties to the club, previously known in town only as a swingers group, is set to go on trial Monday not far from Mineola, population 5,100.
"This really shook this town," said Shirley Chadwick, a longtime resident of Mineola. "This was horrible."
Patrick Kelly, 41, is charged with aggravated sexual assault of a child, tampering with physical evidence and engaging in organized criminal activity.
In all, six adults have been charged in connection with the case, including a parent of the three siblings involved.
Jurors this year deliberated less than five minutes before returning guilty verdicts against the first two defendants, who were accused of grooming the kids for sex shows in "kindergarten" classes and passing off Vicodin as "silly pills" to help the children perform.
Jamie Pittman and Shauntel Mayo were sentenced to life in prison. Kelly also faces a life sentence if convicted, and Smith County prosecutors hope for another swift verdict.
Thad Davidson, Kelly's attorney, said his client passed a lie-detector test proving his innocence and worries about getting a fair trial in Tyler, 25 miles southeast of Mineola, which is in Wood County.
"I think it's impossible to get a fair trial within 80 miles of Smith County," Davidson said.
Mineola, about 80 miles east of Dallas, is a close-knit, conservative bean-processing town of with more than 30 churches. Residents there want to put the scandal behind them as quickly as possible.
The one-story building where prosecutors say four children — the three siblings, now ages 12, 10 and 7, and their 10-year-old aunt — were trained to perform in front of an audience of 50 to 100 once a week has been vacant since the landlord ousted the alleged organizers in 2004.
Down a slight hill is a retirement home, and even closer is the office of the local newspaper. Doris Newman, editor of The Mineola Monitor, said rumors of swinger parties spread around town but that no one mentioned children being involved.
Newman, who can see the building from her office window, said she remembers the parking lot filling up with more than a dozen cars at night.
In August 2004, an editorial under the headline "Sex In the City" opined that if the swingers left quietly, "we'll try and forget they've infiltrated our town with their set of moral standards."
"It's not that we're trying to look the other way," Newman said. "But there's a lot more to Mineola than that."
According to a Mineola police report, the department first investigated a complaint in June 2005 in which the siblings' foster mother said one of the girls described dancing toward men and another child saying that "everybody does nasty stuff in there."
In the second trial, Child Protective Services caseworker Kristi Hachtel testified, "I've seen a lot and I never in my wildest dreams imagined this. They were preyed upon in probably one of the most heinous ways possible."
The children are now doing better, the welfare agency said.
"Through counseling and therapy sessions, these children are now finally feeling secure and safe," agency spokeswoman Shari Pulliam wrote in an e-mail.
Permanent custody of the three siblings was given to John and Margie Cantrell. This week, prosecutors in California charged John Cantrell with sexually assaulting a child in the state 18 years ago. Margie Cantrell said her husband is innocent.
Kelly's attorney moved Friday asking to postpone the trial in light of the allegations against Cantrell, a state witness. Texas Child Protective Services said it would be "common" for the agency to investigate.
The Rev. Tim Letsch is opening a church in the yellow-plastered building where the children were abused. He acknowledges that building a congregation might be difficult because of the stigma attached to the property.
"You got to decide whether you're willing to forgive those kind of things," Letsch said. "It's a hard deal. Especially for a spiritual person to walk in and say, 'This happened here.'"
Sun Jun 22, 5:44 PM ET
MINEOLA, Texas - In the windowless front rooms of a former day care center in a tiny Texas community, children as young as 5 were fed powerful painkillers they knew as "silly pills" and forced to perform sex shows for a crowd of adults.
Two people have already been convicted in the case. Now a third person with ties to the club, previously known in town only as a swingers group, is set to go on trial Monday not far from Mineola, population 5,100.
"This really shook this town," said Shirley Chadwick, a longtime resident of Mineola. "This was horrible."
Patrick Kelly, 41, is charged with aggravated sexual assault of a child, tampering with physical evidence and engaging in organized criminal activity.
In all, six adults have been charged in connection with the case, including a parent of the three siblings involved.
Jurors this year deliberated less than five minutes before returning guilty verdicts against the first two defendants, who were accused of grooming the kids for sex shows in "kindergarten" classes and passing off Vicodin as "silly pills" to help the children perform.
Jamie Pittman and Shauntel Mayo were sentenced to life in prison. Kelly also faces a life sentence if convicted, and Smith County prosecutors hope for another swift verdict.
Thad Davidson, Kelly's attorney, said his client passed a lie-detector test proving his innocence and worries about getting a fair trial in Tyler, 25 miles southeast of Mineola, which is in Wood County.
"I think it's impossible to get a fair trial within 80 miles of Smith County," Davidson said.
Mineola, about 80 miles east of Dallas, is a close-knit, conservative bean-processing town of with more than 30 churches. Residents there want to put the scandal behind them as quickly as possible.
The one-story building where prosecutors say four children — the three siblings, now ages 12, 10 and 7, and their 10-year-old aunt — were trained to perform in front of an audience of 50 to 100 once a week has been vacant since the landlord ousted the alleged organizers in 2004.
Down a slight hill is a retirement home, and even closer is the office of the local newspaper. Doris Newman, editor of The Mineola Monitor, said rumors of swinger parties spread around town but that no one mentioned children being involved.
Newman, who can see the building from her office window, said she remembers the parking lot filling up with more than a dozen cars at night.
In August 2004, an editorial under the headline "Sex In the City" opined that if the swingers left quietly, "we'll try and forget they've infiltrated our town with their set of moral standards."
"It's not that we're trying to look the other way," Newman said. "But there's a lot more to Mineola than that."
According to a Mineola police report, the department first investigated a complaint in June 2005 in which the siblings' foster mother said one of the girls described dancing toward men and another child saying that "everybody does nasty stuff in there."
In the second trial, Child Protective Services caseworker Kristi Hachtel testified, "I've seen a lot and I never in my wildest dreams imagined this. They were preyed upon in probably one of the most heinous ways possible."
The children are now doing better, the welfare agency said.
"Through counseling and therapy sessions, these children are now finally feeling secure and safe," agency spokeswoman Shari Pulliam wrote in an e-mail.
Permanent custody of the three siblings was given to John and Margie Cantrell. This week, prosecutors in California charged John Cantrell with sexually assaulting a child in the state 18 years ago. Margie Cantrell said her husband is innocent.
Kelly's attorney moved Friday asking to postpone the trial in light of the allegations against Cantrell, a state witness. Texas Child Protective Services said it would be "common" for the agency to investigate.
The Rev. Tim Letsch is opening a church in the yellow-plastered building where the children were abused. He acknowledges that building a congregation might be difficult because of the stigma attached to the property.
"You got to decide whether you're willing to forgive those kind of things," Letsch said. "It's a hard deal. Especially for a spiritual person to walk in and say, 'This happened here.'"
Saturday, March 15, 2008
High Court Says No to Dismissing Panel from Suit
Saturday, March 15, 2008
By BOB LOWRY
Times Staff Writer bob.lowry@htimes.com
The Huntsville Times
Madison County Ed Board must face rape case
MONTGOMERY - The Alabama Supreme Court on Friday refused to dismiss the Madison County Board of Education as a defendant in a lawsuit filed by girl who claimed she was raped in 2002, when she was 11 years old, by her physical education teacher.
However, the high court did dismiss the board's personnel director, Jim Nash, as a defendant.
The Board of Education and Nash had claimed immunity under state agency immunity, the 11th Amendment to the Constitution and qualified immunity.
But in overturning a ruling from Madison County Circuit Judge Karen Hall, the Supreme Court said the Board of Education could not be considered an arm of the state, and was not entitled to constitutional protection.
In Nash's case, the tribunal said his actions were "at most negligent and ... he is entitled to qualified immunity."
The case revolved around a suit filed in 2005 by a Madison County family against a former coach and teacher and Madison County school officials. They alleged the teacher, William Ford Reaves, raped their daughter, a special education student at Madison County Elementary School.
The lawsuit says school officials knew about Reaves' background of inappropriate behavior toward young girls but failed to protect them. The lawsuit seeks compensatory and punitive damages to be determined by a jury.
The incident didn't come to light until May 2004 when the girl, at the urging of her girlfriends, notified a counselor at Riverton Middle School.
"It appears that over a period of 16 years before they became aware of this allegation, school and/or board officials had investigated various allegations of inappropriate conduct by Reaves on five occasions and had placed written reports in Reaves' file," the Supreme Court said.
Reaves, who was 52 at the time, was reprimanded in some form in response to each allegation, but on the advise of the board's lawyer it was decided there was insufficient evidence to fire
Reaves, who was a tenured teacher, the court said.
The court said Reaves retired before a decision was made to fire him and criminal charges against him were dropped.
Reaves, who had been employed by the county school system since 1983, was a coach at Madison County Elementary School during the 2002-03 school year.
By BOB LOWRY
Times Staff Writer bob.lowry@htimes.com
The Huntsville Times
Madison County Ed Board must face rape case
MONTGOMERY - The Alabama Supreme Court on Friday refused to dismiss the Madison County Board of Education as a defendant in a lawsuit filed by girl who claimed she was raped in 2002, when she was 11 years old, by her physical education teacher.
However, the high court did dismiss the board's personnel director, Jim Nash, as a defendant.
The Board of Education and Nash had claimed immunity under state agency immunity, the 11th Amendment to the Constitution and qualified immunity.
But in overturning a ruling from Madison County Circuit Judge Karen Hall, the Supreme Court said the Board of Education could not be considered an arm of the state, and was not entitled to constitutional protection.
In Nash's case, the tribunal said his actions were "at most negligent and ... he is entitled to qualified immunity."
The case revolved around a suit filed in 2005 by a Madison County family against a former coach and teacher and Madison County school officials. They alleged the teacher, William Ford Reaves, raped their daughter, a special education student at Madison County Elementary School.
The lawsuit says school officials knew about Reaves' background of inappropriate behavior toward young girls but failed to protect them. The lawsuit seeks compensatory and punitive damages to be determined by a jury.
The incident didn't come to light until May 2004 when the girl, at the urging of her girlfriends, notified a counselor at Riverton Middle School.
"It appears that over a period of 16 years before they became aware of this allegation, school and/or board officials had investigated various allegations of inappropriate conduct by Reaves on five occasions and had placed written reports in Reaves' file," the Supreme Court said.
Reaves, who was 52 at the time, was reprimanded in some form in response to each allegation, but on the advise of the board's lawyer it was decided there was insufficient evidence to fire
Reaves, who was a tenured teacher, the court said.
The court said Reaves retired before a decision was made to fire him and criminal charges against him were dropped.
Reaves, who had been employed by the county school system since 1983, was a coach at Madison County Elementary School during the 2002-03 school year.
Parents Outraged Over Discovery at Buffalo School #67
Updated: March 13, 2008 06:40 PM EDT
BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) - Parents wanted to give the school board an earful at Wednesday night's meeting about alleged sexual abuse of a student.
News 4's Alysha Palumbo reports parents had to just sit on their hands.
Parents outraged at the allegations of sexual abuse at School 67 took their concerns to the Buffalo School Board Wednesday night, but they weren't heard because the deadline to speak was Tuesday.
Concerned parent Mike Digiacomo said, "We were told that a public discussion would be available on April 9th. In my opinion, that is far too long."
News 4 has confirmed that a teacher at School 67 discovered the alleged abuse in November when a five-year-old autistic boy was taking a long time in the bathroom.
Buffalo Teachers Federation President Phil Rumore said, "She went in and saw, I think it was the teacher aide, holding the autistic boy's private parts."
Now four months later, parents got this letter from the school's principal, not saying what happened, but that it would be dealt with swiftly and severely.
Digiacomo said, "If it was due to be handled swiftly and severely, the alleged perpetrator should have been removed from the school immediately."
_________________________________________________________
Story by Alysha Palumbo, WIVB.
BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) - - Parents and community members are furious that they've just found out about sexual abuse allegations at School 67, four months after the alleged incident happened.
Rev. Kinzer Pointer, former District-Parent Coordinator, "The reality that this has taken several months to get to this point scares the hell out of me."
News 4 has confirmed that a teacher at School 67 discovered the alleged abuse in November when a five-year-old autistic boy was taking a long time in the bathroom.
Phil Rumore, BTF President, "She went in and saw, I think it was the teacher aide, holding the autistic boy's private parts."
Now four months later, parents got this letter from the school's principal, not saying what happened, but that it would be dealt with swiftly and severely.
Mike DiGiacomo, concerned parent, "If it was due to be handled swiftly and and severely, the alleged perpetrator should have been removed from the school immediately."
Dawn Darling, parent, "I thought you were here to protect our children and obviously not."
Parents took their concerns to the Buffalo School Board tonight, but they weren't heard because the deadline to speak was Tuesday.
Mike DiGiacomo, concerned parent, "We were told that a public discussion would be available on April 9th, in my opinion that is far too long."
_________________________________________________________
BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) - - Some Buffalo Public School parents are outraged by what allegedly took place in a bathroom at Discovery School 67 in South Buffalo.
Ed Bednarz, parent, "Cause I have kids. A 4 year-old and a 6 year-old. If indeed that's what's happening. It just makes you sick to your stomach."
News 4 has confirmed a teacher became concerned when a 5 year-old autistic child seemed to be in a bathroom little too long.
Phil Rumore, Buffalo Teachers Federation (BTF) President, "She went in and saw, I think it was the teacher aide, holding the autistic boy's private parts."
The alledged incident involving the aid took place in a bathroom in November, and now many parents are wondering why it took so long to come to light.
Dawn Darling, parent, "I'm furious. Furious. And you knew about this how many months ago?"
Almost 4 months later, parents are just now getting letters about the allegation.
Dawn Darling, parent, "I thought you were here to protect our children and obviously not."
BTF President Phil Rumore says the teacher reported what she saw right away to the principle, the teacher writes the adult was not suspended and charged with sexual abuse. Without another witness to support my statements and the abuser's denial of my charges, my allegations were labeled unfounded.
Phil Rumore, Buffalo Teachers Federation (BTF) President, "You don't touch a young boy's private parts."
Until a few days ago, the aide was in the same classroom with the teacher and the student.
Rumore wonders why, if the allegation had been made against a teacher.
Phil Rumore, Buffalo Teachers Federation (BTF) President, "That teacher would have been immediately sent home and put on administrative leave."
The Buffalo Police Department's sex offense squad is investigating and may turn over its findings to the District Attorney's Office in the next week or so.
There are questions about whether proper procedures were followed by the school. The school board may take up the matter Wednesday evening.
BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) - Parents wanted to give the school board an earful at Wednesday night's meeting about alleged sexual abuse of a student.
News 4's Alysha Palumbo reports parents had to just sit on their hands.
Parents outraged at the allegations of sexual abuse at School 67 took their concerns to the Buffalo School Board Wednesday night, but they weren't heard because the deadline to speak was Tuesday.
Concerned parent Mike Digiacomo said, "We were told that a public discussion would be available on April 9th. In my opinion, that is far too long."
News 4 has confirmed that a teacher at School 67 discovered the alleged abuse in November when a five-year-old autistic boy was taking a long time in the bathroom.
Buffalo Teachers Federation President Phil Rumore said, "She went in and saw, I think it was the teacher aide, holding the autistic boy's private parts."
Now four months later, parents got this letter from the school's principal, not saying what happened, but that it would be dealt with swiftly and severely.
Digiacomo said, "If it was due to be handled swiftly and severely, the alleged perpetrator should have been removed from the school immediately."
_________________________________________________________
Story by Alysha Palumbo, WIVB.
BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) - - Parents and community members are furious that they've just found out about sexual abuse allegations at School 67, four months after the alleged incident happened.
Rev. Kinzer Pointer, former District-Parent Coordinator, "The reality that this has taken several months to get to this point scares the hell out of me."
News 4 has confirmed that a teacher at School 67 discovered the alleged abuse in November when a five-year-old autistic boy was taking a long time in the bathroom.
Phil Rumore, BTF President, "She went in and saw, I think it was the teacher aide, holding the autistic boy's private parts."
Now four months later, parents got this letter from the school's principal, not saying what happened, but that it would be dealt with swiftly and severely.
Mike DiGiacomo, concerned parent, "If it was due to be handled swiftly and and severely, the alleged perpetrator should have been removed from the school immediately."
Dawn Darling, parent, "I thought you were here to protect our children and obviously not."
Parents took their concerns to the Buffalo School Board tonight, but they weren't heard because the deadline to speak was Tuesday.
Mike DiGiacomo, concerned parent, "We were told that a public discussion would be available on April 9th, in my opinion that is far too long."
_________________________________________________________
BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) - - Some Buffalo Public School parents are outraged by what allegedly took place in a bathroom at Discovery School 67 in South Buffalo.
Ed Bednarz, parent, "Cause I have kids. A 4 year-old and a 6 year-old. If indeed that's what's happening. It just makes you sick to your stomach."
News 4 has confirmed a teacher became concerned when a 5 year-old autistic child seemed to be in a bathroom little too long.
Phil Rumore, Buffalo Teachers Federation (BTF) President, "She went in and saw, I think it was the teacher aide, holding the autistic boy's private parts."
The alledged incident involving the aid took place in a bathroom in November, and now many parents are wondering why it took so long to come to light.
Dawn Darling, parent, "I'm furious. Furious. And you knew about this how many months ago?"
Almost 4 months later, parents are just now getting letters about the allegation.
Dawn Darling, parent, "I thought you were here to protect our children and obviously not."
BTF President Phil Rumore says the teacher reported what she saw right away to the principle, the teacher writes the adult was not suspended and charged with sexual abuse. Without another witness to support my statements and the abuser's denial of my charges, my allegations were labeled unfounded.
Phil Rumore, Buffalo Teachers Federation (BTF) President, "You don't touch a young boy's private parts."
Until a few days ago, the aide was in the same classroom with the teacher and the student.
Rumore wonders why, if the allegation had been made against a teacher.
Phil Rumore, Buffalo Teachers Federation (BTF) President, "That teacher would have been immediately sent home and put on administrative leave."
The Buffalo Police Department's sex offense squad is investigating and may turn over its findings to the District Attorney's Office in the next week or so.
There are questions about whether proper procedures were followed by the school. The school board may take up the matter Wednesday evening.
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