Teenage girls receiving lewd text messages from teachers, a 16-year-old boy in a sexual relationship an with instructor, and educators fondling students are among recent crimes that illustrate a troubling trend at area schools. So far this year, at least a dozen local educators have been arrested — including four Prince William County teachers charged with sex offenses in April and May. Another’s teaching license was revoked after a guilty plea.
The arrests are forcing school officials to confront — and attempt to stop — inappropriate behavior by people whom parents trust with their children.
| 2011 arrests |
| Local educators arrested this year and the charges they face include: |
| » Tina Amato: Gar-Field High School, indecent liberties, carnal knowledge, use of a communications system |
| » David Blount: Woodbridge Middle School, attempted indecent liberties by a custodian |
| » Susan Burke: Greencastle Elementary School, assault (on students) |
| » Gregory Christy: Anne Arundel County, child pornography |
| » Justin Coleman: John Adams Elementary School, child pornography |
| » Rachel Domina: Graham Parker Middle School, distributing oxycodone |
| » Eric Lewis: Gar-Field and Potomac high schools, sodomy, carnal knowledge |
| » Lawrence Lucchetti: Beville Middle School, aggravated sexual battery, indecent liberties by a custodian |
| » Garrett Orr: Formerly at Georgetown Preparatory School, child abuse, third-degree sex offense |
| » Michel Rosenzweig: Formerly at several Montgomery schools and St. John the Evangelist, third-degree sex offense |
| » Thomas Wilson: Washington Christian Academy, sexual abuse of a minor |
“This is a black spot on our reputation,” said Michael Otaigbe, a Prince William school board member. “Our community has to be able to have the trust that their children are safe in the hands of our teachers.”
In Virginia, 120 teachers have lost their licenses after being convicted of sexual misconduct with students, according to Charles Pyle, a Virginia Department of Education spokesman. More than 100 of those were revoked after 2007, Pyle said.
It’s difficult to tell whether the surge in revoked licenses is from better reporting to state officials — a 2008 law strengthened reporting requirements — or more cases of misconduct.
State guidelines approved in March advise school districts on setting up policies for student-teacher interaction and providing training for staff on preventing and responding to sexual misconduct.
“As part of training for many years, teachers were required to learn to recognize signs of abuse taking place outside the school environment,” Pyle said. “We need to include the school environment.”
That’s what Prince William is doing in the wake of the arrests, schools spokesman Ken Blackstone said. He said principals are reviewing appropriate conduct with their staffs.
Washington Christian Academy in Olney evaluated its procedures for supervising employees and had outside reviews conducted to “make sure we weren’t missing anything,” after its admissions director was accused of inappropriately touching a student, headmaster Larry Danner said.
Professional development exercises can help prevent improper behavior, said Andrew Gilman, CEO of CommCore Consulting Group, who works in crisis management. But that instruction needs to be constant to get the message across, he said.
Those affected by teacher misconduct have called for authorities to step up efforts to prevent it. An Arlington parent whose daughter had a relationship with her Yorktown High School teacher called the incident “very troublesome” in public comments about the Virginia misconduct guidelines.
“A student under the age of 18 is protected by the law, but all students, regardless of their age, must be protected,” wrote the parent, whose name was withheld.
Schools have increasingly focused on stressing proper conduct in digital communications, in addition to in-person contact. Gar-Field High School teacher Tina Amato allegedly had a yearlong sexual relationship with a student, and police discovered text messages between the pair. In February, the state revoked the license of William Dignan, a former government teacher and football coach at Stonewall Jackson High School, who admitted he sent lewd text messages to a student.
“Technology provides the means to communicate privately with a student that didn’t exist before,” Pyle said.
But informal contact between students and teachers on cell phones and social media sites can turn into allegations of sexual abuse if those communications are misinterpreted, defense attorney Peter Greenspun said.
The allegations are investigated like any other crime, said Officer Jonathan Perok, a Prince William police spokesman.
“There’s a difference between friendship and violating the law,” he said.
