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Tag: teacher

  • One-Month Rape Sentence Overturned By Montana Supreme Court

    The Montana Supreme Court has overturned the one-month sentence given to Stacey Rambold, a 54-year-old former teacher who raped his 14-year-old student. The initial sentence of one month angered many, including women’s groups that deemed the sentence too light for the crime that was committed.

    On Wednesday, the Supreme Court ruled that the sentence given to Rambold was too short based on the state’s laws. As a result, the court asked a new judge to take on the case and give a new sentence to the defendant.

    Rambold was charged with three counts of rape in 2008 for having sexual intercourse without consent with one of his students, Cherice Moralez. Moralez committed suicide in 2010 while the defendant was awaiting trial.

    Rambold has already served his original sentence and was set free last fall. Based on the decision made on Wednesday, Rambold must now serve at least two years for his crime. However, the Supreme Court did not specify the sentence, which means that Rambold could spend more time in prison than the specified two-year minimum sentence.

    His attorney’s, on the other hand, are insisting that the original sentence was enough. They also say that Moralez was partly responsible for the rape, referencing taped interviews before her death.

    The President of the Montana chapter of the National Organization for Women, Marian Bradley, welcomed the Supreme Court’s new ruling regarding the case. She said that overturning Rambold’s sentence “sends a clear message to the judiciary that women in Montana and women across the nation will not stand for the injustice and misconduct” that happened with the case.

    Scott Twito, an attorney for the Yellowstone County, said that he would consult other attorneys in his office. He would also be discussing the issue with the victim’s family before he decides how much prison time the prosecutors will seek.

    Image via YouTube

  • Teacher Fired After Telling Kids to Beat Up Another Student

    A middle school teacher in St. Lucie County, Florida was fired just over a year after being accused of ordering a group of students to beat up another student. The attack was caught on a surveillance video, which shows the teacher motioning at two of the boys involved in the assault shortly before it began.

    The attack happened in March of 2013 at Northport K-8 School after seventh grader Radravious Williams said something disrespectful to his teacher, Dru Dehart, during his second period class. Dehart claims that Williams threatened her in class, but Williams said that never happened. He admits to getting in trouble and telling Dehart that he wished he could curse at her, but says no threats were ever made. Other students verified Williams’ account of the in-class incident.

    Williams said that two students came to get him from his third period class to see Dehart. Williams says that when he entered the hall, he saw Dehart walking away, and a group of six students began attacking him shortly thereafter. The students hit and kicked Williams, slammed him into the lockers, and hit him with a belt.

    View footage of the attack in the video below (attack starts at the 0:13 mark).

    According to Williams’ mother, the students forced her son to apologize after beating him up. “They picked him up, carried him, holding him by the neck, took him down to her classroom and forcibly made him apologize to her,” said Latasha Darrisaw. “And her remarks to him were, ‘I’ve got my eighth-grade boys on you; you’re not so tough now.’”

    Police arrested the six students involved in the attack; no charges have been filed against Dehart to date. Dehart was suspended from teaching without pay in the fall, and the St. Lucie County School District unanimously voted to fire her in a meeting last week.

    “(She) made a very poor decision that day,” said school district representative David Miklas. “She used students to carry out discipline.”

    Dehart hasn’t spoken out on the incident, but her lawyer Mark Wilensky says that his client “wishes she would never stop teaching.”

    Darrisaw says that her son is still traumatized from the attack. “It’s like a nightmare. He’s not the same. He’s had some sleepless nights,” Darrisaw said. The mom also mentioned that Dehart never apologized. “As a person and as a parent you would like some kind of apology, but I guess we will get that whenever she’s ready.”

    Image via YouTube

  • Santa Monica High School Student Who Fought With Teacher Pleads Not Guilty

    Blair Moore, a student of Santa Monica High school who was arrested after fighting with his science teacher on Friday last week, appeared in court for multiple misdemeanor charges on Tuesday. He pleaded not guilty.

    The charges include two counts of threatening a school official, one count possessing marijuana on school grounds, one count of possession of a weapon (a box cutter) on campus, and one count of using violence against a school employee “in retaliation for an act performed in the course of his or her duties.”

    According to Sgt. Jay Moroso of the Santa Monica Police Department, Moore was released “on his own recognizance” with an order not to strike, harass, assault, or threaten the victims named in the case. The 18-year-old student will go back to court on April 22 for his pre-trial hearing.

    A cellphone video recorded by one of the students shows Mark Black, a teacher, wrestling with Moore. Black grabbed Moore by the thigh before crashing into the classroom desks and pinning Moore to the floor. Some witnesses say the fight began when Black tried to confiscate something that was related to drugs from Moore.

    This was confirmed by Oscar de la Torre, a member of the district school board, who said that the incident arose from a conflict over drugs. Parents and students made similar statements in television news interviews and letters to school officials.

    Kylan Townsend, one of the students, said that Black wasn’t trying to hurt Moore: “He just wanted him to stop and he was trying to be a teacher and help.”

    After the incident, Supt. Sandra Lyon of the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District released a statement, calling Black’s use of physical restraint “unacceptable.” Lyon placed Black on paid leave and pledged support to Moore’s family.

    However, Lyon’s statement angered parents. They defended Black and his efforts for intervening. A Facebook page supporting Black was put up, and there is also a petition on Change.org calling for his reinstatement.

    A Santa Monica High School graduate named Daniel Jacobs became upset about the initial statement given by Lyon that he made his own petition asking for Lyon to apologize. He said that when he watched the cellphone video, he saw Black as someone who was trying to neutralize a threat. Jacobs is one of Black’s former students, and he always makes it a point to visit his old teacher. He says of Black, “I’ve never met a more kindhearted man in my life.”

    Here’s the whole story (according to reports)

    Images via Facebook (1), (2)

  • Mary Kay Letourneau: Scandalous Ex-Teacher Arrested, Again

    Mary Kay Letourneau, the schoolteacher arrested in 1997 for sleeping with her sixth grade student, is in trouble yet again.

    The fifty-one-year-old was arrested Monday morning in Seattle, Wash., for “failing to appear in court for a suspended driver’s license case.”

    According to Julie Murphy, the state’s spokeswoman for King County Adult and Juvenile Detention & Community Corrections, Letourneau was released on a $5,000 bond the same day.

    In the late 1990s, Letourneau became one of the most controversial headliners in the news.

    Her relationship with Vili Fualaau, who was 12 years old at the time, became one of the most shameful acts in the nation at that time.

    At 34, Letourneau found herself attracted to her student, which led to sexual encounters. After the story made its way to court, she was convicted of raping Fualaau and served seven years in prison.

    However, she and Fualaau never denied the attraction they had for one another and actually admitted to being in love.

    After her release from prison in 2003, they married in 2005 and had two children.

    Although there has been many other teacher-student romances or teacher-student rape cases, Letourneau’s trial remains one that will forever be remembered by many.

    Letourneau next court date is scheduled for Tuesday, which she plans to attend.

    Image via Youtube, Tyrone White 

  • Gay Teacher’s Firing By Catholic School Sparks Protest

    A Roman Catholic school has come under fire this week for firing a well-liked teacher who publicly announced he is gay.

    Thousands have protested the move by Holy Ghost Preparatory School’s administration through petitions and Facebook groups. The protesters include: school alumni, parents and former teachers. Some of the protesters have even threatened to withdraw their financial support to the school unless the teacher is reinstated.

    Michael Griffin, the teacher, was fired after telling school administrators that he was planning to marry his same sex partner.

    A letter signed by 100 alums, parents and former staff said that Griffin should not have been punished for his lifestyle; instead, he should have been congratulated for his upcoming marriage.

    However, there are those who say Griffin was fully aware of the school’s terms of employment at the time of joining the school. Some in the community argue that he should have known he was jeopardizing his career by opting to marry a same-sex partner while still employed at the school.

    The trouble started last week with an email Griffin sent to the school’s principal. Griffin’s email announced that he would be late for a staff meeting because he was getting a marriage certificate. Had Griffin not sent that email he may still have had his job today. According to Griffin, everyone in the school knew about the relationship but the email forced the decision.

    Same-sex marriages are not allowed in Catholic teachings. A statement from the school stated “All of us, including Mr. Griffin, understood that his decision would place him in violation of his contract.”

    Thus, the school is arguing its case based on its contractual agreement with Griffin. This position has received support from people like Rita Schwartz, leader of a local teachers union, who said that teachers at Catholic schools are expected to adhere to church morals.

    “When you sign on to work in a Catholic school … there are certain things that you can’t do,” she said.

    Given the uproar the incident has caused, it will be interesting to see whether or not the school changes its decision in the coming weeks.

    (image via YouTube)

  • Danvers High School Murder: Details Emerge

    Danvers High School Murder: Details Emerge

    Details have begun to emerge in the murder of a Massachusetts teacher, who went missing earlier this week.

    24-year old Colleen Ritzer was found dead in a wooded area behind the school where she taught–Danvers High School–after she was reported missing by friends and family. Police searched the school on Tuesday night and found blood in the faculty bathroom before discovering her body outside. Now, a 14-year old student has been arrested and charged as an adult for her murder, but investigators don’t have a motive.

    Philip Chism was from a good family and is described as a “good kid”. He had recently moved to Danvers from Tennessee and had joined the soccer team. Investigators now have to piece together what everyone knows of Chism with what they know: that the teenager slit Ritzer’s throat with a box cutter and stabbed her before stuffing her body in a recycling bin to dispose of it.

    “[He] might have been upset, you know teenagers go through that. He’s 14, growing up still. That’s the only thing that I can imagine. That’s the only think that I can imagine because I can’t imagine anything else. It’s like a story-book kid. Perfect family,” the boy’s uncle, Terrence Chism Blaine, said.

    Ritzer taught math at the school and was well-liked by both students and faculty. Normal class hours have either been postponed or suspended this week as administrators work to establish a counseling service for the grief-stricken community. A candlelight vigil was held in Ritzer’s honor at the school on Wednesday.

    “She was just a young, caring girl that had the whole world ahead of her. And to be taken so early is just horrible,” Ritzer’s uncle, Peter Martellucci, said.

    Image: Wikimedia Commons

  • Nevada School Shooting

    Nevada School Shooting

    Tragedy struck the Nevada town of Sparks on Monday around 7:15 in the morning when a middle school student opened fire. One brave teacher, Mike Landsberry, had stepped in to protect the children, and was shot and killed. Mike Landsberry had served in the military, including spending time in Afghanistan on multiple tours. Reports claim that the shooter had taken the gun from his parents; however, a motive behind the shooting has not yet been released.

    According to Tom Robinson, who is the deputy chief of the Reno Police Department, “It’s too early to say whether he was targeting specific people or just going on an indiscriminate shooting spree.”

    Nevada Governor Brian Sandoval released a statement about the school shooting.

    “I was deeply saddened to learn of the horrific shooting at Sparks Middle School this morning. My administration is receiving regular updates and the Nevada Highway Patrol is assisting at the scene. Kathleen and I extend our thoughts and prayers to the victims and those affected by these tragic events.”

    While twenty to thirty students witnessed the unfolding trauma, one 13-year-old student spoke about the devastating situation with the Reno Gazette-Journal.

    “The student [shooter] fired a shot at the teacher, and the teacher fell, and everybody ran away,” the student said.

    Mike Landsberry is remembered and honored for his heroism. Sparks Mayor Geno Martini spoke with CNN about the honorable teacher. “It’s very unfortunate that someone like that, who protected our country over there and came back alive … had to be taken at his work, at a school. It’s very devastating,” Mayor Geno Martini said.

    Two 12-year-old students were wounded because of the shooting, with one being shot in the shoulder while the other was shot in the stomach. Both students are in stable condition at this time.

    The tragedy poses many questions about the safety of schools. Nobody can expect teachers and administrative personnel to protect children from every threat that could arise during the daytime school operating hours. Is there more than can be done to ensure that these horrific events do not continue?

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XSJVPj75qt4

    [Image And Videos Via YouTube]

  • Teacher Fired Over Bikini Photo to Attend Graduation

    Teachers across the U.S. have been fired for a variety of reasons, but modeling is not usually one of them.

    This week, 26-year-old Olivia Sprauer told the Huffington Post that she was fired for her modeling bikini pics. She stated that she was called into the principal’s office on April 29, was shown one of her modeling photos, and was asked for her resignation.

    Sprauer isn’t broken up about the firing, however, as she had planned to stop teaching at the end of the year and attend graduate school. She also stated that she will attend the high school’s graduation ceremony to see her students off.

    Sprauer hasn’t performed in porn, though a few of her modeling photos are a bit more risque than just bikini pics. Her modeling page on the Model Mayhem website states that she loves being in front of the camera and loves being photographed. It also states that she is ok with a bit of nudity:

    I am more than comfortable shooting TASTEFUL nudes for the right projects and look forward to hearing from photographers interested in capturing the perfect photograph!

    Sprauer also has a Facebook page for her modeling persona filled with photos no one would expect from a high school teacher. She seems to be taking the job loss in stride, though, using her Twitter feed to have a laugh at all the attention she is now getting:

    (Image courtesy Victoria Valentine James Facebook page)