Ronald Barche
08-08-08

North Port High School ROTC teacher Ronald Barche, 47, was arrested this morning for allegedly trying to seduce a 16-year-old girl via cell phone text messages.

According to North Port Police records, the girl said she and Barche had routinely exchanged text messages for an unspecified period and that on July 30, the messages turned sexual.

The girl reportedly sent naked photographs of herself to Barche using her cell phone and Barche propositioned her for sex in text messages.
The girl and her mother showed North Port police Barche’s text messages on Aug. 3.
Barche was arrested at his Rotonda West home in Charlotte County and taken to the Sarasota County Jail. More

Alan Beier
08-08-08

A former River Hill High School science teacher convicted in March of sexually abusing a male student was indicted by a Howard County grand jury this week in a second case of alleged sexual abuse.

On Aug. 6, a grand jury indicted Alan Meade Beier, 54, of Columbia, on one count of sexual abuse of a minor and second-degree assault, said Wayne Kirwan, a spokesman for Howard County State's Attorney Dario Broccolino.

In March, Beier was convicted of sex abuse of a minor and second-degree assault stemming from an incident in which Beier took nude photographs of a male student in his classroom at the Clarksville school in January 2007. In that case, Beier was sentenced to four years in prison June 9 and required to register as a child sex offender.

In the second case, a grand jury originally indicted Beier in February 2007 on charges of sex abuse of a minor and second-degree assault in connection with accusations made by another male student younger than 18 years old. More

DAVID PACE
08-08-08

David Frank Pace, the North Henderson High teacher charged in Buncombe and Guilford counties and South Carolina with soliciting sex from a child over the Internet, resigned from his job effective Aug. 4 and voluntarily relinquished his teaching license.
"We no longer have an employment relationship with him," Henderson County Schools Superintendent Stephen Page said Tuesday.
Pace remains in the Buncombe County jail under a $190,000 secured bond.
The carpentry and technical teacher was arrested July 7 by the Buncombe County Sheriff's Office after he allegedly chatted online with police officers posing as minors. Not long after, Greenville, S.C., police charged Pace with four counts of criminal solicitation of a minor for allegedly participating in graphic online chats with detectives posing as young teenagers. Guilford County has charged him with two counts of criminal solicitation of a minor.

As a teacher, Pace was a 10-month employee and wasn't working at the time of his arrest, Page said. But Pace's contract gave him a right to continue teaching in the fall.
School officials will now begin advertising for his position, and Page said he is pretty confident it will be filled by the start of school. More

Stephanie Ragusa
08-07-08

Text messages between former Hillsborough County teacher Stephanie Ragusa and one of the students she is accused of having sex with were released today by the State Attorney's Office.

She told the boy she loved him, and they discussed dating and her giving him money, according to the messages, which were released in hundreds of pages of discovery documents. Also released was Ragusa's last will and testament, in which she addressed a student.

"Please finish school," she wrote in the will. "I cannot believe how lucky I was to have met you. Deep down, you are so warm + caring. Meet your potential, find love, happiness + a family of your own. U deserve no less." She also wrote that she wants to be cremated and have a teaspoon of her ashes thrown into the Gulf of Mexico and on the Forum in Rome.

In the text messages, she told a student about 12:30 p.m. March 2 that she needs to touch and kiss him. More

George A. Langlotz
08-07-08

A teacher at a Lombard high school was out on bond Thursday night after being accused of having a sexual relationship with a student.

CBS 2 West Suburban Bureau Chief Mike Puccinelli reports that George Langlotz, a 57-year-old drivers' education from Glenbard East High School, is accused of having a sexual relationship with a 17-year-old senior at the school.

"The description that I have received is inappropriate touching of a sexual nature," said Naperville Police Lt. Dave Hoffman. More

Tara Hodges
08-07-08

A former Waco Independent School District teacher has been arrested on sexual assault of a child and improper relationship between educator and student charges stemming from when she worked at the district.

Tara Allison Hodges, 26, of Katy, Texas, surrendered to Waco police charges today, said Waco police spokesman Melvin Roseborough.

Detectives, during an investigation, found that Ms. Hodges had been involved in a sexual relationship with a 14 year-old student while she was employed as a teacher for WISD, Roseborough said. More

Kanesa Hopkins
08-07-08

A female middle school teacher in Goose Creek has been accused of having sex with a teenage girl.

Thirty-one-year-old Kanesa Hopkins is being held on 300-thousand dollars bail on five sex-related charges. Hopkins recently had been named teacher of the year at Westview Middle School.

She's accused of having a sexual relationship with a former student several years ago. An affidavit states the sexual incidents occurred at both Hopkins' and the alleged victim's residences. The statement says Hopkins also was the girl's Sunday school teacher. More

Melissa Lavender
08-07-08

South Lake High School teacher was arraigned this morning on charges she engaged in sex acts with two different, current male students on June 26.

Melissa Lavender, 33, stood mute to the charges of fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct. St. Clair Shores Police said the incident happened on a former student’s parents' boat that was docked in a St. Clair Shores marina.

Lavender’s lawyer, Mike Dennis, waived the formal arraignment, meaning that the allegations were not spelled out before Judge Joseph Oster this morning in the 40th District Court in St. Clair Shores.

Dennis said Lavender has strong backing in the community and that some members of the school board attended the morning arraignment. He called the charges an abomination. "It's completely out of character for her." St. Clair Shores Det. Harold Bergeron said alcohol is believed to have played a part in the alleged crime. More

Armando Rodriguez
08-06-08

A teacher from Castle Park High School in Chula Vista has been arrested on suspicion of molesting a 16-year-old female student at the school, authorities said Friday. Chula Vista police spokesman Bernard Gonzales said Armando Rodriguez, 34, surrendered to authorities at the South Bay courthouse in Chula Vista on Wednesday, the same day a warrant was issued for his arrest.

AdvertisementRodriguez pleaded not guilty Wednesday to seven misdemeanor counts of annoying or molesting a child. He is accused of “french-kissing” the girl on seven occasions, according to the District Attorney's Office. Rodriguez was released from custody on his own recognizance and is scheduled to appear again in court Sept. 2nd. More

Heather Chesser
08-06-08

A substitute teacher formerly in the Cumberland County school system has pleaded guilty to an information to the charge of statutory rape and will face a sentencing hearing in Criminal Court on Sept. 26.

Heather Michelle Chesser, 27, who at the time of her arrest in January listed a Griever's Chapel Rd. address, was originally indicted by the Cumberland County Grand Jury on two counts each of statutory rape by an authority figure and sexual battery by an authority figure.

In an information filed with the court by her attorney, Assistant Public Defender Cynthia Lyons, and accepted by Assistant District Attorney General Gary McKinzie and Judge Leon Burns, Chesser waived her right to grand jury action and pleaded guilty to the new charge. More

Timothy Byars
08-06-08

Former Dyersburg High School volunteer track coach Timothy Byars was taken into custody in a Knoxville courtroom on Monday after pleading guilty to raping a 14-year-old girl before a track meet in November 2006. Timothy Byars Byars, 45, 838 Lattawoods, received a nine-year sentence. He will have to serve prison time totaling one day short of two years, said Knox County Assistant District Attorney Leslie Nassios.

The penalty combines the Knoxville rape charge with a second sexual battery charge from Nashville that occurred earlier that night against the rape victim's sister, who was a teenager at the time. Byars received a one-year sentence for the rape charge, which is a Class D Felony. More

Melody Gawliu
08-06-08

A Daly City high school counselor was involved in an inappropriate relationship with a 16-year-old student she met at summer church camp, according to prosecutors who said the woman had naked photos of the girl on her cell phone.

Melody Ybona Gawliu, 24, pleaded no contest to one count of oral copulation with a minor in return for no more than a year in jail. She will not have to register as a sex offender.

Gawliu worked as a teacher’s aide at El Camino High School in South San Francisco when, between Sept. 1, 2007 and Jan. 25, she engaged in a romantic relationship with a teen student she met that summer while serving as a counselor, according to the District Attorney’s Office.

Teachers reported the situation to Child Protective Services after becoming suspicious of Gawliu after she brought balloons to school for the girl’s 17th birthday and Daly City police reported finding nude photos of the girl on Gawliu’s phone as well as a text message telling the girl to say to authorities nothing happened between them. More

Eric Grange
08-06-08

Jury selection began Monday in the trial of a former Chapel Hill teacher charged with sexually abusing five girls ages 5 to 8.

Eric Grange, 45, of 519 Banks St. in Raleigh, is charged with five counts of statutory first-degree sex offense and four counts of indecent liberties with a child. Police said the girls were abused at the Montessori Community School in Chapel Hill in 2005 and 2006.

Grange, a French citizen, resigned from the Montessori school in June 2006 after authorities questioned him about suspected abuse of students, school officials said. U.S. immigration agents arrested him at Dulles International Airport outside Washington, D.C., three months later after warrants had been issued in the case. More

Daniel Zera
08-06-08

Massena man faces seven charges for the alleged sexual abuse of two 13 year old girls on Monday.

Village Police charged 47 year old Daniel Zera, 133 Allen Street with:
Sexual abuse 1st degree, two counts, Endangering the welfare of a child, two counts, Unlawfully dealing with a child, two counts andUnlawful imprisonment.

Shannon Fowler
08-06-08

ASouth Carolina's State Law Enforcement Division (SLED) has arrested and charged a Paul Knox Middle School teacher over a relationship with a student. Shannon Fowler, 37, of 423 Pine Butte Lane in North Augusta, has been charged with five counts of contributing to the delinquency of a minor, one count of enticing an enrolled child from attendance in school, and one count of violating state test security regulations.

Fowler is accused of having an inappropriate relationship with a 14 year old student since last fall. She's also accused of encouraging the girl to create a false persona or imaginary student to hide the relationship. The school web site lists Fowler as a eighth grade math teacher at Paul Knox. More

Aaron Burroughs
08-06-08

After striking a plea agreement with prosecutors, Metro bus driver and former Bowie High School football coach Aaron Burroughs was sentenced to 16 years in prison Monday for engaging in a sexual relationship with a minor and turning her to prostitution.

Burroughs was sentenced on three counts of sexual offense, one count of coersion and one count of sexual trafficking of a minor.

Burroughs was arrested August 2006 after a 15-year-old female, found performing a sex act with a man in Takoma Park earlier that night, named him as her pimp. While in custody, Burroughs admitted to Washington, D.C. police he had engaged in sex with her on two occasions and had brought the girl into D.C. on several occasions to work as a prostitute on the Rhode Island Avenue "track," where prostitution is commonplace. More

Michael Cardoza
08-06-08

A judge hands down the punishment for a former Central Coast high school teacher convicted of molesting a teenage student.

Santa Barbara County District Attorney Stephen Foley confirmed that Michael Cardoza will spend the next 16 years in state prison. He will be required to serve at least 85 percent of that sentence.

A jury convicted Cardoza in June of several sex crimes against his former student. In court, the victim, who was 16 years old at the time of the crimes, said he once looked to Cardoza as a father figure. More

Russell Hough
08-06-08

A popular high school girls softball and basketball coach faces felony sexual misconduct charges following a grand jury indictment. Warrensburg High School coach Russell Hough is accused of sexual contact with two female students, ages 15 and 16, on school property. A Johnson County grand jury issued an indictment on Friday.

School district superintendent Deborah Orr told the Warrensburg Daily Star-Journal that Hough will be placed on administrative leave with pay. Hough faced similar accusations of inappropriate physical contact in 2004. When more complaints were lodged in 2006, the school system placed him on administrative leave with pay the next year. More

Joshua Long
08-05-08

New East Newton High School girls basketball coach Joshua Joseph Long, 30, of Oronogo, Mo., was charged with second-degree statutory rape in Jasper County on Friday.

Long was recently hired by the East Newton School District to coach girls basketball at the varsity level beginning this fall.

Long turned in his resignation to the East Newton School District in the wake of the charges, according to one school official. More

Brandy Gonzales
08-05-08

Rather than go to trial, a former fifth-grade teacher and her husband went before a district judge to plead guilty to assaulting school children, facing between five to 99 years or life in prison, officials said.

Brandy Lynn Gonzales, 28, sobbed quietly while pleading guilty on Monday to four counts of aggravated sexual assault of a child and one count of indecency with a child.

Johnny Gonzales, 33, also pleaded guilty to aggravated sexual assault of a child, according to a story in Monday's edition of the Houston Chronicle. The charges against Brandy Gonzales involve four students in the same fifth-grade class and a fifth boy from a different class in 2004 at Piney Point elementary, where she was a teacher. More

Larry Dean Scheer
08-05-08

A former Haskell band director pleaded guilty Monday to two counts of forcible sodomy involving a former juvenile student.

Larry Dean Scheer, 59, entered into a plea agreement, agreeing to a term of 20 years suspended on each count. Each count is to run concurrent with the other. That means Scheer gets no prison time if he doesn’t break the law within the next 20 years.

He will have to register as a sex offender, said Muskogee County Sheriff Investigator Faye Banks.

An affidavit filed in the initial court filing states one incident occurred in December 2007 and the second on Jan. 4, 2008. Both incidents occurred in a band practice room at Haskell High School, the affidavit states. More

Kenneth Thompson Anderson
08-04-08

The trial of a former teacher charged with sleeping with high school students was postponed to Sept. 29.

Kenneth Anderson, a former Smyrna High School teacher, is charged with three counts of rape, 13 counts of statutory rape and 10 counts of sexual battery stemming from several incidents.

Anderson, 40, was slated to go to trial this morning. The continuation was allowed because some of the witnesses are high school students and staff and class is not in session yet. They may still be on vacation.

Anderson was found guilty of five counts of statutory rape and assault earlier this year for having sex with a 14-year-old girl. More

Gregg Decker
08-03-08

A former substitute teacher in the Southern Regional School District has been indicted on charges of aggravated sexual assault in connection with allegations by a middle school student in 2005, according to court documents.

Gregg D. Decker, free on $50,000 bail since being arrested more than three years ago, was named in a five-count indictment handed up by an Ocean County grand jury on Tuesday.

Decker, 28, of Anchor Avenue in Barnegat is charged with first-degree aggravated sexual assault, second-degree sexual assault, second-degree official misconduct, third-degree endangering the welfare of a child and third-degree aggravated criminal sexual contact, court documents stated. More

Thomas Bavedas
08-04-08

People who know the veteran Bridgeport teacher accused last month with sexually assaulting a young Milford girl and collecting thousands of illegal images of child pornography remain bewildered by the lurid allegations.

Shock over the crimes allegedly committed by Thomas Bavedas, 38, of Brooklawn Drive in Milford, is intertwined with questions among former colleagues over how — if the charges are true — he could have kept his secrets for so long.

While fallout from the case has yet to settle as Bridgeport police continue to investigate Bavedas, his lawyer offers some context for his client's character and behavior. More

Keith R. Lehocky
08-04-08

A case in the Hamilton County Circuit Court in Noblesville brought against a man accused of child molestation was dismissed by a judge recently.
Keith R. Lehocky, 43, Monticello was arrested in July, 2007 on a Hamilton County warrant charging him with the Class C felony. According to Fishers Police Department reports, Lehocky was taken into custody after an 11-year-old girl accused him of touching her inappropriately during a party in Fishers.

At the time of his arrest, Lehocky was employed as a fourth-grade teacher with the North Judson-San Pierre School Corporation, and was also serving as the President of the Monticello Softball Association.

Stepping down from that post, Lehocky is currently suspended with pay by the school corporation. The next meeting of the North Judson-San Pierre School Corporation is on Aug. 19 at 7 p.m. in the central administration office in North Judson. More

Joseph Starkey
08-27-08

A case in the Hamilton County Circuit Court in Noblesville brought against a man accused of child molestation was dismissed by a judge recently.

Keith R. Lehocky, 43, Monticello was arrested in July, 2007 on a Hamilton County warrant charging him with the Class C felony. According to Fishers Police Department reports, Lehocky was taken into custody after an 11-year-old girl accused him of touching her inappropriately during a party in Fishers. More

Jami Lish
08-01-08

A school teacher is facing serious charges for having sex with a teenage student. It's another case in what seems to be a disturbing trend.
Prosecutors in Box Elder County charged the 27-year-old teacher based on one incident that allegedly happened in her home. But people who know the teacher tell us she may have been in a relationship with this student for at least a year.

If convicted, Jami Lish could spend 15 years to life in prison. This week, prosecutors charged Lish with first-degree felony rape. Their investigation actually began late last year. More

Steven Collins
08-01-08

Less than two weeks before he was scheduled to go to trial for alleged sexual misconduct with a minor, a former Penn High School girls rugby coach pleaded guilty to charges.

Steven C. Collins, 27, who originally was scheduled for trial Monday, instead pleaded guilty July 17 to two counts of sexual misconduct with a minor, Class B felonies. He will be sentenced Sept. 25 in Elkhart County Superior Court 3. Collins was arrested in March 2007 for allegedly having an inappropriate relationship with a 15-year-old rugby club member in a home on Elkhart's west side in June 2006. More

Maurna Thornton
08-01-08

A former Vernon Parish 8th grade teacher will be spending five years behind bars for having sex with a student.

Today, 40-year-old, Maurna Thornton was sentenced to 5 years in prison, 5 years probation and a $2,500 fine

In May, Thornton pleaded guilty to 1 Count of Felony Carnal Knowledge of a Juvenile.

Her arrest came after the Vernon Parish Sheriff’s Office received complaints of inappropriate behavior between Thornton and a 14-year-old student. More

Daniel G. Frick
08-01-08

A Morristown Central School District teacher who was suspended earlier this year after being charged with having inappropriate contact with a student has plead guilty to misdemeanor charges in Village Court.

38-year-old Daniel G. Frick of Potsdam was charged in April with a single count of endangering the welfare of a child stemming from incidents with a 16-year-old student between July and October, 2007 at the school. More

James Leonarczyk
08-01-08

A Lebanon Borough resident who once worked as a teacher's aide at Phillipsburg Middle School has been indicted on charges of possessing and distributing child pornography, authorities said.

James Leonarczyk, 40, was arrested in November by detectives from the Hunterdon County Prosecutor's Office Sex Crimes Unit after local authorities received unspecified information from the Rhode Island State Police. More

Stephanie Draper
08-01-08

A former middle school teacher accused of having a sexual relationship with a student six years ago pleaded not guilty Friday morning in Sarpy County District Court.

Stephanie A. Draper, 35, of Blair, Neb., faces up to 50 years in prison if convicted of first-degree sexual assault of a child.

Sarpy County authorities issued a warrant for Draper's arrest July 18. According to an affidavit requesting the warrant, the student, now 21, told an investigator that he and Draper had a relationship between February and April 2002, when he was 14. More

Robert Godfrey
08-01-08

The former Ewing High gym teacher accused of sending naked pictures of himself to a 17-year-old student whom he allegedly had sex with has been indicted on sexual assault charges, Mercer County Prosecutor Joe Bocchini announced yesterday.

Robert Godfrey, 24, of North Wales, Pa., allegedly engaged in a weeks-long intimate relationship with the female minor, prompting authorities to arrest him Feb. 27. On top of the allegations of distributing nude pics, prosecutors said Godfrey received naked photos of the 17-year-old girl.

A Mercer County grand jury indicted Godfrey Wednesday with charges of official misconduct, child abuse, distributing obscene materials to a minor and two counts of sexual assault, according to the Mercer County Prosecutor's Office. More

BRENT ARCHIE
07-31-08

A Richardson High School teacher has been arrested and charged with having a sexual relationship with two high school students.

Teacher and coach Brent Archie was originally arrested on Wednesday night for having a sexual relationship with a 16-year-old female student. Late Thursday evening, police upgraded his charges, stating Archie and another student engaged in sexual intercourse and oral sex.

The 31-year-old has now been charged with four counts of Improper Relationship Between Educator and Student. More