Local school officials told they must report sex abuse of students to police

Alicia Sneed, Director of Legal Services for the Kentucky Education Professional Standards Board, was one of the keynote speakers during an educators’ conference Saturday in Williamsburg.

If you’re an educator and you think a student is being sexually abused then you have a legal duty to report that to police.

This was the message delivered to a group of educators gathered in the Whitley County Circuit Courtroom Saturday morning for a three-hour program titled, "Eyes Open for our Children’s Safety."

"The purpose of this morning’s program is some issues have arisen concerning the reporting of sexual abuse of a student," Commonwealth’s Attorney Allen Trimble told the group of about 60 educators.

"Those are some of the more serious issues that a school professional encounters. This effort is to make sure everyone understands what their responsibilities are. Simply stated your responsibility is to report it to police."

Trimble said this doesn’t mean teachers don’t also report it to a supervisor or principal too, but that they have a legal responsibility to report suspected abuse to police.

Cecelia White, Victims Services Director for Cumberland River Behavioral Health, formerly Cumberland River Comprehensive Care Center, gave educators some startling statistics about the prevalence of child sexual abuse.

White said that her program has offered services to victims of sexual assault ranging in age from 2 – 92.

One in four females and one in six males are sexually assaulted before the age of 18.

Teens between the ages of 16 and 19 years old are three times more likely to become the victims of sexual abuse than people in other age groups.

93 percent of juvenile sexual assault victims know their perpetrator.

"We like to teach our children to be afraid of the person in the bushes, be afraid of dark allies and don’t get in the car with strangers. All of those are good principles to have," White said. "Really most victims know the perpetrators. It is typically somebody that is known by the family and trusted by the family."
 

In addition, one in 10 minors are the victims of educator sexual misconduct.

"That is a staggering number to me. This could be coaches. It could be bus drivers. It could be the cook. It is not just teachers. It could be anybody involved in education with that student," she said. "It shows how important it is that we all do something."

Everyone must report

White noted that under state law everyone, who suspects sexual or physical abuse, must report it and not just educators.
Failing to do so the first time can lead to a misdemeanor criminal charge. Failing to do so several times can lead to a felony charge.

What must be reported is abuse, neglect and exploitation of vulnerable populations, such as children under the age of 18 and those 18 or over, who have legal guardians, she said.

Under the law, reports can be made to different agencies, such as the Department of Community Based Services, formerly known as social services, police, a statewide reporting line, the commonwealth attorney’s office or county attorney’s office.
If the suspected situation involves a parent or guardian, then you are required to report the matter to the Department of Community Based Services, White said.

If you don’t get the response you want from the regional intake office, then you can also report the matter to police or another agency.

"The most important thing is you report," White said.

If the suspected abuse is by a non-caretaker, such as a teacher, coach, youth minister or neighbor, then you should report the matter to a police agency or your local prosecutor’s office.

"If you find out about something one day, you need to report it that day. Don’t wait until the next day. Don’t wait until the next week. Don’t wait until your supervisor is back. Report it when you find it out," White said.

"If your supervisor is not there, it is OK to talk to them the next day and fill out whatever kind of paperwork the school system requires, but you do have to report to outside authorities."

White added that if you aren’t sure if something is reportable, then you can call the Department of Community Based Services, and without giving away any identifying information about the child ask if the situation is something you need to report.

Local reports ignored?

One educator spoke out during the meeting noting that several people in the room had made reports to the Department of Community Based Services and felt like they were ignored.

Another called to make a report anonymously, which is allowed by law, and was told by the intake worker, "You’re not even willing to give your name? How are we supposed to investigate that?"

Still another teacher, who attended Saturday’s event but didn’t identify herself, agreed there is some frustration on the part of teachers reporting matters to the Department of Community Based Services.

She cited the case of one report she made to the agency about a five-year-old, who told her he wanted to pull his sister’s pants down and put poop on her butt because that’s what he watched with his parents every night.

"I called to report that and was told that was not sexual abuse so they would not forward that on," the teacher noted. "To me that’s the legal authority telling me that doesn’t amount to anything."

Trimble responded that the case she reported about the five-year-old, "definitely is abuse," no matter what the Department of Community Based Services told her.

"If they tell you that call the police or call our office and we will do something about that. You are not wrong. Whoever was talking to you either they misunderstood it or they are way off base," Trimble said.

"Anything like that, if you don’t get results from social services call the police. You will get results. Somebody will look into it."
White agreed.

"In situations where it is blatantly obvious it should be taken seriously and if you don’t get results you think you need, then you can call some of the other options. The ultimate goal is to protect the children."

Those making good reports in good faith about suspected abuse are immune from liability under the law.

School investigations

Williamsburg Superintendent Denny Byrd noted that school administrators are in the position where they get reports about allegations and have to conduct their own investigations.

"I know we have to report but for instance, we deal with parents a lot of times and we have to call parents when there is a situation going on. We are involved in some of the investigations," Byrd said.

White said that school officials still have an obligation to report suspected abuse to proper outside authorities.

Trimble added that once the matter is report to authorities, then school officials can conduct their own internal investigations into matters as long as they don’t interfere with law enforcement investigations.

Byrd inquired about what to do in a situation where you have a report that an employee has texted a student but district officials only have the phone numbers used and not the actual text messages.

Williamsburg Police Chief Wayne added that the question school officials need to ask themselves in that situation is do they have reasonable suspicion

"Under that circumstance, you have an employee at the school who has contacted that student and there is some kind of doubt in your mind then absolutely," Chief Bird added.

Calling/texting students

One big issue discussed during Saturday’s presentation dealt with the issue of teachers contacting students after hours via text message or phone calls, and how to police this issue.

Trimble suggested school districts make it part of teacher contracts that they can only contact students regarding practice for school events or such things using one device and that the teachers have to make that device available to school administrators for inspection.

Alicia Sneed, director of legal services for the Kentucky Education Professional Standards Board, who was another presenter Saturday, told the educators that they need to watch out for their fellow educators and if they see them starting to step over boundary issues, they should mention something to colleagues before it progresses to a disciplinary issue.

Boundary issues encompass a great many things, such as coaches texting students about body issues even if there is nothing sexual going on, or calling or texting students at inappropriate times.

"Whether you are a 19-year-old emergency substitute in that room or a 53-year-old about to retire, you have the same ethical responsibility to be the adult in the room," Sneed added.

21 and over statute

In 2012, the Kentucky General Assembly changed the law making it a crime for someone in a position of authority, such as a teacher or coach, to have sex with a person under the age of 18. It also made it a crime for someone 21 years of age or older to have sex with a 16 or 17-year-old.

Discussion of this topic prompted several questions by Williamsburg administrators about whether this would apply to recent graduates who are doing their work study at the school and have a girlfriend still attending high school there.

Williamsburg officials also asked about college students working as assistant coaches or college students majoring in education, who are doing school required observations at the school becoming involved in relationships with students.

Trimble said he couldn’t give a definitive answer to those particular questions, but strongly suggested school officials adopt a policy that college students working at a particular school can’t be involved with students period.

Sneed noted that college students majoring in education, who are doing their required observation hours, are being told that they have to comply at least with the code of ethics for certified staff members at schools, which means no relationships with students.

"We are telling those educators no relationships with students. We are trying to prepare them for the fact that there is a difference between being an adult in the school building and a student in the school building," Sneed said.

"If they don’t understand that there is a difference then they are going to be one of those educators, who gets a letter from me five or six years down the road because they have done something inappropriate."

What to watch out for

White said that one way perpetrators gain access to victims is through grooming, which is drawing a victim into a relationship that eventually turns into a sexual relationship.

"It is founded on secrecy and making that victim feel special in some way," White said. "It may start out as something pretty benign and then develop into something that is very sexual in nature."

For instance, a perpetrator may target a teen, whose parents work two jobs to make ends meet, by providing the teen with attention that they don’t get at home. It may start off with a simple compliment and then giving the teenager presents, such as buying them a cell phone or by putting minutes on their cell phone.

"This makes that teen feel very special and indebted to the person doing the grooming," White said. "Typically a person that is grooming a child mixes effortlessly with their parents and people of authority. They are trusted by parents, supervisors, people of authority and that kind of things.

"A lot of times the people that are doing the grooming are just being nice to our kids, but is there a motive behind that? That is what we need to look at."

No educator should be giving a child a cell phone, or putting minutes on their cell phone or buy them clothing, White noted.

Typically the person doing the grooming will find reasons to get the child alone, which many times will often be dismissed as the person just being nice to the child.

Eventually the relationship progresses to the point where the perpetrator asks the teen to show them their belly buttons or breasts and then progresses further.

Perpetrators will often manipulate the situation to control the teen by telling the teenager the relationship is their fault. They may also threaten to end the physical and emotional support they are giving the teen, in addition to gifts they are buying the teenager, if they don’t continue cooperating.

"They may be able to convince the teen that if they tell everyone will be mad at them and they won’t have any friends. A lot of victims also feel like it is their fault and they should have done something to stop it," White said.

Sneed agreed that educators need to report grooming type behavior if they see it.

She cautioned that it isn’t always a situation where the educator is "grooming" a student sexually but sometimes just a situation where teachers are letting boundaries slip.