How would you handle this situation at work...

[Hound333]

I can't get into where because I am not suppose to speak about that but recently here at work a person I have known for 5 years was accused of "indecent liberties with a child under 13"

Now I will say I work in a school and I have over the years known kids to lie about this kind of stuff. I also know that these kinds of people exist.

My question for you is what would it make you think?

[Brock]

accused or convicted

[Kraut]

I can't get into where because I am not suppose to speak about that but recently here at work a person I have known for 5 years was accused of "indecent liberties with a child under 13"

Now I will say I work in a school and I have over the years known kids to lie about this kind of stuff. I also know that these kinds of people exist.

My question for you is what would it make you think?
I work in the field of law enforcement and recently an officer I have known for at least 8 years was arrested for raping three 8 year old girls. He claims he is not guilty of the charges, but it is hard for me to imagine that the DA would go ahead with charges and the grand jury would agree on the charges unless there was some hard proof. So in my mind I have to admit I think he is probably guilty. Now I know this is totally different then what you are having to deal with. You have to ask yourself, how well do you really know this guy, and is the student known to you. The officer I mentioned was known by me through work. He seemed like a good officer, but I really didn't know him outside of work. Maybe your situation is different.

[Hound333]

accused or convicted


Just accused at this point.

[banyon]

Report it.

If he's guilty then harm will have been prevented.

If he is innocent, then the investigator will almost certainly figure that out.

[Hound333]

I don't know the student either. For obvious reasons they won't release the name so I can't use how I feel about the student. Either way its hard.

[Kraut]

Have the police been involved yet?

[BucEyedPea]

Truth Serum...I give him some of that.

[Hound333]

Have the police been involved yet?


ya, he was arrested and is out on bail.

[Brock]

Nothing has been proven. I'd be careful about assumptions without facts.

[Kraut]

ya, he was arrested and is out on bail.You asked what you should think of all this. How well do you know this guy?

[Hound333]

Used to talk football with him all the time. Not many guys work in schools so the pick'ens are slim. He was a K-State fan and I am KU so we would argue about that. I don't really see him doing it but you never know.

The bottom line for me is that either a student I have known for a long time is lying about something or an adult I know is capable of far worse than I thought. Its a no win. O well, I have students coming in now so I won't be back on till noon. I will be back then.

[ck_IN]

innocent until proven guilty.

If proven guilty then bring a bowl of antifreeze to work.

[stevieray]

Innocent till proven guilty.

give him the benefit of the doubt until you know otherwise.

what a bummer situation for you to be in.

[Hound333]

Thought I might update this a bit since nothing much has gone down.

For a long time he wasn't charged because it was his word vs the students. I guess about a month ago he was formally charged and he was allowed to view the student's testimony. Apparently what he did (he didn't know up till seeing the video what he was being charged for) was tap this student on the bottom like a baseball coach would do a player.

Granted this is inappropriate. Is it something you would ruin a man for though? They are going to put him on the state sex offenders list and will most likely spend the trial in jail.

[Sully]

Thought I might update this a bit since nothing much has gone down.

For a long time he wasn't charged because it was his word vs the students. I guess about a month ago he was formally charged and he was allowed to view the student's testimony. Apparently what he did (he didn't know up till seeing the video what he was being charged for) was tap this student on the bottom like a baseball coach would do a player.

Granted this is inappropriate. Is it something you would ruin a man for though? They are going to put him on the state sex offenders list and will most likely spend the trial in jail.

Wow. That's ridiculous if that's all it was.

[patteeu]

Wow. That's ridiculous if that's all it was.

I agree. That's a pretty harsh penalty.

[Cochise]

We need to do this like sexual harassment laws work, where the context of the job and the situation is considered.

Of course a boss slapping his secretary on the rear is inappropriate, but a football player doing it to a teammate would not in itself constitute sexual harassment.

I think that a coach doing this to a minor student who was on his team is probably inappropriate, definitely ill-advised and unnecessary. But to ruin a guy's life over it if he only did it once? Give me a break.

[Hound333]

Obviously we need to consider that this is his side of the story. I need to step back and realize that he might be putting a spin on what happened when he tells me this. Who knows. Either way its still a bad situation. I want him to be telling the truth but it worries me either way.

Either a friend was a sicko or someone's life is ruined for a tap. Still inappropriate though and if you work with kids you should know that. He made a huge mistake even if he is telling the truth.

[redbrian]

This stuff is getting insane.

My sister a few years back was accused of this same type of thing in a class room. Turned out to be nothing more than the kid trying to get back at her for making her (the kid) follow the schools rules. The scary part is the kid was a 3rd grader.

You also had the little kid who got into trouble for hugging a teacher.

And a pat on the ass is no big deal in my book.

[Baby Lee]

Report it.

If he's guilty then harm will have been prevented.

If he is innocent, then the investigator will almost certainly figure that out.
McMartin pre-school.

[StcChief]

This PC world is way over the line. Common sense is out the window. Ridiculous.

[banyon]

McMartin pre-school.

Over my head. A little help?

[oldandslow]

Over my head. A little help?

BL can probably tell the story better than me, but the crux was that this family was accused of habitually abusing many children in their pre-school. Ruined their lives emotionally, financially, etc.

Turned out to be mass hysteria among the kids- a crucible kind of thing - and none of the abuse was true.

[pikesome]

Over my head. A little help?



Wiki article on it (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McMartin_Preschool)


The McMartin preschool case was an example of day care sexual abuse hysteria. Members of the McMartin family, who operated a preschool in California, were charged with sexual abuse of children in their care. After six years of criminal trials, no convictions were obtained, and all charges were dropped in 1990. It was the longest and most expensive criminal trial of its time.

[banyon]

BL can probably tell the story better than me, but the crux was that this family was accused of habitually abusing many children in their pre-school. Ruined their lives emotionally, financially, etc.

Turned out to be mass hysteria among the kids- a crucible kind of thing - and none of the abuse was true.

Well that certainly looks like some sh***y investigative work.

I hope that BL's point isn't that we should assume that all investigations will be handled just as incompetently.

[Baby Lee]

Well that certainly looks like some sh***y investigative work.

I hope that BL's point isn't that we should assume that all investigations will be handled just as incompetently.
I think my point was the obverse. We shouldn't assume that either the guilty will be convicted or the investigator will figure out that there's no merit and exonerate him.

ACTUALLY, on second thought, you may have hit my point on the head exactly. If one is innocent until proven guilty, and the accused protests his innocence, then yes, there needs to be someone acting on the accused's behalf with the solid conviction that the accusers/investigators/prosecutors are entirely FoS.

[banyon]

I think my point was the obverse. We shouldn't assume that either the guilty will be convicted or the investigator will figure out that there's no merit and exonerate him.

I concur, but you would hope that would be the case most of the time, no?

[Baby Lee]

I concur, but you would hope that would be the case most of the time, no?
As I edited, if the accused protests his innocence, I want SOMEONE out there on his behalf who assumes that it's NEVER the case.

[banyon]

As I edited, if the accused protests his innocence, I want SOMEONE out there on his behalf who assumes that it's NEVER the case.

Absolutely, or we may as well bring back the king to decide.