Whitman Teacher and Crew Coach Arrested

[Anonymous]

At any company, employees know that all of their "work" emails are subject to review. People are routinely fired for indiscretions. There's got to be some way to get this under control--perhaps by mandating that all student communications be through official channels, and flagging for parents that any non-official communications are improper (so they are on the lookout). To the extent that any victim can show the school was aware and took insufficient action, MoCo should be quaking in its boots. Here's an example within the past 24 hours of a private school settling with female victims who reported issues regarding their "grooming" basketball coach. https://www.khon2.com/local-news/punahou-school-settles-all-cases-alleging-sexual-abuse-by-former-basketball-coach/.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Everyone should read the charging documents. It's a tough read, but it amply corroborates the patient (and disgustingly manipulative) grooming of a clearly sexually inexperienced, trusting high school senior.

The link doesnt work for many of us

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Everyone should read the charging documents. It's a tough read, but it amply corroborates the patient (and disgustingly manipulative) grooming of a clearly sexually inexperienced, trusting high school senior.

The link doesnt work for many of us

1. Click this link - https://eaccess.dccourts.gov/eaccess/search.page.3.1?x=jScGx6gir1Ig6BIy9A7jwg
2. Scroll to the bottom and click the "Click Here" button
3. Enter 2021 CF1 004795 in the Case Number field
4. Two entries will appear. I clicked on the Kirkland Stewart Shipley one
5. Next to the first Docket Text entry is an image icon. Click it and the document will appear.

Wow on the read.

[Anonymous]

Is it okay to let your 17 year old read the court documents?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This stuff seriously terrifies me.

My daughter is only in MS, but is a serious sports nut. I realize these scenarios can happen with teachers, but I feel like there are fewer/more easily crossed boundaries with coaching and other extracurricular activities.

(Also, how can any parent be unaware of grooming in this day and age? Blown away by PPs who seem surprised by this.)

They groom the parents, too. They know who really wants to get their kid a scholarship, so they play up how talented the kid is, offer special help. They know who is overwhelmed with work or family responsibilities, and they offer rides to practice or tournaments/meets/games. They build up trust in small ways over a period of moths or years, and break down the usual parental radar a little at a time.

You’d never let your daughter ride with an adult male you’d just met, of course. But it’s different when you’ve known him for years, he’s been so helpful getting her into special programs and camps, you’ve never seen anything from him to cause concern, and anyway Larla from the team will be riding with him, too. It’s not until later you find out Larla mysteriously “cancelled.”

Predators play the long game. Manipulating people is part of the thrill for them.

+1000 Predators groom parents. As parents of the Wootton football team discovered last year, a predator can also be of the same gender.

Parents need training to spot and report warning signs. All criminal activities should be reported to the police first but warning signs of predatory behavior occur before the criminal offense. That’s the opportunity to step in and protect a child before he/she is sexually abused.

* private texting should be reported

* any offers of special gifts or favors should be reported

* parents should transport their kids, students drive, or a bus is used to transport athletes. Students should never be in the personal vehicle of a coach.

* report anything outside the employee code of conduct

Predators migrate to MCPS because they can survive for decades in the system before an arrest is made. Many sketchy bad apples that MCPS knows about are still in the system. They got caught with doing the things above. Instead of being fired, MCPS just told them to stop.

Yes, 100% to the bolded above. Btw, instead of using the threatening method (of withholding opportunities, or promising future opportunities only if victims complied) he made the girls feel special, exceptional as athletes, teammates--and/or as young beauties. This is a different but likely very common m.o. than using threats...and everything seems very rosy from the teen's/parents' viewpoint. What parent would not initially be flattered and approving of their teen's athletic talents getting attention/encouragement from the coach?

But this article by Malcolm Gladwell, from the New Yorker, is one of the most compelling I've read on the subject. https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2012/09/24/in-plain-view Although it's mainly about abusers of younger children, you will likely recognize parallels to this Wheaton Case. In the article, one expert describes a predator's process of very gradually testing the boundaries to see what objections are raised...and identify which targets will work best. This sentence sticks out: "Children of vigilant parents are [judged by the predator as] too risky."

But what to do about the predators lurking in the system already, who continue to pose a danger? It sounds like MCPS is wary of any non-airtight accusations of wrongdoing, perhaps wanting to give [other, innocent] teachers/staff the security of not being falsely accused. This isn't good at all--when things are reported, I'm guessing that in a large proportion of cases, even if the wrongdoing was vague (e.g. teacher touched a kid's body part) when someone reports it, it's a genuine indication of sexual predation; most kids and parents can know in their guts whether something is off or wrong.

How about if complaints about MCPS teachers/staff are redirected straight to the police? Can't the police ensure confidentiality while they do some basic investigation and take an anonymous record of the complaint? Couldn't the victims be assured that their complaint is confidential ? And if the police see a pattern of complaints over time, say, couldn't they lean into it and investigate more proactively?
I think predators are banking on victims self-censoring as well as not knowing that they are part of a pattern. But if people were to get into the habit of reporting (to the police) episodes where a teacher/staff member's behaviors made their kids feel uncomfortable, the police investigators could be the one to connect all the dots and identify the need to investigate. Similar to the Harvey Weinstein situation...once victims realized they were not alone, they were willing to speak out and be part of a collective body of evidence. An "accidental" brushing against a body part may seem too gray an area for pressing charges, but if a parent reports it confidentially, wouldn't it (esp with 1+ other parental reports) give clues to the investigation that something's up with that teacher?

[Anonymous]

While reports should go to police, I think youre seeing the issue backwards. If the police choose not to investigate, then MCPS doesn't either. But that's not how it should be. The teacher's behavior might not rise to the level of a crime, but they can still pose a danger to students. Regardless of what the police or CPS chooses to do or not do, MCPS should conduct a thorough investigation. If they're too short staffed to do that, then they need to hire more staff.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:MCPS continues to hire predators. Think it is time to start a program of continuous monitoring - not just one background check. Certain MCEA would fight it - but again they put their ‘members’ ahead of students nearly every day. (Eg COVID response). Why do we allow unions to dominate our kids again?

Unfortunately, this has been true for years. My job puts me in contact with people from the MoCo Police Department and they have known that MCPS has system wide issues with sexual predators.

MCPS continues to hire predators that pass background checks. MCPS hasn't yet begun hiring psychics to do background checks.

What would "continuous monitoring" look like?

Random on the spot phone checks.

I think access to all devises and email would need to cover it. Phones only tell so much. But then there's privacy issues.

All school related electronic communications are subject to public record requests regardless of the device or account.

I wasn't referring to school related electronics - but private ones, at his home.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:While reports should go to police, I think youre seeing the issue backwards. If the police choose not to investigate, then MCPS doesn't either. But that's not how it should be. The teacher's behavior might not rise to the level of a crime, but they can still pose a danger to students. Regardless of what the police or CPS chooses to do or not do, MCPS should conduct a thorough investigation. If they're too short staffed to do that, then they need to hire more staff.

Thanks for that...I don't have direct experience in these matters, so not sure what's done and not done by MCPS or police. I would think that the police, if they got complaint #3 about Teacher X (even if it's a grey area like 'accidental' touching), would look in their files and say, "hm, we have 3 separate reports of Teacher X doing this, so we should look into it." If I were a parent or victim going to the police, I would think it is within my right to know whether I am the first one to come forward or not about Teacher X. But I don't know how these records, laws, and practices work in reality.
With all the hype about Artificial Intelligence, you'd think that there could be a way that police records could be run through some sort of program to review and scan for patterns that identify such behaviors and recommend further investigation. I suppose since police departments are limited to their own jurisdiction, and predators may move around, this wouldn't catch everything, but still...It brings to mind Apple's new effort to scan phones for child-pornography photos (which is admittedly controversial, but still a way to use tech to put pieces together...)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:MCPS hasn't yet begun hiring psychics to do background checks.

Polygraph. It's a great investigative tool and deters some bad apples from even applying.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is it okay to let your 17 year old read the court documents?

Personally - and I'm very lenient - I wouldn't. Read it for yourself and decide.

[Anonymous]

I would let my 17-year old read these documents in a carefully-scripted situation designed to show her how that how wrong it ultimately was--particularly for an inexperienced, trusting person--was not immediately apparent. Rather, it was a gradual build-up, and I think I'd want my daughter to see that from the outside looking in. And to know the punchline (arrest/jail). These victims were like frogs thrown into a pot in room-temperature water, and he slowly, methodically turned up the heat. It's super sordid and gross, but these were girls who trusted him, and he led them to this. If I felt confident I could communicate that to my 17-year-old daughter (I had/have a very open communication line with my now-22-year-old daughter, who went to Whitman, played sports, and had Shipley as her teacher), I would absolutely do so. No downside. Upside--possible awareness, which might help, at the margins.

[Anonymous]

I would not show it to (or share the details with) my 18-year old Whitman grad. Partly because it’s too close to home - she knew him well - and partly because it would encourage too much “who was it” gossip. Those details don’t need to be shared.

[Anonymous]

This is clearly the MO of an abuser who thought he knew exactly where the lines were, because that's where they were all his life... and gets caught up by a more protective society.

It's too bad he won't get the time in jail he deserves.

[Anonymous]

Amongst the kids, the identity of the super-brave, awesome 2018 grad is well-known.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
This is clearly the MO of an abuser who thought he knew exactly where the lines were, because that's where they were all his life... and gets caught up by a more protective society.

It's too bad he won't get the time in jail he deserves.

Why do you think he won’t? Clear, and clearly documented, crime under the DC criminal code.