Whitman Teacher and Crew Coach Arrested
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Anonymous
Thank you for posting this link. I am copying a paragraph here: "This month, the district reported that seven employees were suspended without pay after allegations of abuse or neglect in the 2016-2017 school year and 29 resigned, retired or were terminated under similar circumstances. Forty-six others drew reprimands or disciplinary letters, and 180 required a conference or a written warning." I agree and I'm going to bump this post and suggest that everyone read it. I hadn't known of it before (I wasn't an MCPS parent in 2017 when this came out and didn't see this news at the time). And if I had, I would have thought this predator was sort of a rare incident and I wouldn't have zeroed in on some of the particulars in this article about how MCPS responded to this and the other case mentioned. Now that I've read it, I see that it gives credence to the PP who's been telling us that MCPS has a history of covering up known sexual abuse situations and letting them continue. (Although maybe the posts are from more than one PP who knows of this pattern). I'm not someone who likes to complain about MCPS; I tend to trust the institutions around me and give them the benefit of the doubt. However, it's seriously, seriously troubling that MCPS's response to reports of predatory behavior have repeatedly been to allow the person to stay in the position, with child interactions. As we can see, predators don't change their behavior based on internal warnings; they are pathological liars, by and large. I consider myself a 'vigilant parent' (knock wood). But what about all the other kids in MCPS whose parents are not as vigilant for whatever reasons (e.g., a single parent juggling lots of responsibilities; or parents with severe illness in their family)? For the sake of these kids, we all need to stamp out these predators from our system. And I can't believe this predator's quote in defense:
No way. I had a male 3rd grade teacher. We liked him, and were happy with him. The thought of being physically 'affectionate' toward him, though, or 'hopping up on his knee' or sitting on his lap? Never, ever would have felt natural to do. Not even when I was in 1st grade. This man is trying to convince people that his 3rd graders are like pre-schoolers in their body language. It's becoming crystal clear to me now that school systems are MAGNETS for abusers--an ever-replenishing supply of potential targets, a constant movement of kids through and out of the school (unlikely to compare notes with current students), victims too young to feel certain when something has crossed the line, and too young to feel confident in their judgment against a trusted teacher. Environments where 'caring' about students and/or being very warm/close to young kids is construed as a sign of great teaching/compassion. So if one school system is known to be lenient toward known abusers, other predators will see it as an attractive place to seek employment. I think the PP(s) I mentioned is a whistleblower of sorts, and wants us to all realize this pattern for ourselves so that we can start pressuring MCPS to change its ways. Or at least raise awareness so that MCPS gets lots of heat. I know what it's like to have seen wrongdoing and everyone else is like, "Don't rock the boat" or "You're getting a reputation as a troublemaker." It's hard to be a single voice to challenge a whole system. We need to consider how to multiply these lone or separated voices. |
Anonymous
Hello – I am posting this message from the Network Victim Recovery of DC (NVRDC), an organization that represents the women in the ongoing criminal investigation against Kirk Shipley in the District. [twitter]https://twitter.com/nvrdc/status/1432716587501604864?s=21
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Anonymous
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Whitman has suspended crew team for fall season.
https://bethesdamagazine.com/bethesda-beat/police-fire/whitman-crew-team-suspends-fall-program-following-coachs-sexual-abuse-arrest/ |
Anonymous
crew is spring sport no? |
Anonymous
Crew is year round. |
Anonymous
I agree and I'm going to bump this post and suggest that everyone read it. I hadn't known of it before (I wasn't an MCPS parent in 2017 when this came out and didn't see this news at the time). And if I had, I would have thought this predator was sort of a rare incident and I wouldn't have zeroed in on some of the particulars in this article about how MCPS responded to this and the other case mentioned. Now that I've read it, I see that it gives credence to the PP who's been telling us that MCPS has a history of covering up known sexual abuse situations and letting them continue. (Although maybe the posts are from more than one PP who knows of this pattern). I'm not someone who likes to complain about MCPS; I tend to trust the institutions around me and give them the benefit of the doubt. However, it's seriously, seriously troubling that MCPS's response to reports of predatory behavior have repeatedly been to allow the person to stay in the position, with child interactions. As we can see, predators don't change their behavior based on internal warnings; they are pathological liars, by and large. I consider myself a 'vigilant parent' (knock wood). But what about all the other kids in MCPS whose parents are not as vigilant for whatever reasons (e.g., a single parent juggling lots of responsibilities; or parents with severe illness in their family)? For the sake of these kids, we all need to stamp out these predators from our system. And I can't believe this predator's quote in defense:
No way. I had a male 3rd grade teacher. We liked him, and were happy with him. The thought of being physically 'affectionate' toward him, though, or 'hopping up on his knee' or sitting on his lap? Never, ever would have felt natural to do. Not even when I was in 1st grade. This man is trying to convince people that his 3rd graders are like pre-schoolers in their body language. It's becoming crystal clear to me now that school systems are MAGNETS for abusers--an ever-replenishing supply of potential targets, a constant movement of kids through and out of the school (unlikely to compare notes with current students), victims too young to feel certain when something has crossed the line, and too young to feel confident in their judgment against a trusted teacher. Environments where 'caring' about students and/or being very warm/close to young kids is construed as a sign of great teaching/compassion. So if one school system is known to be lenient toward known abusers, other predators will see it as an attractive place to seek employment. I think the PP(s) I mentioned is a whistleblower of sorts, and wants us to all realize this pattern for ourselves so that we can start pressuring MCPS to change its ways. Or at least raise awareness so that MCPS gets lots of heat. I know what it's like to have seen wrongdoing and everyone else is like, "Don't rock the boat" or "You're getting a reputation as a troublemaker." It's hard to be a single voice to challenge a whole system. We need to consider how to multiply these lone or separated voices. Thank you for acknowledging the voices on here that are urging people to look into how and even whether these cases are investigated responsibly. The standard for MCPS should be much higher than "CPS and the police didn't investigate, so we don't have to worry about this guy." Where there is smoke there is often fire, as we just learned with regards to the Shipley case, which involved an allegation that was dismissed as immaterial back in 2018. MCPS needs to look at all the teachers and coaches they have returned to classrooms and playing fields and do their due diligence. |
Anonymous
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Omg. The board knew in June of 2018!!
Turned a blind eye. |
Anonymous
| As did MCPS. |
Anonymous
Can you read? The article says they became aware of a “rumor”, AND that they reported it to mcps and child protective services. Now it is clear that what this guy did is shocking and disgusting but I don’t think we want to start witch hunts based on rumors. |
Anonymous
No witch hunt. Multiple complaints. MCPS knew. Left him in classroom. Same as John Vigna. |
Anonymous
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This is the Superintendent’s Report on the number of complaints to CPS about MCPS employees:
https://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/uploadedFiles/childabuseandneglect/Annual%20CAN%20MEMO%20to%20BOE_Update%20Policy%20JHC%20CAN_FY20.pdf Remember - FY20 was the start of online learning so these numbers are lower than the trend was demonstrating. CPS screens out (does not investigate) the vast majority of cases. They have a small department so they are overwhelmed by the volume of complaints that come in county wide. MCPS employees are not a priority for them. As pp said, when CPS doesn’t investigate or rules out child abuse, MCPS points to CPS and says that the employee is cleared. The employee keeps his job no matter how many Code of Conduct violations the employee made. MCPS fails to understand that the Code of Conduct is for getting questionable employees out of control with children BEFORE the abuse occurs. Look at the numbers. Prior year reports are on the MCPS Child Abuse and Neglect homepage. The Board of Ed has these reports yet they have not made changes to a school system that keeps questionable staff in place till the abuse occurs. |
Anonymous
Just to be clear - Whitman (the school) did not suspend the team. Whitman (the crew club) voluntarily suspended its own operations this fall to focus on “on providing resources to our athletes, healing our community, and cooperating with the investigation.” In addition to CPS and MCPS, the Whitman board reported the allegations to SafeSport, which reportedly did an “investigation” of the rumor of a sexual relationship between the team member and Shipley but failed to find any physical or sexual abuse. Parents (and journalists) should be asking a LOT of questions about exactly what was done during the investigation. Safesport is a major non-profit that purports to represents thousands of local state and national teams all the way up to the Paralympic and Olympic level. The fact that Safesport cleared the guy should make every local team (including many other HS crews) rethink their relationship with Safesport and their rules on reporting abuse (for example, any rumors or allegations of physical or sexual abuse should be immediately reported to police). Parents should also note that the one organization to whom the allegations appear NOT to have been reported was the Police. This speaks volumes about how the team and the broader community value girls’ safety - sexual abuse is still not thought of as criminal behavior. This is how perpetrators are shielded from consequences. By not reporting to the police, there are many tools that would have been missing in an investigation - the ability to interview girls and parents, the ability to seize devices like phones or cars, the ability to follow or stake out someone, etc. Finally, it should have been a major red flag that the team feedback on Shipley was so negative. Sexual abuse is at its core an abuse of power, so it should be no surprise that abusers engage in other abuses of power. In this context, arbitrary, abusive and punitive coaching decisions, yelling, name-calling, excluding or making fun of teammates, commenting on body parts, etc. should all be regarded with suspicion. These abusive coaching tactics are a form of grooming - when the girls can’t be successful on the merits, they become. vulnerable to the inappropriate personal relationship that are needed to succeed. That means that they don’t feel comfortable drawing strong boundaries against abuse, and then reluctant to report it afterwards because it will damage their opportunities as an athlete. It’s really no different than the choices we face when sexually harassed at work, but there’s no HR to report to, and girls believe that going to police or trusted parents is useless (because they have witnessed a cycle of failed reporting). |
Anonymous
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This is why girls will continue to be targeted in sports.
Because the adults on the board wanted the program to continue to be successful rather than safe. Gross. That board is gross. I am not excusing MCPS at all but these parents needed to step up also. And they didn't. |
Anonymous
Whitman and MCPS doing their best to be like Penn State. |
Anonymous
It's not accurate--or fair-- to say the Whitman crew board did not step up. They reported Shipley to Safe Sport in 2018 based on a rumor. An investigation didn't result in any misconduct report to the board, according to Bethesda Magazine's article yesterday. https://bethesdamagazine.com/bethesda-beat/police-fire/whitman-crew-team-suspends-fall-program-following-coachs-sexual-abuse-arrest/ This year, after a survey with negative reviews of Shipley, the board immediately suspended him and launched an independent personnel inquiry. Then, a week before Shipley was arrested, according to Bethesda Magazine, Safe Sport informed the board of a new investigation into Shipley but barred the Whitman crew board from firing him. |