Beauvoir Scandal?

[Anonymous]

Were there any consequences for the parents who empowered the teacher in question and put him in a position to do harm? The ones who promoted and set up the private camps and camping trips only supervised, regulated, and directed by the teacher in question. The parents who were either seduced by him without much thought, or more likely saw in him the opportunity to abdicate (read dump) some of their child rearing responsibilities on a single individual. The ones who noticed the red flags, but chose to ignore them, given the relationship they/their DCs had with him. The ones who defended this teacher until the end, accusing the rest of us of being on a witch hunt, rushingt to judgment, and other things unsuitable for print, refusing to see what, if not obvious at the time, became obvious soon thereafter.

No, I'm not blaming these parents as the root cause for this tragedy. But while they didn't start the disease, the played a role in spreading it, and their reaction after it came to light only increased the pain felt by the community.

[Anonymous]

There are hundreds of parents in this town who are so obnoxious in the way they suck up to their kids' teachers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Were there any consequences for the parents who empowered the teacher in question and put him in a position to do harm? The ones who promoted and set up the private camps and camping trips only supervised, regulated, and directed by the teacher in question. The parents who were either seduced by him without much thought, or more likely saw in him the opportunity to abdicate (read dump) some of their child rearing responsibilities on a single individual. The ones who noticed the red flags, but chose to ignore them, given the relationship they/their DCs had with him. The ones who defended this teacher until the end, accusing the rest of us of being on a witch hunt, rushingt to judgment, and other things unsuitable for print, refusing to see what, if not obvious at the time, became obvious soon thereafter.

No, I'm not blaming these parents as the root cause for this tragedy. But while they didn't start the disease, the played a role in spreading it, and their reaction after it came to light only increased the pain felt by the community.

If it's any consolation PP, some of us have been hauled before a federal grand jury. It's not fun.

[Anonymous]

I have to say I really don't like what the PP said about the parents. Yes some parents suck up to teachers. But this particular one was extremely manipulative and supposedly well loved by the Beauvoir community for 3 years. For $30 grand a year, one would expect the teacher to be fully vetted and trusted. Only after the fact can you put the pieces together and find out that there were certain admin people that didn't care for him.

Moreover, not only did parents and kids have to appear in front of a grand jury, but how about the long lasting effects? How about the innocence of our children which has been stolen way too early? I had to teach my child about things which I would have preferred to wait on (ie anal and oral issues). How about that I still have bad dreams, or that I know some of the children do too? We have no closure, he is out there lurking, which only makes it worse.

Please don't blame parents for supporting a well loved teacher who wanted to be helpful. The fact that he has been accused of being a pedophile is horrible, and to make it seem as if the parents did something wrong is just a cheapshot to be quite honest. I can understand the school's potential negligence, but suggesting parents did is outrageous. The camping trip thankfully never happened, nor did the camp(s). And I understood other teachers/adults would be there anyway. Dumping child rearing responsibilities is different from hiring the teacher to stay overnight at your house. Or tutor your kid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have to say I really don't like what the PP said about the parents. Yes some parents suck up to teachers. But this particular one was extremely manipulative and supposedly well loved by the Beauvoir community for 3 years. For $30 grand a year, one would expect the teacher to be fully vetted and trusted. Only after the fact can you put the pieces together and find out that there were certain admin people that didn't care for him.

Moreover, not only did parents and kids have to appear in front of a grand jury, but how about the long lasting effects? How about the innocence of our children which has been stolen way too early? I had to teach my child about things which I would have preferred to wait on (ie anal and oral issues). How about that I still have bad dreams, or that I know some of the children do too? We have no closure, he is out there lurking, which only makes it worse.

Please don't blame parents for supporting a well loved teacher who wanted to be helpful. The fact that he has been accused of being a pedophile is horrible, and to make it seem as if the parents did something wrong is just a cheapshot to be quite honest. I can understand the school's potential negligence, but suggesting parents did is outrageous. The camping trip thankfully never happened, nor did the camp(s). And I understood other teachers/adults would be there anyway. Dumping child rearing responsibilities is different from hiring the teacher to stay overnight at your house. Or tutor your kid.

Is it true that some of the kids actually appeared before the grand jury?

[Anonymous]

Pedophile's put themselves in places that will afford them the greatest access to children. Is this really a surprise to everyone?

If you really want to get freaked out, search the latest stats on the percentages regarding school personnel found to be involved in inappropriate contact with children. You can bet the odds are great, that there is atleast one is every school.

[Anonymous]

Yes children had to testify. They could go a kinder gentler method than appearing in front of the grand jury though as they could be interviewed at Safe Shores (a non profit) and the interview taped. Still parents could not be with the kid at all, and the police and US attorney watched the taping in a room on site so they could make sure the questions they needed asking were asked and answered. My understanding is that kids over the 3 year peiod had to testify. Maybe some he overnighted with too. Not sure if any girls did or not, but definitely boys.

[Anonymous]

From what I've heard, he targeted boys from particularly stressed and vulnerable families, as is typically done by a pedophile. I don't think those of us who are not in their position should judge these parents -- its, well, mean to a group of folks who are suffering as it is and were probably suffering some before this happened.

I know families who had him as a tutor whose children were not molested and the kids still feel he is innocent and was a terrific person. Pedophiles are extremely smart and manipulative. Let's keep the blame where it belongs.

[Anonymous]

For what it's worth, this was a guy who managed to get a position teaching at Potomac even after the head of school at Beauvoir told Potomac that he was not being rehired because of recurring insubordination. I don't mean this as a criticism of Potomac--obviously they had no idea that he was a risk to children. My point is that he is in part a con artist, who relies on his ability to gain people's trust and manipulate them for his own purposes. Not only did he do it to parents at Beauvoir, he apparently did it to a number of staff at Potomac, as well, even when they were warned to stay well clear of him. So let's avoid being too ready to judge parents who trusted him.

[Anonymous]

I have no connection to this school and do not intend to apply (live too far away). But I do care about children.

So does anyone have any idea why this man's name and picture hasn't been plastered all over the city, and even country/world, so perhaps we can catch him? This is so strange to me. He could be molesting children here or in another country as we speak (IF the accusations are valid). What the heck is going on? Law enforcement/press routintely publish pictures of other criminals (and in my mind, sometimes criminals who haven't done half the harm this man has allegedly done). Usually the pictures are of minority men. So, I have to say it, is there something racist going on here, or are the allegations not as clear cut as we have been led to believe.

Signed, not a gossip, just wondering why the public hasn't been called on to try to find this guy,

[jsteele]

Anonymous wrote:
Signed, not a gossip, just wondering why the public hasn't been called on to try to find this guy,

So far, the teacher has not been charged. I don't think there are any warrants out for him (if there is, I don't know about it). So, it wouldn't be appropriate at this point to disseminate his name and picture. If, as earlier posters say, there is a grand jury inquiry in process, there may soon be an indictment. At that point, I would expect to see his name, at a minimum.

[Anonymous]

But the press routintely publishes pictures of persons of "interest" as far as I can remember, particularly when the person has fled the area, as is the case here and not speculation. The more time he has to flee, the harder it will be to find him. I don't know why they can't publish his picture on the simple basis that this person is
"wanted for questioning but has fled the area." The fact that this involves children makes it even more important.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:But the press routintely publishes pictures of persons of "interest" as far as I can remember, particularly when the person has fled the area, as is the case here and not speculation. The more time he has to flee, the harder it will be to find him. I don't know why they can't publish his picture on the simple basis that this person is
"wanted for questioning but has fled the area." The fact that this involves children makes it even more important.

I am not a lawyer and am not familiar with any legalities pertaining to pretty much anything, but I agree with you, PP. I want to know what this guy looks like, too.

[Anonymous]

But doesn't everyone (at least B parents and community) know his name - I do - why not get it out there?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:But doesn't everyone (at least B parents and community) know his name - I do - why not get it out there?

I know his name, and am not a B parent. I'm not a lawyer, but would assume putting his name out there might be slander.