Reply to Whitman Teacher and Crew Coach Arrested

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]From my read of the court filing docs, the RED Flags that were missed and by whom:

1) The Whitman teacher ( Kirkland) showed a pattern over at least 8 years of inviting/ allowing female students who were in his Junior Year History class to hang out in his classroom during Free Periods. HELLO MCPS Principals and Superintendant NOT enforcing basic protocols to prevent sexual abuse. The red flag is why is this 39 year old male teacher giving up his break time ( Free period) to socialize with 16, 17, 18 year old girls ? What's he getting out of that ? Is he tutoring ? Do the parents know? Is anyone clocking the time in/out ? NOPE [b]Shouldn't a NORMAL adult prefer the company of his ADULT colleagues in the Staff lounge ?? [/b]How could a school principal miss this one ?

2) Giving rides in his car to under age girls ?? What is this the 70's ? Duh...

3) The pages and pages of obscene sexting....and the to/ from his house in Burleith .  Where are the parents in this and what kinda void have you left in your kid that they would be so desperate for what feels like attention- and how could you not equip them to know what exploitation is ??[/quote]

This is a very good point. The rides could be explained as him simply providing a convenient transport for busy students, but the bolded part is key.[/quote]

In our school (not Whitman), I reported a teacher to MCPS for all of the above except sexting.  My child had texts that were personal and creepy but hadn’t crossed the line into sexual content. The texts explain how this teacher/coached used his position to get individual students in his car. He supervised students in overnight trips in his capacity as coach and sponsor of another after school activity. He would have students hang out in his classroom at lunch to listen to music. He gave specific athletes extra attention and gifts that made them feel special. He gave individual athletes rides alone in his car. He was checking off all the boxes of grooming.

What did MCPS do? Nothing that got him away from students. My child was even retaliated by the coach and athletic department for bringing what we knew forward. This individual is still in place in the same capacity at the same school.

MCPS has a child predator problem because they do not enforce the Employee Code of Conduct. They keep violators in place till a child is sexually abused.

From my perspective, grooming is a gradual buildup of trust and manipulation. Parents are groomed as well as children. I was absolutely floored when I read my child’s text messages and started putting the pieces together. I had child abuse training. I didn’t pickup right away what was happening. As rules one by one were broken, I thought, that’s odd. Teachers aren’t supposed to do that but he is a nice guy who cares about the kids. He is going to make my child a better athlete. The one the that protected my child was when I saw the content of the texts.

Parents - ask your child if any adult is texting them. If the answer is yes, read the messages. [/quote]
I’m sorry for what you and your child experienced for trying to do the right thing. I assume you are the same PP that posted up thread about their child’s similar situation?

Would you be willing to share the kind of content in the texts he received ?  I assume it was a progression from very neutral info, like “here is the tournament schedule” to “great job yesterday” to “you’re really talented” to “that workout regimen is making your legs look so toned, that’s great” to “your body is so hot” and so on. But that is just my imagination based on tv, news, etc of this kind of thing.

Second Q: Did you attempt to discuss with other team parents? I suspect you’d explain that this is how you realized they were groomed, and that no one was willing to believe your perspective, and that perhaps this was when the athletic department began to bad-mouth you. If you were to go back in time and had this Whitman case as an example to share, and with the perspective you’ve continued to gain personally, do you think you would have done it any differently in ways that might have gotten more of a response to remove the coach? I ask not to imply that you didn’t do all you could at the time; I commend your bravery for standing up to the system and trying to prevent more harm. I’m just wondering because I think grooming is so insidious that only a collective body of evidence (multiple victims or targets) can show that “grey area” infractions can add up to convince people of the real danger. And also because I think predators benefit when targets/victims don’t compare notes, so to speak—and this is easier to achieve in a school setting where seniors are gone the next year and they (and their parents) are unlikely to be comparing notes with students/parents that have graduated 1, 2, or 5 years earlier…How do you think current students’ parents could be warned to be on their guard about your child’s former coach?
If further evidence is presented against this coach, then it would be very damning to MCPS to have evidence that they dismissed your complaint from years earlier. I hope that this guy isn’t doing more harm and he could be caught before he has actual victims but that’s probably a vain hope, since he likely has had victims already. And I hope that MCPS changes its ways—perhaps more parental pressure. I’d certainly sign some parental petition that advocated for better policies, enforcement, or whatever it would take.[/quote]

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