How did he live in Mechanicsville and work at Glasgow MS at the same time?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was hired as a teacher in another county about 10 years ago. No background check. The people I’d listed as references never got a call. For comparison—prior to this I’d worked as waitress at an establishment that did a background check and drug testing. Interviewed all my references. When we hear about teachers with criminal records I’m honestly just surprised it doesn’t happen more. We’re kind of just on the honor system.

FCPS does intensive background checks even if you just want to volunteer in the school, let alone teach and everyone is fingerprinted etc. What I think they will be re-examining is how closely they monitor after you are hired--they monitor now, but that there was a 2 year gap is telling. It's hard to know if the 2 year gap was because of pandemic breakdown in monitoring processes (either in the reporting from the courts or the monitoring by FCPS) or a more ongoing problem.

How does a case that has not been adjudicated get reported earlier then after it has gone through the system? I am not sure what types of data bases exist and how easy it is to set up automated runs that would search for all FCPS employees on those various data bases.

I don't know, that's what I think they will be examining whether there are more options (and their legality given privacy laws). It may be that they did everything in their power within the law but I think they will need to do a review of that.

Google Virginia Court Case Information, select statewide search, enter his name and you will see the charges, convictions, and sentencing. This should have been caught when he was arrested in 2020. Inexplicable this information was not shared with FCPS, or that FCPS would not have taken action if they were told. Zero percent chance the authorities in Chesterfield would not have discovered he was a middle school counselor. Dumbfounding and maddening.

There are people who choose education as a profession because of its access to children. Of course, most teachers don’t fit in this category, but there is a population that does. I learned this the hard way from a teammate on a state and national championship squad. 8 of us went on to Division scholarships. We all take pride in our adult lives but one guy - the only one of us to go into teaching (a Big 10 champion athlete) faced multiple lewd conduct charges over a period of years. The first time we thought it was a mistake and helped him. But with repeated offenses - and the victims being increasingly younger, it was clear he was an incredibly noxious criminal. He was head of the English department and the head coach in two sports with state championships and in the year of his first major arrest was state coach of the year. He was undeservedly beyond suspicion for way too long. Over time, it became clear his motivation to enter teaching was to support his paraphilia. Once caught, he was put on paid leave for four years - defended by the union at a cost of 150k in legal fees to taxpayers. The school system at which he taught has a lot of problems, but frankly I can see why they hired this guy. Stellar athlete, high grades in English and Education from Indiana, married to an All American athlete who went on to all sorts of teaching awards herself. The difficulty is in tracking these types once they come on board.

His family comes from wealth and he only had to spend 16 days in jail as a result of very good lawyering. He now lives in the middle of nowhere and practically speaking is difficult to assist. It would be far easier if he was a paroled armed robber! One comment he made was that the mandated group therapy just made him more adept at getting away with his crimes. Certainly a poor situation for kids.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was hired as a teacher in another county about 10 years ago. No background check. The people I’d listed as references never got a call. For comparison—prior to this I’d worked as waitress at an establishment that did a background check and drug testing. Interviewed all my references. When we hear about teachers with criminal records I’m honestly just surprised it doesn’t happen more. We’re kind of just on the honor system.

FCPS does intensive background checks even if you just want to volunteer in the school, let alone teach and everyone is fingerprinted etc. What I think they will be re-examining is how closely they monitor after you are hired--they monitor now, but that there was a 2 year gap is telling. It's hard to know if the 2 year gap was because of pandemic breakdown in monitoring processes (either in the reporting from the courts or the monitoring by FCPS) or a more ongoing problem.

How does a case that has not been adjudicated get reported earlier then after it has gone through the system? I am not sure what types of data bases exist and how easy it is to set up automated runs that would search for all FCPS employees on those various data bases.

Anonymous wrote:I was hired as a teacher in another county about 10 years ago. No background check. The people I’d listed as references never got a call. For comparison—prior to this I’d worked as waitress at an establishment that did a background check and drug testing. Interviewed all my references. When we hear about teachers with criminal records I’m honestly just surprised it doesn’t happen more. We’re kind of just on the honor system.

FCPS does intensive background checks even if you just want to volunteer in the school, let alone teach and everyone is fingerprinted etc. What I think they will be re-examining is how closely they monitor after you are hired--they monitor now, but that there was a 2 year gap is telling. It's hard to know if the 2 year gap was because of pandemic breakdown in monitoring processes (either in the reporting from the courts or the monitoring by FCPS) or a more ongoing problem.

Anonymous wrote:People with clearances are required to report all arrests to their security officer, failure to do so is immediate termination and loss of your clearance. I am not sure if there is a similar requirement for FCPS Teachers, or Teachers in general. It is uncomfortable for the individual involved but that is a part of having the clearance and the job. This includes things like trafiic violations such as reckless driving.

This Counselor was allowed to continue working for 2 years probably because the case did not make its way through the court system in a way that would lead to FCPS being notified of an offense. That is a problem. I don't think that every Teacher would report such an arrest but it is a potential hole in the system.

Teachers are required to report offenses (and all the counselor's colleagues are mandated reporters so if they knew anything about it they would be required to report it too). But the thing is an offense like this would be immediate termination and never getting hired as a counselor so he might have thought the best thing to do is tell no one and ride it out as long as possible until his case gets flagged.

Anonymous wrote:You can look up the arrest information here with the name in the article above…

What I'm trying to figure out is the following notation. There was some sort of request on 6/15/22 from or to Fairfax County.

40 08/10/2022 LETTER KRV EMAIL>MAIN ACCT RE ARREST
39 08/09/2022 LETTER KRV EMAIL>MAIN ACCT RE ARREST
38 06/15/2022 REQUEST KRV FAIRFAX CO SCHOOL COPY REQ

Person with same name part of 2022 sting that article dates June 9, 2022- so maybe request above after/related to that if same person

https://www.chesterfield.gov/CivicAlerts.aspx?AID=2949

Since this was an online solicitation and he had such easy access to students in private situations as a counselor, both online and in private office meetings, I hope someone unbiased (ie not FCPS or associates) does an in depth combing of his online communication with students at that middle school, with parents involved. I also hope that his in person interactions with students is fully investigated.

Counselors have so much intimate access to students.

FCPS needs to be very open and vigilant about making sure he did not abuse the trust of parents and students, or violate students in any way whatsoever.

I think they also need to pay very close attention to any SEL or FLE lessons or interactions he was a part of, to make sure he did not use these somewhat intrusive lessons as an opportunity for grooming.

The fact he is a counselor makes this much more alarming that the Irving teacher busted last spring.

I really hope FCPS is 100% transparent about this guy and his interactions with students.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Name is public here: https://www.fox5dc.com/news/fairfax-county-school-employed-counselor-convicted-in-sex-crime-with-minor-superintendent-says

Feels like this is more on the legal system reporting side. FCPS can’t be doing 365 background checks.

Agreed. I work for a private preschool. I have to undergo a background check every 5 years. So if I pass the background check on 8/1/22, I could commit a crime on 8/2/22 and it wouldn't be picked up again on a routine 5 year background check until 8/1/27.

I've received a speeding ticket but have not done anything else illegal so I don't know what happens if I were arrested and convicted of something - do the authorities notify my place of employment?

A speeding ticket is not necessarily an arrest, only certain violations would constitute an arrest. I was stopped for reckless driving, which was technically an arrest even though I was not put in handcuffs and brought to the Police Station. I reported that to my employer because it was required by my job. The charge was dropped to a basic traffic violation and does not appear as an arrest but i still report it on forms just to be safe.

Authorities are not going to be notifying employers of arrests. Reporting them, unless they are in the news or someone misses a lot of work, is going to be on the honor system. At my job, if you don't report it and it is discovered you are terminated and loose credentialing.

People with clearances are required to report all arrests to their security officer, failure to do so is immediate termination and loss of your clearance. I am not sure if there is a similar requirement for FCPS Teachers, or Teachers in general. It is uncomfortable for the individual involved but that is a part of having the clearance and the job. This includes things like trafiic violations such as reckless driving.

This Counselor was allowed to continue working for 2 years probably because the case did not make its way through the court system in a way that would lead to FCPS being notified of an offense. That is a problem. I don't think that every Teacher would report such an arrest but it is a potential hole in the system.

Anonymous wrote:Name is public here: https://www.fox5dc.com/news/fairfax-county-school-employed-counselor-convicted-in-sex-crime-with-minor-superintendent-says

Feels like this is more on the legal system reporting side. FCPS can’t be doing 365 background checks.

Agreed. I work for a private preschool. I have to undergo a background check every 5 years. So if I pass the background check on 8/1/22, I could commit a crime on 8/2/22 and it wouldn't be picked up again on a routine 5 year background check until 8/1/27.

I've received a speeding ticket but have not done anything else illegal so I don't know what happens if I were arrested and convicted of something - do the authorities notify my place of employment?

You can look up the arrest information here with the name in the article above: https://eapps.courts.state.va.us/ocis/search

Offense date was 11/19/20
Grand Jury 5/17/21
Trial was 8/30/21
Sentencing 3/11/22 - 5 year suspended
Appealed on 4/28/22

What I'm trying to figure out is the following notation. There was some sort of request on 6/15/22 from or to Fairfax County.

40 08/10/2022 LETTER KRV EMAIL>MAIN ACCT RE ARREST
39 08/09/2022 LETTER KRV EMAIL>MAIN ACCT RE ARREST
38 06/15/2022 REQUEST KRV FAIRFAX CO SCHOOL COPY REQ

Anonymous wrote:it happened over two years ago. it should have been caught much sooner.

Perhaps the new 2022 arrest brought it all to their attention

I was hired as a teacher in another county about 10 years ago. No background check. The people I’d listed as references never got a call. For comparison—prior to this I’d worked as waitress at an establishment that did a background check and drug testing. Interviewed all my references. When we hear about teachers with criminal records I’m honestly just surprised it doesn’t happen more. We’re kind of just on the honor system.