The Washington Post tells the story of a high school teacher who was accused of sexually assaulting a student. She was arrested and fired. The charges were dismissed for lack of evidence. The teacher sued the county and won a judgment of $5 million for the damage to her life and career.
I am reminded of an incident that happened in the D.C. public schools in 1991 when I was living in Washington and working for the George H.W. Bush administration. A story appeared in the Washington Post that a junior high school teacher was accused by eight students of sexual misconduct. With so many accusations, it appeared at first reading that the teacher was a dangerous child abuser.
However, the D.C. police interviewed each student separately, and eventually one of them confessed that the group had concocted the story to hurt the teacher because he assigned to much homework. They wanted to punish him. He was cleared but his reputation was destroyed.
Here are the details of this recent case:
The first clue that Kimberly Winters, a high school English teacher, had that a former student had accused her of sexually abusing him was when Loudoun County sheriff’s deputies in full riot gear burst into her bedroom one morning with their rifles drawn.
“It was very terrifying,” Winters said. “I still have nightmares. Big guns.”
Winters said the deputies yanked her out of bed, handcuffed her, and made her stand in the front yard of her Sterling, Va., home in her pajamas while they patted her down, in full view of the neighborhood.
When she went to the Loudoun jail, Winters said, she was strip-searched, which her lawyer said violated the sheriff’s policies because she wasn’t booked into the jail. But her mug shot was taken and distributed to the news media along with a press release saying she was charged with sexually abusing one of her students when he was 17. Soon, she was fired from her job at Park View High School, after teaching in Loudoun for eight years.
When Loudoun prosecutors looked at the case brought by Detective Peter Roque, they promptly dismissed all charges. Winters sued Roque and Loudoun Sheriff Mike Chapman (R). And after a five-day trial earlier this month, a Loudoun jury took less than two hours to find the two law enforcement officials liable for Winters’s economic and punitive damages. They awarded her $5 million.
It appeared Roque had not seriously investigated any of the student’s claims, said Winters’s lawyer, Thomas K. Plofchan. On a sworn search warrant application in November 2018, Roque had written, “Witnesses’ statements are corroborated by phone records,” but there were no records, Plofchan said the evidence showed.
Winters said she could not get a job for two years, even as a stock clerk in a grocery, with her master’s degree in teaching. She lost all of her friends, many from her years in Loudoun schools. And she developed intense anxiety, including an involuntary tremor. “It became so humiliating, I literally couldn’t go out of my house,” Winters said. “This has been going on for four years. The repeated trauma of having to relive this created this tremor. My entire body shakes.
There is more, if you can open the story. Basically, the mother and son had no evidence. No text messages, phone messages, photographs, notes.
The moral of the story is that accusations of this nature should not be made without corroborating evidence. If two people have a sustained relationship, there should be evidence. Otherwise every teacher lives in fear of false accusations.
Ms. Winters gave up teaching. She can’t go back.
“The moral of the story is that accusations of this nature should not be made without corroborating evidence.”
I agree that this case was an injustice, and the former teacher was rightly awarded compensation for her losses. Do you agree that there was no solid evidence against Brett Kavanaugh when he was accused of sexual assault? No credible witness corroborated his accuser.
Since the FBI never conducted a full investigation of Kavanaugh. It was recently reported that there were many tips to the FBI that were never checked. It didn’t matter, did it? He now has a lifetime appointment on the Supreme Court, with a great income, pension, and benefits. The teacher, by contrast, lost her career, her income and her reputation.
They are not comparable.
I suspect that the FBI received hundreds, probably thousands, of tips provided to try to discredit Kavanaugh; no agency has enough time to investigate every trivial attack. The lead witness – the alleged victim – had zero credibility, and her own friends didn’t back her up. Senators had a legitimate right to oppose Kavanaugh on grounds of differing judicial philosophy, but everyone who isn’t a blatant partisan knows that there has never been any solid proof regarding the victim’s allegations.
The accuser is a respected member of the academic community. She was not a tramp.
Yes, she is respected by her fellow left-wing partisans. If someone accused one of your sons of an identical act, with the same lack of credible proof, would you believe the accuser? I’m just an old-fashioned civil libertarian and believer in due process, and someone who opposed Kavanaugh because of his judicial philosophy, but not because of the allegations lodged against him.
Kavanaugh’s own calendar corroborated his accuser.
Nellie Bergmann,
You seem to be saying that if police in full riot gear had burst into Kavanaugh’s bedroom with their rifles drawn, and made Kavanaugh stand outside in his pajamas in front of his neighbors while police patted Kavanaugh down, and then had taken Kavanaugh to jail where he was stripped searched and his mug shot taken, that would have been wrong. And I agree. But Kavanaugh did not get that treatment.
Since this kind of treatment clearly goes on but Kavanaugh got treated with kid gloves, why can’t you admit that Kavanaugh got preferential treatment in that the people who wanted him to be cleared were the ones who got to decide what to investigate?
Kavanaugh himself was part of Ken Starr’s team who investigated sexual assault charges against Bill Clinton (this had nothing to do with Monica Lewinsky) and they spent years and years and years with unlimited power to subpoena every possible witness to try to get any corroborating evidence.
Meanwhile Kavanaugh and his supporters whine because of a 3 day investigation where investigators somehow “forgot” (or were supposedly not allowed) to talk to the witnesses who wanted to provide evidence against Kavanaugh was too much.
Is Nellie Bergmann suggesting that what Brett Kavanaugh and Ken Starr did to Bill Clinton is an injustice? Because they investigated the uncorroborated claims of assault for years and years?
Brett Kavanaugh should have been given the same treatment he and Ken Starr gave Clinton. Years of investigation turning over every leaf. Do you agree, Nellie? Or are you saying Brett Kavanaugh believes in one justice for him and one justice for other people?
Or do you think that Kavanaugh and Ken Starr owe Bill Clinton compensation?
Nellie,
your comments about Kavanaugh are laughably in error, and they demonstrate your conservative bias(es). Do you also think that Trump has been subjected to “trivial attack,” or do you agree that Trump has proved himself to be a serial liar, a racist, a seditionist, and a traitor to the Constitution and the Republic?
Back to Kavanaugh:
“in 2018, the FBI received more than 4,500 tips against Kavanaugh and sent ‘relevant’ ones to the Trump White House, where they disappeared. This month, Kavanaugh joined the 5-to-4 ruling allowing a Texas antiabortion bounty-hunting law to take effect, though it plainly violates court precedents upholding a constitutional right to abortion. To many, that provided further evidence — along with his previous support for a Louisiana antiabortion law — that he’d bamboozled Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), who provided the linchpin vote for his confirmation after he assured her that he respected those precedents as ‘settled law.’ ”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/brett-kavanaugh-gop-court/2021/09/15/d7ad45e8-15bc-11ec-a5e5-ceecb895922f_story.html
“The justice’s fall 2018 confirmation process, which took place just before the midterm elections, became chaotic when Palo Alto-based psychology professor Christine Blasey Ford accused the Trump nominee of sexually assaulting her when they were in high school. After The Washington Post published Ford’s story, two more women accused Kavanaugh of sexual assault.”
“Deborah Ramirez, one of those women, told The New Yorker’s Ronan Farrow and Jane Mayer that Kavanaugh thrust his penis in her face during a party when they were at Yale University. The FBI interviewed Ramirez, whose attorneys said the bureau never followed up with any of the 20 witnesses who might have been able to corroborate her story. The FBI’s investigation into Kavanaugh generated 4,500 tips that largely went un-investigated.”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/2023/01/21/brett-kavanaugh-doug-liman-sundance/
Pssst, Nellie:
“in 2018, the FBI received more than 4,500 tips against Kavanaugh and sent ‘relevant’ ones to the Trump White House, where they disappeared. This month, Kavanaugh joined the 5-to-4 ruling allowing a Texas antiabortion bounty-hunting law to take effect, though it plainly violates court precedents upholding a constitutional right to abortion. To many, that provided further evidence — along with his previous support for a Louisiana antiabortion law — that he’d bamboozled Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), who provided the linchpin vote for his confirmation after he assured her that he respected those precedents as ‘settled law.’ ”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/brett-kavanaugh-gop-court/2021/09/15/d7ad45e8-15bc-11ec-a5e5-ceecb895922f_story.html
“The justice’s fall 2018 confirmation process, which took place just before the midterm elections, became chaotic when Palo Alto-based psychology professor Christine Blasey Ford accused the Trump nominee of sexually assaulting her when they were in high school. After The Washington Post published Ford’s story, two more women accused Kavanaugh of sexual assault.”
“Deborah Ramirez, one of those women, told The New Yorker’s Ronan Farrow and Jane Mayer that Kavanaugh thrust his penis in her face during a party when they were at Yale University. The FBI interviewed Ramirez, whose attorneys said the bureau never followed up with any of the 20 witnesses who might have been able to corroborate her story. The FBI’s investigation into Kavanaugh generated 4,500 tips that largely went un-investigated.”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/2023/01/21/brett-kavanaugh-doug-liman-sundance/
It is not limited to education, a friend and co worker made the front page of the NYC and LI Tabloids for a week when police investigating a domestic abuse \noise complaint ,discovered an emaciated infant . The fact that the baby had been to the pediatrician several times that week and the Emergency Room that morning for diarrhea and dehydration was ignored or dismissed till trial.
He blew his chance for a huge settlement by assaulting the guard who threw him into the cell the night before while telling the other inmates he was a child abuser. The assault charges were dropped when he agreed not to sue the County.
The retraction that explained it all was a paragraph on page 28.
This case may have been a travesty of justice (and there is never any excuse for cops to humiliate or abuse any suspect), but the vast majority of travesties of justice go the other way, precisely because sexual assault/abuse is a crime with little to no corroborating evidence. That’s why we’re constantly “surprised” by cases in which teachers, coaches, pastors, etc. are suddenly charged with dozens of counts and people wonder how they got away with it for so long. Sexual abusers are masters at leaving no evidence.
Also, I find it extremely icky to refer to alleged abuse of a minor as a “sustained relationship”.
That is one weird “having your cake and eating it too” paragraph. It begins by agreeing that the story in the post is “a travesty of justice” and two sentences later becomes “abusers are masters…”, throwing the assertion in the beginning in doubt. Basically the paragraph says nothing because it take every position. Quite an obvious contortion, however.
I’m sorry English isn’t your native language. What language would you like me to translate this into?
GregB,
It always seemed to me that this has been politicized by the far right. They object to any investigations into their own as “witch hunts” but demand many years of investigations into those who thwart their far right agenda.
The far right pushes the most inane false equivalencies by saying that Ken Starr’s many, many years of investigation with full subpoena power and unlimited budget was necessary, and the fact that Ken Starr could prove none of the sexual assault charges after turning over every leaf to find evidence is irrelevant because they simply know that the guy they hate is guilty.
And at the same time, they claim that the most cursory 3 day investigation that intentionally avoided any witnesses that wouldn’t clear Kavanaugh was too much and “victimized” Kavanaugh.
There is an easy middle ground, which the Democrats have always supported but the people who hate them lie about. Democrats have always been fine with full investigations into their behavior. The dozen Benghazi investigations which included the democrat testifying for hours under oath. Al Franken asked for an investigation before being pushed to resign.
There is a difference between a thorough investigation and a witch hunt. Right wing propaganda has infected the media so badly that they make the false equivalencies that a quick and very limited Mueller investigation led by a lifetime Republican into Russia’s attempts to interfere in the election is a “partisan witch hunt”, but an investigation that takes twice as long (and is still on-going) to find some criminal behavior by the Democrats conducted by a partisan Republican John Durham is “fair and necessary”.
There was something VERY stinky about what happened to this teacher. Why did she have to be arrested in that manner? It is absolutely correct to investigate complaints, but that wasn’t an “investigation” — it was an entirely gratuitous targeting and punishing of a suspect for no good reason. While that happens all the time to people who aren’t white and privileged, usually when white and privileged suspects are treated that way, they win lawsuits. (and I have no idea what background this teacher has.) There was some reason this particular woman was treated in a manner that was unnecessary to the police’s ability to fully investigate. I wonder why? But I suspect it was personal.
We all know what a full investigation that isn’t a witch hunt looks like, and many democrats have been subject to them while Republicans whine they are being victimized because they are treated like everyone else.
All it takes is an accusation from a lying child with an axe to grind to bring a teacher down. The teacher will be taken out of the classroom without being allowed to know the charges until, in some cases, months later. The stress, the inability to defend oneself is impossible, and yet, parents, admin, etc., will consider them guilty, period.
This story is extremely common with the exception that this teacher was able to clear her name and get compensation. Notice nothing happens to the kid or his parents? Typical.
Two more years to retirement. I have lost all respect for society, especially these entitled, lying pigs.
And a lot of districts have removed due process rights for teachers, so a teacher is automatically “guilty” and can’t even defend themselves
A tale of two investigations:
Once a teacher developed a close relationship to a student. She would come and talk to him during the day. They would text. Her father volunteered at the police department. He saw the texts and his friend, the detective began to fake text the teacher. At some point, the investigation led to the teacher losing his job and pension.
During all this, another teacher had a daughter who was approached at a retail by an unsavory character. He harassed her on the phone afterwards. Her father, also in education, requested law enforcement do something about it. He was told that these things rarely could be investigated,
I guess it matters who you are.
About a decade ago, the hands down best teacher in Los Angeles was fired and publicly humiliated because he had established a scholarship fund to help his former students pay for college, and the district wrongfully assumed it was grooming. There was an email that could have been interpreted either way. The police determined there was no crime, but the man’s life and health were ruined as the district and the local news outlets published accusations without the agreement of law enforcement.
One year ago, I suffered a similar attack. A group of students in one class was inspired by the principal to make accusations against me. I’m the best teacher on the West Side, hands down. It was retaliation for my work as a union representative. Twelve students were asked by the adminimal to write accusatory statements. The statements were downright silly, ranging from his physical size makes me nervous to he tells me to put my phone away so he’s obviously looking at me. The principal told me the students had accused me of serious abuse, and used her own illness time to drag out the process by which I could see the actual written statements for months. My health suffered out of fear of the unknown. I wound up in the hospital. When I saw the “charges”, I laughed. It was nothing.
I. Am. Still. Here. And I am not leaving.
It’s too easy to use children to attack unions and teachers. Making false accusations is a crime. It’s perjury if it gets to court, but it’s kosher before it does. It’s too easy to ruin the life of a teacher or a school librarian. Bill Gates can do whatever he wants and get away with nothing more than a divorce. The working class, not so much.
And as for the discussion above about the crying, whining, beer guzzling
rapist on the Supreme Court, it just goes to show the difference between oligarchs and the rest of us: “socialism for the rich, rugged individualism for the poor.”
In other news, another Repugnican governor, Sarah Huckster-bee, indulges in Orwellian doubletalk to promote her racist agenda:
https://www.rawstory.com/arkansas-learns-sarah-huckabee-sanders/