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Wednesday, March 14, 2007
Sexual Predators In Schools: What To Do?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
For the second time in less than a week, a metro Atlanta school employee has been charged with sexually assaulting a minor.
First, a Fayette County custodian was arrested after a 16-year-old reported that he had molested her for several years, sometimes at the Peachtree City elementary school where he worked. Then, yesterday, Cobb County police arrested a substitute teacher, who worked at several elementary campuses, after students reported inappropriate touching.
Unfortunately, incidents like this seem to happen every school year. Remember the Pike County superintendent who was arrested after using his office computer and telephone to proposition a 15-year-old? At least in that case the victim was an undercover police officer working an Internet sting operation.
In the more recent arrests, officials from both school systems said they conducted routine criminal background checks on the individuals before they were hired. Neither turned up a prior criminal record.
Now, those men may end up being cleared of any wrongdoing. But what I really want to know is: Is there anything more that administrators can do to prevent children from being harmed by sexual predators at school or do parents just have to accept that schools are not always the safe places they may want them to be?
UPDATE: Check out what the Fayette County principal told parents about the janitor’s arrest in the latest article from the AJC.
