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An analysis conducted by Fox News Digital looked at local news stories week by week featuring arrests of teachers and teachers’ aides on child sex-related crimes in school districts across the country. The data shows there have been 135 such arrests so far this year alone. You can read the full article here.
The most recent arrest was in the Houston Independent School District, where the district’s police chief told parents that a substitute teacher was accused of inappropriate sexual behavior with a student.
The list goes on and on, but here are some recent high-profile cases:
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Anessa Paige Gower, a 35-year-old former biology teacher at Making Waves Academy in Richmond, California, was charged with 29 counts of child molestation on April 8. Gower is accused of sexually abusing seven students between 2021-2022 when she was a teacher at Making Waves, with allegations including forcible sodomy of minors and sharing sexually graphic photos over online platforms. She is due back in court on June 2.
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William Landon Smith, a 31-year-old former science teacher at Cape Fear High School in Fayetteville, North Carolina, was charged with 27 counts of first-degree sexual exploitation of a minor, 28 counts of indecent liberties with a student, and one count of secretly using or installing a photographic imaging device to arouse or gratify sexual desire on March 18. Smith is accused of inappropriately communicating with students via social media apps like Snapchat when he was a teacher at Cape Fear.
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Danielle Fischer, a 29-year-old former substitute teacher in the Roxana and Alton school districts, was charged with criminal sexual assault and aggravated criminal sexual abuse on Feb. 4. Fischer is accused of sexually assaulting two teenage male students at her home in Edwardsville during summer break last year. A Madison County grand jury later added child pornography to the charges.
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John M. Doty, a 35-year-old former biology teacher at Career Academy South Bend in Indiana, was charged with two counts of rape, one count of attempted rape and six counts of child seduction on Feb. 9. Doty is accused of repeatedly raping a 16-year-old female student and threatening to kill her. He is scheduled to stand trial in January 2023.
We know these stories are hard to read. However, it's important to know the realness of this issue. Being informed is the first step to making sure precautions are being taken to protect children and other vulnerable populations.
It’s also important to note that the number of cases reported by local news outlets is not necessarily representative of the true number of teachers arrested on child sex-related crimes. There are several reasons for this:
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Many cases do not make it onto the national news, and some may never be covered by any outlet at all. With so many teachers criminally charged each year, there are thousands more whose names are never publicized at all.
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The analysis was limited to teachers and teachers’ aides. The analysis did not include cases where the perpetrator was not a teacher or teacher’s aide, such as coaches, volunteers, etc. The analysis also excluded cases where the perpetrator was not arrested, but only because these cases were often from years ago and therefore difficult to find information on.
So, how do you know if the background checks being performed on teachers, volunteers, coaches and others with access to child are actually keeping anyone safe?
You have the right to know how the teachers and authority figures who have access to your children, are being background checked and the limitations and risks involved with some methods. So, what can you do?
Firstly, know the facts:
- Social Security numbers are not used to search for criminal background records. Records are found by using full name and DOB matches. How are SSNs useful? They are used to perform an Address History Trace (AHT), which reveals where a person has lived or worked and if they have any AKAs.
- There is no such thing as a "national" database. There is not database available, either held privately or by the FBI, that is a comprehensive listing of every criminal record in the U.S. Commercial databases cover about 50% of the U.S. (400 million plus records). The FBI database has approximately 40 million criminal records.
- Every good screen should include county level searches because they are the court of record and have the most complete information.
- State repositories like DPS do not collect all criminal records (i.e. Class C misdemeanors), and dispositions may also be missing.
Secondly, ask Questions:
- Find out who makes the decision on volunteer screening in your district (School Boards, Superintendents, HR Director and Parental Involvement Coordinators often all have some say so in the policy).
- Ask about the methodology used to screen.
- Educate stakeholders about what a reliable screen is and is not, insisting on the use of an Address History Trace and county level searches supplemented with a database.
- Ask how AKAs are determined or if they search them at all.
- Inquire about how sex offender registries are searched.
- If your district does use a third party to screen (not DPS or the FBI), ask who it is and find out their reputation.
- Recruit other people to stand with you in a movement for better screening.
- Go social with your concerns - post using #keepschoolssafe.
- Talk to stakeholders about alternate payment ideas, including self-pay by parents and volunteers or raising funds through school booster activities. You help raise funds for so many other things that don't impact your kids nearly as much.
At BIB we want to help you screen better because if it's worth doing, its worth doing right. If you want to learn more about how BIB can offer you a better way to background check, contact us to begin a journey for better screening! We're here for you, and we're committed to helping you protect what matters.
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