Two boys in a southern West Virginia town are accused of waging a two-year campaign of sexual assault against several of their female classmates. If it were possible to get worse than that, state attorney general Patrick Morrisey has obtained evidence that suggests school administrators not only covered up the abuse, but actually retaliated against two of the girls who complained. Early Friday morning, Morrisey won an injunction against the administrators, the superintendent of schools, the board of education, the alleged attackers, and their parents in order to protect the girls while a criminal investigation by his office and a separate investigation by the state Human Rights Commission are underway.
The injunction makes for horrifying reading. Last May, two girls at Burch Middle School in Delbarton, just a few miles north of the West Virginia-Kentucky border, told guidance counselor Hester Keatley that the boys, then in seventh grade, had groped them on several occasions during the year during school hours. The girls also revealed one of their friends, named as “Victim 1” in the injunction, had been assaulted as well. Victim 1 would have reported the abuse sooner, but one of the boys told his crony that a relative who worked for the school system would “take care of us” if anyone complained. The boys were apparently so brazen that they attacked another victim, named as “Victim 2,” in the computer lab.
When Victim 1 finally revealed what had happened, Keatley assured her that then-principal Jada Hunter knew about the abuse. However, Victim 1’s parents had to demand a meeting with Hunter in order to get any sort of response. The response was almost as hideous as the alleged assault. Even though the father of one of the boys admitted what had happened, Hunter and a teacher on hand to witness the meeting, Melvin Cunningham, told Victim 1’s parents that nothing could be done since there were no witnesses–and that their daughter could potentially be disciplined if she made further complaints without witnesses. Almost as disturbing, it appears that a written statement Victim 1 gave about the abuse before that meeting ended up in the hands of the father of one of the suspects.
It appears that the administrators made good on that threat. Victim 1’s parents made numerous attempts to obtain a copy of the investigation file from the district, but it took until March 2014 to obtain it. After one unsuccessful request in November 2013, Victim 1 was written up by assistant principal Deanna Maynard for allegedly writing an insulting note to another girl and lying about it–but apparently no such note exists. Two months later, Victim 1, now in eighth grade, was abruptly transferred to seventh-grade PE and art classes. This spring, within 24 hours of being interviewed by a state trooper about what happened to her, Victim 2 was written up on what appeared to be false charges of “bullying” for blocking another student on Facebook. The day after that, she was written up again, this time for “insubordination.” Meanwhile, the only discipline faced by the boys has been the loss of ice cream privileges during a day of state testing, as well as a two-day suspension. In the face of such lax discipline, the assaults reportedly continued unabated as late as April 21.
Even though no less an authority than the superintendent of schools knew what was happening, no one reported the alleged abuse to the police as required by both state law and school board policy. But according to the injunction, Melissa Webb, who succeeded Hunter as principal in 2013, went further and barred state troopers from talking with students about it on school grounds.
From the looks of it, at least one head has already rolled for this.? WOWK-TV in Huntington called Webb early Friday afternoon–but got her instead of her answering machine, even though school was in session at the time. The principal’s post is also listed as open on the school’s vacancy site.
The manner in which this was handled contrasts sharply with what happened to Victim 1 in the Jerry Sandusky case, Aaron Fisher. Sandusky repeatedly got Steve Turchetta, the assistant principal at Aaron’s high school, to pull Aaron out of class. This continued even though Turchetta was suspicious of the nature of the relationship between Aaron and Sandusky. When Aaron finally broke down and revealed what was happening to him, principal Karen Probst told Aaron and his mom, Dawn Daniels, to “go home” rather than report it. As of this late stage in the 2013-14 school year, both Probst and Turchetta still have their jobs. Morissey’s swift action makes it all but certain that there will be no repeat of that travesty. Let’s hope he follows through on this. No expense must be spared to ensure everyone responsible for both the abuse and the cover-up are brought to justice.
Darrell Lucus is a radical-lefty Jesus-lover who has been blogging for change for a decade. Follow him on Twitter @DarrellLucus or connect with him on Facebook.
Edited by D.H.
