Teacher Smackdown

In Long Island, karate instructor James Bonfiglio, 37, was arrested for sexually abusing a 13-year-old male student. He is being charged with criminal sexual act, sexual abuse and endangering the welfare of a child.

Bonfiglio is the owner of Excel Karate Academy in Ronkonkoma, New York, and has access to hundreds of kids. The sexual abuse took place in Bonfiglio’s apartment, in an apartment complex where many children live. Bonfiglio frequently volunteered with children’s organizations including the Suffolk County Division of Handicapped Services and at an after-school program run by the Suffolk County Police Athletic League in the Connetquot district school.

He passed a criminal history and sexual registry check before he was allowed to teach in the program. He has no previous criminal record according to his lawyer.

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In Honeoye Falls, New York, substitute teacher Timothy J. Meehan, 23, was arrested for multiple sex offenses involving underaged girls. The charges include disseminating indecent material to minors in the first degree, promoting sexual performance of a child, criminal sexual act in the third degree, and endangering the welfare of a child. What a busy guy!

Meehan was a substitute teacher in the Honeoye Falls Central School District for all of 17 days. Yet he had enough time to befriend two teenage girls and take advantage of them sexually. Nice…not.

He sent them sexual pictures to their cellphones, and askedthem to return the favor with naughty pictures of themselves. Uh oh! Meehan is also accused of sexual contact with a female less than 17 years old. The criminal acts all occured outside of school.

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In Skaneateles, New York, social studies teacher William Milham, 36, is charged with three felony counts of crimimal sex act for having sexual relations with a 15-year-old female student. Milham teaches at Skaneateles High School.

He was arrested on a recent complaint to police about something that happened five years ago. The indictment alleges that Milham had sexual relations with a 15-year-old female on at least three separate occasions at Skaneateles High School back and elsewhere in the fall of 2002. The former student is now 20.

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Last February, Okte Elementary School first grade teacher Christopher Culver, 32, told state troopers that he touched the genitals of six young boys in his classroom. He also told them that he became sexually aroused when he touched the boys, and that he needed help.

Now the confession can be used as evidence against him at his trial. The judge concluded that Culver “waived his 5th Amendment right to remain silent and his waiver was knowing and voluntary.”

Culver has been indicted on 49 felonies including 29 felony sexual abuse counts related to children under the age of 11. After his arrest other victims among his past and present students accused his of molesting them. In all, there are eight victims. One incident went back to 2003.

Since his arrest, Culver separated from his wife. They have a young child together. He’s also under paid leave from his teaching job.

He has pleaded not guilty and remains free on $50,000 bail. Culver could get up to 20 years in state prison if convicted.

Clive Culver, sexual abuse, child abuse, molesting kids

In White Plains, New York, federal agents arrested Allen Julier, 54, a Scarsdale High School art teacher for possession of child porn. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents found more than 100 images of child pornography and more than 10 videos of illegal material.

Julier admitted that downloaded and viewed child pornography on his home computer. He said he used paid websites to do so. However, ICE officials have not asked to see his computer at school. School officials did not find anything on his work computer.

Julier was placed on paid administrative leave by the school district. He was released on $50,000 bond, and could up to five years in prison if convicted.

The weird thing about this case? Why is ICE involved? Usually they handle immigration issues and the FBI handles child porn. Odd.

Allen Julier, internet porn, child porn, pornography, sexual abuse

Update: Teacher Stephanie Gross, 25, a former Lakeland High School social studies teacher, was arrested last May for engaging in a sexual tryst with a 16-year-old student. She was originally charged with third-degree sexual abuse and endangering the welfare of a minor.

As usual when the accused is female, attractive, and young she got off easy. Gross took a plea deal that prohibits her from teaching anywhere for (only!) one year and off the sex offender list.

She also doesn’t have to go to jail but has to pay a $300 fine and serve one year of probation. She also has to turn in her teacher’s certification and can’t teach while she’s on probation.

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In Cortland New York, Allendale Columbia elementary school teacher Michael Bohn, 41, pleaded guilty to first-degree robbery, second-degree criminal possession of a weapon, third-degree grand larceny, and endangering the welfare of a child. Two counts of first-degree robbery for robbing a bank with a loaded gun last February were dropped in exchange for his plea.

Bohn will be serving between five and 12 1/2 years in state prison for using a .44-magnum handgun to rob $16,000 in cash from a bank. A witness outside the bank called 911 and police caught him as he left the bank.

His arrest shocked parents since he received an award for teaching excellence back in 2002. Bohn taught history and math to sixth graders and geography to seventh graders.

Sounds like he should have been teaching, thou shall not steal, too. Or does this have to do with teachers being paid so little?

Michael Bohn, bank robbery, criminal possession of a weapon, grand larceny, endangering the welfare of a child, Allendale Columbia

Michael Williams, 49, a now former substitute teacher at Long Island City High School in Queens, New York was arraigned on child endangerment charges for making sexually explicit statements during several classes. I can’t decide if he’s a sexual pervert or just an idiot with a big mouth.

Williams graphically described his sexual preferences, including oral sex, to students several times. Another time Williams complimented the breasts of a 13-year-old girl, and told his entire class that he cheated on his wife. Does this guy sound like a total sleeze or what?

Two students, ages 13 and 14, reported the incidents. One girl was smart enough to use her cell phone to record a conversation about oral sex between Williams and another student.

If convicted, he could face up to a year in jail and a $1,000 fine. Williams has also been permanently banned from teaching at city schools.

Williams told police that he was referencing sexual terms in hip-hop lyrics. Yeah, right. I can only imagine what this guy’s favorite pickup line is. Yuck!

Michael Williams, talking dirty, Long Island City High School

When I hear of a case like this one where a jury dismisses most of the charges and a judge dismisses testimony, I have to wonder if a teacher accused of sexually molesting kids is innocent.

After three days of deliberation, a Syracuse, New York jury acquitted teacher, Albert Scerbo, 45, on 17 of the 19 charges that he molested seven and eight-year-old Native American girls in his class at Onondaga Nation School. The judge dismissed the charges pertaining to seven of the 17 girls because they had changed their accounts or said they had lied to police.

Racial tensions in the classroom also make me wonder about this case. According to the testimony, a fifth-grade girl called Scerbo a “white Christian cracker” the day before she told the school nurse that he touched her and other girls inappropriately. Was her outburst caused by anger over the molestation or was she acting out over race?

The facts are that Scerbo would let the girls sit on his lap in the darkened classroom while they watched movies. He admits this was stupid. I agree. So when one girl testified that Scerbo would put his hands on her stomach then touch her private parts, and that made her mad, well it sounded pretty truthful to me.

As Chief Gibson of the Onondaga Indian Nation told the media, two convictions out of 19 will take Scerbo away from teaching and being around kids. And if he molested one girl why not three, five or 17?

Innocent or guilty? What do you think?

Albert Scerbo, sexual molestation, sexual abuse, Onondaga Nation School

In Peekskill, NY, teacher Lovell Quiroz showed his fifth-graders a bootlegged video of Shrek the Third, and bragged that a “friend had set me up with it.”

Peekskill schools Superintendent Judith Johnson issued a statement saying that administrative approval is required before a video is show to kids. Plus pirated videos are a direct violation of district policy. They’re investigating the incident.

Not only did Quiroz show bad judgement in bringing a bootlegged video to school, he showed bad taste. Shrek 3 is not all that good.

And while the Shrek movies can be a fun, alternative approach to traditional fairytales, maybe Quiroz should have gotten off his lazy ass and read his class Cinderella and Puss in Boots instead. After all, shouldn’t showing movies in school supplement, not replace, teaching?

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Lovell Quiroz, bootlegged video, pirated video, Shrek the Third, Shrek 3, Shrek, dumb teachers

David Heil, a teacher in the Rochester City School District (New York) sexually abused a 10-year-old boy at an elementary school in 2000 where he was teaching second grade.

The boy said Heil, now 43, placed his hands down the boy’s pants twice. The boy told his mom and she complained to school administrators. They assured her that Heil would no longer teach, so she decided not to call police.

Instead, the teachers’ union negotiated a deal that sent him to another school. When the mother learned that Heil was still teaching, she contacted police who began an investigation and arrested him.

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With recent stories of teachers sexually abusing kids in New York state, the NY Senate Majority Conference is introducing another bill to protect kids from predatory teachers.

The legislation calls for the immediate decertification of teachers following a conviction for a serious crime against a child. It also requires schools to contact the child’s parents and law enforcement whenever a report of abuse is made. If you’re a reader of this blog, you’ll know that school administrators don’t always call the police. Instead, they let the abusive teacher resign and telling the parents that it’s better to get rid of them then go through a police investigation or trial.

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In New York state, Jared P. Bromley, 26, a former Fort Ann Central School elementary teacher and coach, was arrested and charged with second degree sexual abuse and two counts of endangering the welfare of a child. He allowed two 13-year-old male students to masturbate in front of him. He also measured one of the student’s genitalia with a ruler. Otherwise he had no sexual contact with the kids.

Or so the boys say.

Bromley was charged last February after two students said they interrupted something odd happing in the coach’s office. Suspicion arises since one of Bromley’s accusers received poor academic grades from him just prior to the allegations.

If convicted on the misdemeanor charges, Bromley could face up to a year in jail and a $1,000 fine - and forget about teaching again. However, Bromley claims to be innocent and is refusing to take a plea bargain.

So dear reader, what do you think? My gut tells me to give the teacher his day in court. Accepting a plea bargain is such the norm these days (can you say “Carrie McCandless”?) that someone refusing to accept one must either be crazy or innocent.

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Jared P. Bromley, Jared Bromley, Fort Ann Central School, sexual abuse, masturbation, measuring genitalia with ruler

In New Windsor, New York, teacher Rebecca L. Becker, 28, and her aide, Maria E. Zurita, 28, spent Memorial Day weekend at Zurita’s home drinking beer performing sexual acts with two 16-year-old boys from McQuade Children’s Services school.

The teachers are charged with third-degree rape, and endangering the welfare of a child. Becker also faces a charge of third-degree criminal sexual act for performing oral sex on a teenage boy.

When the two boys didn’t show up on Tuesday — both were supposed to be on home visits over the weekend — school officials began investigating. They found 31 explicit letters written over two months detailing a sexual relationship between Becker and one of the students. School official then called police and Child Protective Services.

McQuade Children’s Services school is a facility that works with kids in the foster care system. Many of the children at the school have emotional issues, behavioral problems, or a history of physical or sexual abuse or neglect. Talk about preying on the vunerable.

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[tags]McQuade Children’s Services, Rebecca Becker, Maria Zurit, sexual abuse, sexually explicit letters, rape, oral sex[tags]

Mohegan Lake, New York, teacher Stephanie A. Gross, 24, is charged with having sexual contact with a 16-year-old male student. Gross was a social studies teacher at Lakeland High School.

She has been charged with third-degree sexual abuse and endangering the welfare of a minor after an officer saw her and the boy in her parked car behind a restaurant. Police have not identified the boy.

Gross told police said that she and the student went to New York City to see a concert but couldn’t get in because the boy was underage. They walked around the city before heading back and stopped at the restaurant parking lot where police found Gross straddling the boy and kissing him. Both were fully clothed.

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