Sex offenders have not been on vacation. It is a huge responsibility to protect children from the egregious and damaging act of sexual abuse by teachers and other school employees. Every school administrator and staff need the best information and strategies available to meet this obligation.
There are five critical techniques administrators and teachers can employ to identify the majority of sex offenders before the damage occurs. Once identified school administrators need to employ every technique possible to protect children from those who are considered suspect.
One key technique, ‘Appropriate Suspicion,’ based on human behavior and probabilities, is a powerful tool to thwart would-be sex offenders. Appropriate Suspicion has five levels of suspicion and strategies for prevention.
Another significant technique is ‘Trust your gut,’ a.k.a intuition/6th sense. If someone’s behavior or comment no matter if it is made in jest, doesn’t sit right, or sets your nerves on edge, this is a clue that something could be afoot. Of course, you can not act on your gut/intuition/6th sense, but you can keep your eyes and ears open to discern if other clues surface. Sex offenders count on people’s reluctance to ‘judge’ anyone, therein lies their wall of protection from detection.
We can out smart would-be sex offenders, if we simply practice the five critical techniques to thwart them. You will not break any ethical codes or laws if you keep your eyes, ears and mind open to the reality that anyone–even those you love and trust–could be a sex offender.
Furthermore, there are seven compelling parent approved and child tested techniques for parents and children to thwart would-be sex offenders. As you know teacher sexual abuse and sexual abuse in general in the school environment has increased in the past few years.
Coupled with the school administrators and staff employing the five techniques to monitor possible sex offenders and parent/child employing the seven prevention techniques, a powerful and empowering strategy is in place to protect children from this horrific crime.
Selected News reports of Teacher Sexual Abuse of Students:
o March 3, 2008 a female student, at Mountain View High School advised The Pima County Sheriff’s Sex Crimes Unit responded, she had been sexually abused by a male teacher.
o March 4, 2008, detectives from the Sex Crimes Unit arrested Jason William Baridon (DOB 01/12/75), at Mountain View High School, on two counts of Sexual Abuse. Mr. Baridon was booked into the Pima County Adult Detention Center. Public Information Officer Pima County Sheriff’s Department.
o P.E. Teacher Arrested for Sexual Child Abuse. Posted by Jeff Quinton on April 28 , 2008. Baltimore County Police Department news release: …
o 4/26/08 Teacher Arrested on three counts of Sexual Abuse – Tawni L. Wimberley, 29, a former computer/technology teacher at Flagstaff High School in Flagstaff, Arizona already indicted by a grand jury on one count of sexual conduct with a minor has been charged with two additional counts of sexual conduct with a minor. Wimberley had passed all background checks.
As a pioneer in sexual child abuse prevention/recovery, I have represented survivors of childhood sexual abuse for more than 30 years. Criminal charges provide the justice system with a chance to detain sexual predators. Civil claims for sexual abuse hold the institutions that allow sexual deviants to prey on child accountable for the lives damaged by sexual abuse. No school environment is immune to being a haven for a sex offender.
