Father accused of punching out teacher's assistant

An angry parent marched into a Lakewood Ranch High classroom Tuesday, punched a teacher's assistant in the face and cussed him out in front of students, authorities said.

The 42-year-old Bradenton father, Dave F. Swafford, was supposed to meet with school administrators to discuss an allegation that the school employee had inappropriately touched his daughter.

But Swafford bypassed that meeting and went directly to the classroom, and is facing a felony battery charge. The school district and the Sheriff's Office are investigating the teacher's assistant, Deon W. Mathis.

Attorney: Cops were told gun likely fake

LONGWOOD, FLORIDA -- The parents of a 15-year-old boy accused of terrorizing classmates with a pistol warned authorities the weapon likely was fake before police shot him in a middle school bathroom, a family attorney said Saturday

Student arrested for firing shot inside Detroit school

No one hurt at Osborn High; police track teen to nearby home.

Teacher insists sex claim baseless

The DuPage County, Ill., State’s Attorney’s Office will continue its prosecution of an Indiana substitute teacher charged with sexually molesting 13 elementary school children in Naperville and Downers Grove. That’s despite the conclusion of the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services that all of the accusations are unfounded.

A spokesman for Illinois State’s Attorney Joe Birkett said Friday “the DCFS findings will have no bearing” on prosecutors’ case against Brett J. Zagorac, 23, of Munster.

Zagorac was indicted last fall in DuPage County on 13 charges of criminal sexual abuse and 13 counts of battery. All 26 are misdemeanors.

Why it can take years to ban paedophile teachers

Teacher found guilty of abuse

Former Augusta County Schools teacher Shelby Sue Shelton leaves the courtroom during a recess Thursday. She was found guilty of sexually abusing a former student.

Female Sex Offenders Drawing Increased Scrutiny

A casual observer of the news might think there was an epidemic of molestation cases involving women against boys.

Last week, a former Orange County middle school teacher was sentenced to six years in prison for committing lewd acts with boys. The same day, a seventh-grade teacher in Kern County pleaded not guilty to two counts of annoying and molesting a minor.

The next day, a probation officer was arrested on suspicion of having sex with a 17-year-old ward whom she met while working at a correctional facility in Fresno County.

Since November at least eight California cases have made the news, involving women either being accused or convicted of sexually exploiting boys. Most of the perpetrators were teachers or other school personnel.

Trial proceeds in Cupertino teacher abuse case

Jury selection is scheduled to begin this afternoon in federal court in the civil trial of a former Cupertino Union School District teacher accused of physically abusing a special-education student.

Craig and Ann Gaydos allege that over a period of months in 2001 and 2002, teacher Karen Miller caused physical and emotional injury to their daughter Paige. Paige has Asperger's syndrome, a neurological disorder similar to autism, and was in Miller's special-education classroom at Eisenhower Elementary in Santa Clara.
The alleged abuses range from smearing a burrito in Paige's face and hair, to pushing her on the floor and sitting on her.

SWAT Team Shoots Fla. 8th-Grader

This story does not say it but FYI - it was a pellet gun the teen had. SWAT team loaded for bear coming to a school near you...

Teacher faces more sex allegations

Prosecutors said today that five more victims have come forward saying they were abused or harassed, in some cases decades ago, by a popular Maynard teacher facing charges of raping a student.

New allegations have surfaced against teacher Joseph Magno, 65, of Hudson. (Courtesy photo)

In Our View - Creative Students

In an effort to keep kids safe, some schools have over-reacted with zero-tolerance policies and unnecessary suppressions of student expression, says David L. Hudson, Jr., a research attorney for the First Amendment Center in Nashville, Tenn.

"Student Expression in the Age of Columbine," examines court cases involving schools' handling of violent writing or art by students. Hudson writes: "Students have been punished for dark poetry, rap songs, Halloween essays ... and other material. In some cases, intervention was necessary, justified or wise. At other times, the fear for safety has led to the suppression of constitutional rights."

ES-M teacher charged with sex abuse

A teacher at Minoa Elementary School has been charged with sexual abuse in the 1st degree and endangering the welfare of a child.

Police say Robert Sampson of Syracuse had sexual contact with a ten-year-old boy. Police began investigating allegations against Sampson earlier this week. The boy told police that Sampson had repeatedly touched him during school from April through June of last year.

Gifts raise ’red flag’

When a Maynard High School teacher gave three students his used Ford Mustangs, bought them dinner or invited them to his home, it should have raised alarm bells, say school officials in nearby towns.

Maynard High School teacher Joseph Magno, 65, is accused of sexually abusing a 17-year-old student when the boy was in eighth grade and a sophomore.

Magno’s attorney, Donald DeMayo of Lexington, said Magno was close friends with the boy and his family and that Magno gave the alleged victim a Ford Mustang and vacationed with them in Florida after the rape was alleged to have occurred.

DeMayo has said his client is simply a generous man who took a personal interest in his students.