Posted on 11/16/2017 3:54:33 PM PST by markomalley
A fourth-grader tells an administrator about “nasty things” on the teacher’s aide’s cellphone, but is ignored. A student complains that Deonte Carraway pinched him and later misses classes after his complaints were dismissed. A student serves suspension after reporting that Carraway recorded boys in a bathroom.
Recently filed court documents shed light on how a volunteer teacher’s aide, whose lawyers say has an IQ of 63, was able to sexually abuse 23 children.
Judge Sylvania Woods Elementary School became an “unchecked breeding ground for sexual abuse” through a lack of supervision, and a failure to intervene and report suspicions of abuse, according to a lawsuit filed on behalf of some of Carraway’s victims.
Former Principal Michelle Williams, Carraway and the Prince George’s County Board of Education are named as defendants in the suits.
The documents suggest that concerns about Carraway were reported but ignored, allowing Carraway’s abuse to continue unabated for more than a year before his February 2016 arrest.
Carraway is now serving what amounts to a life sentence for child abuse and child pornography convictions. He was accused of sexually abuse children as well as coercing children to perform sex acts on each other so he could record them on his phone.
Teachers, students and parents reported concerns and complaints to school administrators about Carraway’s behavior, according to the documents.
At least 10 school staff members raised red flags about Carraway’s behavior — complaints ranging from disrupting class to hitting students to concerns about his inappropriate relationships with students.
One staff member sent an email to the principal outlining concerns. Another confronted Carraway after a student reported seeing pornography on the aide’s phone.
Others met with school administrators and students after incidents involving Carraway. Several refused to let Carraway into their classrooms. At least one student was warned to stay away from Carraway, according to the documents.
As early as the fall of 2014, a teacher saw a student hit Carraway, who had been bothering the fourth-grader on the playground. The teacher and student met with an assistant principal, who said she would speak with the teacher’s aide.
That December, a fourth-grade girl told a school administrator to check Carraway’s phone. “There’s some things with kids on it, nasty things,” the student said, according to court documents.
According to the lawsuit, no one ever investigated the girl’s claim.
In September 2015, Carraway lost his paid position as a dedicated assistant, but was allowed to continue working at the school as a volunteer and was assigned to work in two classrooms.
Carraway’s volunteer hours were eventually reduced to three days a week yet he continued to come to school five days a week. He was removed from classrooms; he was assigned to organize closets — a task that gave him the freedom to roam the building during the school day unsupervised, the lawsuit asserts.
The lawsuit suggests that the less responsibility Carraway was given, the greater access he had to students, whom he would pull out of class so he could abuse them behind a stage in the cafeteria, in bathrooms and the in band room.
At least two guardians made complaints to school officials. One told officials that Carraway used adult language with a second-grade boy while he walked the boy home after school. Administrators’ solution was to have the boy and his brother leave school early to avoid walking home with Carraway.
In a June 2015 email, Williams wrote that she met with Carraway and reminded him that he should speak with students only in full public view. “This practice will ensure that actions or conversations that could be deemed inappropriate do not take place,” Williams wrote in the letter, according to the lawsuit.
In a response to the lawsuit, Williams denied any wrongdoing or negligence. Calls to her attorney seeking comment were not returned.
Williams was removed as principal following Carraway’s arrest. She left the school system in March, according to school officials.
Since 2016, Prince George’s County Public Schools has made changes to its policies and procedures to protect students. Training to prevent and detect abuse is now required for staff, contractors and volunteers, said school spokesman John White.
“Student safety remains a top priority for our CEO Dr. Kevin Maxwell and the Board of Education,” White said.
Unions protect people like this and teacher’s unions especially so.
I hope parents take action against the unions when they sue.
Unfortunately the taxpayers will most likely take the hit.
Rings a bit hollow there Kevin.
If public elementary school teachers’ aides were allowed to marry, this sort of thing would never happen!
Obviously,black adults are not obligated to act like humans beings and protect children ..Their only agenda is to protect other blacks...Even when THOSE blacks are destroying children’s lives...
Another reason to homeschool...
Deonte is obviously one of the smart ones!
I just can't imagine how us oldsters made it through K-12 without teachers' assistants (paid and unpaid), paid assistants for sports, marching band, cheerleaders, after-school clubs, etc. Though, we didn't seem to have any sexual molesting going on
I guess we were deprived of a quality educational experience!
Looks like the Education industry has become a bloated, affirmative-action, make-work program. At the taxpayer's expense. smh.
“Looks like the Education industry has become a bloated, affirmative-action, make-work program. At the taxpayer’s expense.”
That about covers it.
L
Public schools should never have someone with an IQ that low unsupervised at any time working at their school.
Maryland “Freak State” PING!
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