Posted on 06/16/2007 4:58:44 PM PDT by blam
Daphne teacher charged
Police say Kathy Chason lied about being raped by an officer
Saturday, June 16, 2007
NADIA M. TAYLOR Staff Reporter
A Daphne High School teacher on a leave of absence was charged Friday with filing a false report after police said she lied about being raped by a Mobile police officer in an effort to reconcile with her ex-husband.
Kathy Chason, 48, of Mobile was arrested and taken to Mobile County Metro Jail, police said.
Chason told police that she was walking near Interstate 65 and Airport Boulevard late on June 3, headed from a restaurant to the Ramada Inn, when she was accosted and raped by an off-duty police officer, police spokesman Officer John Young said.
Chason changed her story at the scene that night, Young said, and told police that a security guard had raped her. She then changed her story again and accused one of the officers on the scene of being her attacker, Young said.
Chason confessed Friday to falsely reporting the rape "in an effort to reconcile with her ex-husband," Young said.
According to Alabama court records, Chason and her husband were divorced in April.
When Baldwin County Public Schools Superintendent Faron Hollinger learned of Chason's arrest Friday afternoon from a Press-Register reporter, he said the school system would investigate the situation.
No school system policy stipulates that an arrested teacher should be placed on paid leave or face other disciplinary action, Hollinger said.
In this case, he said, the system will obtain a copy of the police report, investigate the matter with the help of board attorney R. Scott Lewis and then "take appropriate action."
A former volleyball coach at Daphne High, Chason coached the Lady Trojans for eight years, leading them to a third-place finish in the 1999 6A state tournament. Chason said she stepped aside because of severe migraine headaches. She was granted a leave of absence last year and did not teach at the school while she pursued a master's degree, said Baldwin County school board member Frank Trione.
Trione, who lives in Daphne and is a former agriculture teacher at Daphne High, said Chason had been expected to return to the school in August when the new school year begins.
Filing a false report is a Class A misdemeanor that carries a penalty of up to a year in jail and a fine of $6,000, said Nancy Johnson, a Mobile police spokeswoman.
Friday's arrest marked the latest in a string of local false report cases this year.
In March, a 17-year-old girl was charged with filing a false police report after she said she was sexually assaulted at Baker High School in west Mobile County, which she attended.
A 16-year-old girl was arrested earlier that month and accused of filing a false report stating that she had been carjacked while driving home from school through midtown Mobile.
A 26-year-old man was arrested March 1 after he told police that he had been robbed at gunpoint of his Xanax anti-anxiety drug, and he needed a police report in order to get a refill.
Several other bogus reports, mainly robberies, carjackings and auto thefts, have also been filed since Jan. 1, police said.
"The fact is, it's not just this year," Johnson said. "We had a lot of false reports last year, too. The fact is the public can't afford it anymore. We don't have the resources. We don't have the manpower. We hope that if we have this zero-tolerance policy, people will be held up to scrutiny, and all of that might dampen down the numbers of people who are doing this."
Officers have started asking judges to order compensation for what a false investigation costs the department, Johnson said.
She said that could cost defendants hundreds of dollars. Police would set the amount by determining how many officers worked on false reports, how many hours they worked, and their pay per hour.
(Staff Reporters Josh Bean and Ron Colquitt contributed to this report.)
I’ve been reading the Nifong threads today and it crossed my mind...what happened to the girl that made the false charges against the Duke students? Has she been charged? If not, why not?
Derangement enters my mind. I believe when these boys were found "Innocent" Seligman mentioned something about feeling sorry for her...
She received a college scholarship from one of the Justice Brothers. I'm sure she is knee deep in her studies.
I thought that's what I'd read.
A few months back, there was a carjacking here in town by a young Black guy. The DA decided it would serve no useful purpose to prosecute because he had a low IQ, 70.
So, if you're stupid or have 'problems' you can get away with anything?
So, what useful purpose will it serve to prosecute this teacher?
LOL! Beverage on keyboard via nose! Thanks!
Give them all jail time plus restitution. In this woman’s case, her ex is a lucky man not to be married to her anymore.
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