Coppell teacher indicted on child indecency charge

The Dallas Morning News ^ | August 5, 2004

[MeekOneGOP]

Coppell teacher indicted on child indecency charge

Separate panel had declined to charge him with sexual misconduct

09:03 PM CDT on Thursday, August 5, 2004

By MARGARITA MARTÍN-HIDALGO / The Dallas Morning News

COPPELL – Just months after a grand jury declined to indict a popular Coppell High School teacher on allegations of sexual misconduct with a student, another panel on Thursday charged the teacher with indecency with a child by sexual contact.

Courtesy

Duane Masengill

Duane Masengill, 35, had not been arrested Thursday, but a warrant was expected to be issued for his arrest by this morning.

Indecency with a child by sexual contact is a second-degree felony. If convicted, Mr. Masengill could face up to 20 years in prison and a $10,000 fine.

A spokeswoman with the Dallas County district attorney's office declined to say why prosecutors had revived the case. She said evidence presented to the grand jury was confidential and could not be released.

"We discovered new evidence and found it necessary to re-present it to the grand jury," Rachel Horton said.

She added that grand jury reviews of cases that were previously rejected are "relatively unusual, but in this case we felt it was the right thing to do."

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Online at: http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/latestnews/stories/wfaa040805_wz_masengill.497a7952.html

[MeekOneGOP]

This is the second time this guy has been taken to the Grand Jury. No billed him last time:

01-29-2004:
Teacher faces charge of sex with student
he denies that act occurred while tutoring girl, 15

He apparently has quite a fan club, and they think the 15 year old girl is lying.

[MeekOneGOP]

Excerpt from another article on this story:

Coppell teacher arrested in fondling case

Attorney says Coppell instructor will fight allegations in court

09:32 PM CDT on Friday, August 6, 2004

By MARGARITA MARTÍN-HIDALGO / The Dallas Morning News

A Coppell high school geography teacher accused of fondling a 15-year-old student surrendered to police Friday and was arrested on a charge of indecency with a child by sexual contact, a day after a grand jury indicted him.

Duane Darren Masengill, 35, of Little Elm had his wife and attorney by his side when he turned himself in at Lew Sterrett Justice Center in Dallas at 2 p.m., said Dallas County Sheriff's Department spokesman Sgt. Don Peritz.

Mr. Masengill was walking with crutches and was wearing a leg brace to help heal a hockey injury. He is said to be an avid fan of the Dallas Stars.

Sgt. Peritz said Mr. Masengill was calm and was seen by the jail nurse. Sgt. Peritz also said a DNA sample was taken from Mr. Masengill when he registered at the jail.

His Dallas attorney, Ted Steinke, said: "The law requires that when an individual is indicted with indecency [with a child by sexual contact], he must submit a DNA sample as a condition of his release. It's mandatory."

A judge set bail at $25,000, and Mr. Masengill was expected to be released Friday evening.

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Online at: http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/localnews/stories/080704dnmetnumasengill.c464.html

[sushiman]

In Japan they just get fired , no jail .

http://mdn.mainichi.co.jp/news/archive/200408/06/20040806p2a00m0dm015000c.html

[bad company]

That does sound like a fan club. Poor kid.

[steplock]

"He is said to be an avid fan of the Dallas Stars."

Stupid ignorant reporter. Must have been public school trained.

[MeekOneGOP]

One-time ping to ya'll, from the January thread (linked in post #1) .....

And a million apologies for The Dallas Morning News excerpt. It is
on the MUST EXCERPT list now. :^(

[B4Ranch]

Why is it okay for a female teacher to have oral sex with a 14 year old, she gets fired, and a male teacher goes to prison?

Who made us the sick bastards in the mind of the jury?

Mind you if a teacher had touched one of my girls when they were in school, I would be the one determining if she was telling the truth and I would be the one who meeted out the sentence.

Probably with a short rope.

[vaudine]

"said to be an avid fan of the Dallas Stars"---and this is an argument for what? --and has what meaning in a child molestation case?--and was written by a reporter of what mental capacity?--who was "trained" where? (I use trained as in chimpanzee--no, on second thought, an insult to chimpanzees everywhere.

vaudine

[MeekOneGOP]

That does sound like a fan club. Poor kid.

There apparently is strong support for the teacher. The school officials, parents and students support him. They think the 15 YO girl is lying about it. (It has happened before and folks been sent to prison before it was found out. Is she lying, though? I don't know). The teacher stated in January that he wanted to take a polygraph test.

Also, in the first article I posted, there were folks that signed up here on FR to defend him. One newbie in January and TWO yesterday or today (see posts #50-54):

01-29-2004:
Teacher faces charge of sex with student
he denies that act occurred while tutoring girl, 15

[MineralMan]

Hi,

I'm afraid I don't understand why you've pinged me on this. I'd prefer not to be on anyone's ping list.

[Hodar]

Isn't this just a little bit frightening to you?

A man is simply accused by a 15 yr old girl; and he faces up to 20 yrs in jail, plus a $10,000 fine. No proof, no witnesses, and from what we gather, no sign that anything happened.

Is the 15 yr old lying? Is this a case of blackmail ("Give me an 'A', or I'll say you molested me")? Does he have a history of this sort of behavior? Does the girl have a history of this sort of behavior?

It seems he's assumed to be guilty, because he's male. He must prove his innocence; which is exactly the opposite of the way the founding fathers intended the law to operate.

Historically speaking, we have already ruined many, many people's lives and reputations by believing the word of a child, without regard to how ridiculous the allegations were. Remember the whole Devil Worshipping DayCare allegations? How many innocent people went to jail, because of stories that children were coached to tell. The children are not held accountable for the damage they did, and lawmakers used threats and coercion to force the children into telling the story that the prosecutors wanted to hear.

If there is no evidence (DNA, torn clothing, fibers, bruises, skin flakes, hair) or no witnesses; I would refuse to convict.

Think of this carried to the point where a neighborhood child could come up to you and inform you that unless you make weekly payments of $50, he or she will tell someone that you molested them. Now, prove your innocence. Meanwhile, the odds are that you will lose your job, your reputation will be shot, and you may lose your family. If/when you do manage to prove your innocence; there is no possible way the child can be held accountable for the damage they have done.

[MeekOneGOP]

I'm afraid I don't understand why you've pinged me on this. I'd prefer not to be on anyone's ping list.

In my ping I noted:

"One-time ping to ya'll, from the January thread (linked in post #1) ....."

01-29-2004:
Teacher faces charge of sex with student
he denies that act occurred while tutoring girl, 15

Your comments on the January thread were on post #20, 28, and 29. As I stated, you won't be pinged again.

Sorry for the confusion .....

[Sender]

Unfortunately, this kind of scenario with an older male and an underage female is a lose/lose one. Even if he successfully "proves his innocence", he will probably be a too-hot potato to return to the classroom, because the suck-up, "nothing I can do" administrations and school boards will brand him as unemployable. And regardless of the outcome, those who blindly support any allegations will always say a child molester got off scot free.

[cwgldls]

I totally agree with you. I have known the defendant for over 15 years. I have left him with my children with out any fear of him "touching" them or otherwise. He is a very decent man, with a very big heart. His life's goal since he was a young teenager was to be a teacher. He achieved that goal. Now some 15 yr old girl with a vendetta wants to take all of that away. For what? A bad grade? I think they need to start punishing the accuser when there is no case. My oldest daughter did the same thing, just to get out of getting grounded for being out late and she DID NOT get into trouble. I wanted her to get into trouble. She put some kid and his family through hell, for nothing. I feel so sorry for the torture Mr. Masengill and his family are dealing with until he is proved either innocent or the girls confesses it was all B.S.