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News-Sentinel.com Your Town. Your Voice.
Opening Arguments

No silence, please

One of the first things I learned as a new Big Brothers/Big Sisters board member is that Indiana law requires that anyone who suspects a case of child abuse or neglect must report it. And the person doing the reporting is immune from all civil and criminal liability if the report is made in good faith. (Here is the "duty to report" law, and here are the "failure to report" provisions. Here are the things that require ereporting.)

Now, whenever there is a case of abuse or neglect, authorities aren't going to waste a lot of time chasing down every single person who might have suspected something but said nothing. But anyone even remotely connected with children even in a semi-official capacity has this reporting requirement drummed into them. So these educators can't use ignorance of the law as an excuse:

Two school officials in Pike County, Ind., are facing misdemeanor charges of failing to report child abuse or neglect.

Indictments against Pike County School Corp. Superintendent D. John Thomas, 61, and Pike Central High School Principal LeAnne Kelley, 46, were returned Thursday by a county grand jury.

According to Indiana State Police, the charges stem from two separate cases involving Luke Musselwhite, 26, a former Pike Central teacher and assistant football coach.

Police in August began investigating allegations Musselwhite had sent hundreds of text messages, including several that were sexual in nature, to a female student a few months earlier.

[. . .]

Police in January launched a second investigation of Musselwhite that involved an allegation he struck a female student on the back of her leg with a yard stick. A misdemeanor battery charge was filed.

[. . .]

During his investigations of Musselwhite, detective Tobias Odom received information that Thomas and Kelley knew about the teacher's alleged misconduct but "failed to notify police or child protective services," according to an Indiana State Police news release.

It's hard to understand such a lack of responsibility. Did they not believe the allegations? Did they hope it would all go away if they just ignored it? Are they just clueless idiots? They face only misdemeanor counts, but maybe that's enough for the school board to make sure they're never put in charge of any of the system's children again.

Reading through all the comments left at the story, we learn that: 1. This superintendent and principal are the most wonderful people in the world. 2. The prosecutor is a jerk who is either trying to make a name for himself or is mad because the school system mistreated his teacher sister. 3. These rotten kids today deserve whatever they get, and what's the big deal about getticg whacked with a ruler? So maybe the superintendetn and principal would be right if they are shocked and amazed at being arrested.

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