Bijon Watson
Posted by Webmaster in Band/Music, California, Charter Schools, Hall of Shame, High Schools, ME-FV
(08/25/08 – Initial BBT Report)
Bijon Savero Watson, 40, a music teacher and director for the jazz program at the Orange County School of the Arts, a charter school in Santa Ana, California, has been sentenced to 90 days in jail after being convicted of molesting a 16-year-old female student.
On May 22nd, Watson was convicted in a jury trial on three misdemeanor counts of child annoyance on allegations that he molested a 16-year-old student in his campus office during school program hours.
According to the Orange County District Attorney’s press release following Watson’s conviction:
On Oct. 26, 2006, Jane Doe, then 16-years-old, went to the defendant’s office on campus during school program hours. Watson instructed Jane Doe to close the door and began kissing the victim. The defendant kissed and fondled the victim, and told her he’d been waiting “a long time” to have a sexual relationship with Jane Doe. On Nov. 15, 2006, Watson kissed Jane Doe again in his office. On Jan. 24, 2007, Watson asked Jane Doe to orally copulate him in his office, but the victim refused. During this time Watson also sent several sexual text messages to the victim in the middle of the night and attempted to engage her in sexual conversations.
In addition to his brief jail sentence, Watson will also be on formal probation for five years and will have to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life.
References:
Santa Ana teacher sentenced for molesting student (08/25/08)
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What does bother me about this incident is they failed/overlooked factors of “Jane Doe” she has a history with drugs, lying, and manipulation. I was a former colleague and personally witnessed quite a few of these actions from “Doe”. I believe this court case was heavily one sided and attempted to make Watson fall into the stereotypical case of “teacher molesting innocent student” the courts need to look at the “victims” history before, during, and after the claims and accusations…
sure Watson was really close to all of his students and viewed them as colleagues more than students, which isnt professional in a high school environment and can lead to questionable conversations (and i am not dismissing the fact that Watson was wrong in that) but both sides need to be investigated equally for justice to prevail.
Justice for all? not in this case…
It is my understanding that the judge denied appeal of the verdict, and that Bijon is actually appealing the sentence (which includes having to register as a sex offender). In which case, no matter what happens, he’s still guilty. But, if you’re as knowledgeable about all of this as you claim, then you already know this and your comments about the APPEAL process are just more of the half truths you’ve been spewing.
As for whether Student came forward, yes, Student did. Student wasn’t involved in the trial because after what Bijon told the police when they questioned him, it wasn’t necessary. But, you know that too. And, the text messages did NOT exist LONG before this occurred – and they’re just a part of what he did, they aren’t the reason he was prosecuted.
Yes, Bijon is a very talented man, but he is a grown man, and he was an educator – and with that comes responsibility. Teachers cannot have personal relationships with students – period. Had he behaved like an adult rather than like a spoiled adolescent, none of this would have happened. There are no excuses for his behavior, any of it. He had power over this girl and he abused it. He crossed a line and then continued down that road and he knew better – he just wanted what he wanted. Now, whether he likes it or not, he should face the consequences for what he knows he did. It just saddens me that he (and you) doesn’t seem to realize that it was all wrong in the first place.
Student,
If you were so concerned about the text messages, and “PERSONALLY SAW THEM WITH YOUR OWN EYES”, did you come forward, or choose “not to get involved”? Yes, he probably did make inappropriate comments over a period of time, but that is NOT grounds for prosecution. I stand by my reasoning with this whole matter. The truth will prevail, and if I am wrong, I will be the FIRST one to admit it. Will you, or will you choose to fade into the mist?
I guess there are two different sets of people who know the girl. Those that choose to believe she is a manipulator, and those that choose to believe she is just an innocent victim. If you believe the latter, then you are very naive at best. Just to straighten you out, those comments existed LONG before this occurred.
By the way, this is still in the APPEAL process!
I think many of you are rude and harsh. Think about this from another point of view. What if your daughter was molested by a teacher and came to you with this information? The first real way to tell that it wasn’t the girl against the teacher is the fact that the DA prosecuted. Once a DA chooses to prosecute a case the parties involved have no say in whether or not to press charges. The girl told the DA she didn’t want to press charges, which is exactly why the case is not civil and was being prosecuted by the DA.
I was a student at OCHSA and knew all parties involved very well. I worked closely with Bijon Watson who was known to make inappropriate comments to girls throughout the conservatories and not just in the Instrumental Music conservatory. I was also close friends with the girl. The thing is that I have PERSONALLY & WITH MY OWN EYES seen text messages sent to the girl from Bijon Watson. These could not have been mistaken to have been in any way innocent or Bijon “helping” the girl with sexual problems. These text messages contained very sexually loaded comments and other material you would not want to be sent to YOUR daughter from a teacher. You can pretend these did not exist all you want but I was there & I read them & the people that know the girl know the truth.
I’m more than glad Bijon got jail time for what he did & any student that went to OCHSA knows the other things he did for his students such as provide them easy access to drugs and alcohol. Any person that denies that is ignorant or didn’t know Bijon as well as they think they did. Chances are if you support him your child has smoke pot with him. Sorry, but THAT is the “REAL informed Truth”
(& just to straighten everyone out, the girl WAS NOT a crack addict, has not slept with 25 men over 28 and is not a drug dealer. She is an intelligent, vibrant, incredible human being & any of the people who claim otherwise obviously never knew her)
I was there for all the accused activities and took part in many of the activities, with “Doe” you have in parenthesis you claim she didnt take part in..
you must be a blind parent or family member that cant admit their faults with raising their child for many of the activities happened within the her own home
“Jim” and “Somebody says” I understand what your saying about the text messages, it really does raise doubts to his intentions, but since we Three do not know what they actually said and were not there at the trail, it’s hard for me to assume that he is automatically guilty. For the MANY inappropriate teachers that “Somebody” has known during his 24 years (I hope you reported them), there has been as many people convicted of crimes, spent years incarcerated, then exonerated after DNA/other evidence proved their innocence. Based on what I know, it just seems there was not enough evidence of the actual crime, three misdemeanor counts of child annoyance on allegations that he Molested a 16-year-old student in his campus office During School Program Hours. If he was on trial for sending inappropriate text messages, then a guilty verdict and punishment for that crime is understandable. I guess we will all just have to see if he wins an appeal, if he does, that means there is some doubt to the guilty verdict.
Truth:I have not heard you talk of any facts of the case.All I have heard you do is throw ugly accusations at everyone except your friend.So educate me.Lets hear about these text messages.Let us see what they actually said word for word not your opinion of what they contained.How many of them did he send.What time of day or night did he send them.Those are the facts of the case.
“The REAL Informed Truth” – oh give me a break. You’re telling me that a roll of the eyes is a sufficient “subliminal manipulation” to sway a jury to render a guilty verdict? If the sexual text messages were taken out of context then the defense should have been able to provide a reasonable explanation – they did not. So you’re rationale is that this girl fabricated the entire ordeal in order to frame this guy? I have a hard time believing that a jury got it wrong.
I have been an educator for 24 years and I have seen MANY an instance where a teacher crossed the line – a teacher who was otherwise described as “good and decent” and “never doing ANYTHING inappropriate” according to other students. It is sad and unfortunate but it does happen.
And for a teacher to be exchanging text messages with a student regarding ANYTHING sexual in nature, whether it be advice or otherwise is at VERY BEST foolish and irresponsible. Believe me – anyone who works in education KNOWS THIS.
Defend him all you want – call him a great guy all day long – but I seriously doubt the jury got this one wrong. It’s scumbags like this guy that give the rest of us a horrible name.
Jim,
Again you shoot your mouth off, without knowing all or any of the facts.
I agree with everything Trumpetron and Seeking the Truth have said. I would like to add to this “I wonder if the FACT that a holiday weekend was a day away, which meant that the jury would have been held over, had anything to do with such a quick verdict?”
You should substitute the word “truth” for “mud”, and “simple fact” should be changed to “simple manipulation”.
The simple fact is a jury after seeing the actual text messages did not believe Mr.Watson”s explanation for why he sent them.Mr.Watson”s supporters can throw all the mud they want at this girl,her father,the prosecutor,the jury and are legal system but it will not change this simple fact.
For those of you that did attend the court proceedings, what did the text message say? From what i was told the girl was confiding in him regarding personal problem of a sexual nature that she did not want her family to know about and the text messages were taken out of context. Yes, maybe he should have not been a friend and caring adult and should have turned her away, then he wouldn’t be in this mess. But, when someone you consider a friend and are a friend of the family, usually if you are a decent human being you instinctually try to help. That’s what seemed to have happened in this case. Maybe I don’t know the whole story, but from what i’ve read and what i kow of Mr. Watson, it seems the whole truth did not come out during the trial. If there are FACTS that prove otherwise please share.
I had two daughters in the music program at OSHA who played in his groups. They said he never did anything inappropriate other than some dicy language. His office is tiny with a window and only a fool would seek a sexual encounter there during school hours and he is not a fool. Also why would she go back into the office a second time alone with him if he molested her the first time. Far more than a reasonable doubt here that should have gotten an innocent verdict.