(11/16/07 - Initial BBT Report)
Steven Weidenbach, 27, a business teacher at Fife High School, in Fife, Washington has entered a not guilty plea to seven misdemeanor counts alleging he sent sexually suggestive text messages to current and former students.
Weidenbach, who is married and has one child, told police his text messages were misinterpreted and he never meant to send sexually suggestive messages to any students.
Among the messages Weidenback allegedly sent were those:
to a 17-year-old current student asking who she would take to a desert island if stranded, if she wanted to stay celibate and the “most scandalous” thing she had ever done.
to another 17-year-old current student asking who she would bring to a desert island and added that he would bring her. She said the teacher told her that her boyfriend was bad and she should spend time with Weidenbach so she could see how a real man treats a girl.
to an 18-year-old former student asking who she would take to a desert island, what teacher she would take with her, and how much money someone would have to pay her to strip.
to an 18-year-old former student asking, “‘If you were a stripper, what would your price be?’”
to a 19-year-old former student asking her who she’d had sex with, what teacher she would want to spend time with, and what was the “most scandalous” thing she’d done.
to a 20-year-old former student asking her about her bra size and “‘If you could have sex with one high school teacher, who would it be?” Weidenbach allegedly also told this girl she was on the top 10 list of Fife High female graduates he would like to have sex with.
The communications allegedly took place between the beginning of November 2006 and the beginning of October 2007.
3/01/08 - Guilty Plea
Steven Weidenbach has pleaded guilty to one count of telephone harassment as part of a plea deal with prosecutors. Also as part of the deal prosecutors dropped four counts of telephone harassment and two counts of communicating with a minor for immoral purposes.
Under the plea agreement Weidenbach received a two-year deferred sentence and must undergo a psychological evaluation. If Weidenbach adheres to the provisions of the deferred sentence his conviction will be dismissed after two years.
References:
Fife high school teacher takes plea deal in harassment case (4/01/08)
Teacher’s suggestive messages detailed (11/16/07)
Teacher charged in texting case (11/07/07)
Fife High School teacher charged (11/07/07)
Webmaster’s note - This case is in my opinion weak, very weak in a criminal context. Clearly communications such as those listed above justify investigation and action on the part of the school district, if the allegations are found true.
Few if any are likely to “excuse” such communications between a teacher and a student, however there is very legitimate question as to whether such communications rise to the level of crime in most jurisdictions.
Since Steven Weidenbach is charged with a crimes that fact is being referenced here and his case will be followed as would any other. However it appears to this writer that unless there are aspects of this case which have not yet come to public attention this is a situation that should be handled by the local school board rather than the courts.
Your IP Address is:
38.103.63.60
Entries (RSS)
April 16th, 2008 at 1:53 pm
Dear Ringo,
I do know Steve and FHS. FBLA was there before him (and very strong), it will be there LONG after him….it is being led by two highly-skilled, enthusiastic and ethical women. It will not “wither on the vine”, there is no need for sorrow.
His ego is overwhelming…..
As far as evidence, there is literally a written record of whatever there is, or isn’t. The actual text/content of the messages has, in fact, been proven.
April 8th, 2008 at 9:34 am
I don’t live or work in Fife, but I know Mr. Weidenbach very well. He poured his heart and soul into your business/FBLA programs and it’s sad that this is how he’s treated by his “community” .
Some of the students are embellishing their stories a bit to make Mr. Weidenbach look bad. Quit jumping on the bandwagon … (Deleted by webmaster). Yes, he probably shouldn’t have text messaged students about non school related stuff in the first place; but, all these students who ‘claim’ they received inappropriate text messages can’t prove it! It’s all talk/gossip; sort of a witch hunt! Did Mr. Weidenbach fail you in his class and this is your chance to go after him?
I’m guessing Fife FBLA will wither on the vine; sort of sad.
.
This comment edited in accordance with site policies as outlined in the “About Comments” page.
April 5th, 2008 at 7:08 pm
You can certainly tell the comments the Steve Weidenbach has written himself When your GUILTY!! Your GUILTY!! I can’t wait until to hear about everything that Steve Weidenbach has tried to keep quiet in the criminal case come out with the pending Law Suit against the Fife School district.
I think he choose the wrong profession, maybe he should have applied for a job at the local strip bar. But I guess working as a teacher gives him first pick of vulnerable young girls that he can target. Fife High School was his own personal dating service. To bad the school district his to busy trying to cover up the inappropriate goings on at the district. Society wonders why so many graduate from School with 5th grade skills.
April 2nd, 2008 at 9:03 pm
This is ridiculous. Whether or not you know or knew him, you did not witness any one of these accusations against him. I haven’t known him for very long and I am not one to trust people regardless of their position in society. You are so quick to pass judgment on a situation that you have only seen or heard about from blogs, tv, and newspapers. Any person in their right mind would take the time to remember that these sources can always stray from the truth to make a quick buck. Fife staff has been instructed to keep this topic out of the school, but honestly I believe it is because the school is filled with two opposing sides and it is not worth the problems it will cause within the student body and staff. I can personally say not once did he ever mention his religion or any religious organizations he was a part of to me. Every time I spoke with him it was about changing the school for the better. He was very passionate about making school a place that kids aren’t afraid of being at. Now, I’m not saying that he did or didn’t do anything he is being accused of, I’m simply saying that all I seem to see within this blog is a lot of hindsight-bias. You think that he is capable of it because you are now being told he is. I would suggest ending your search for situations in the past that he was being a human. I don’t know of many young male adults that aren’t interested in the opposite sex. Stop searching in his past for mistakes he made. Not everybody is evil.
January 11th, 2008 at 2:41 pm
i went to fife when steve was just a student teacher…assisting hilzy. he was suh a great awesome teacher my favorite.then he became a teacher at fife….and wow he poured his church group down the schools throat….if yu werent down with younglife you were no friend of his. he would text and instant message dirty questions to my friends, big question why did he have so many of students cell phone numbers and screen names! married man? come on… my friend would never say anything, i am happy someone finally did! he is a perv
January 2nd, 2008 at 5:13 pm
Interesting to see the logical fallacy of the converse accident used on both sides of the spectrum. Those of a “liberal” bent take this opportunity to make negative generalizations about Christians and associated organizations while those on the “conservative” side use this opportunity to make negative generalizations about public education (per comments left on other blogs about this situation). In my mind, using this situation to justify either position simply weakens the position.
December 17th, 2007 at 11:55 pm
I have known Steve for some time and I understand with the way things have come out that some people are speaking against him. I just hope that people who had issues with him before all this happened were strong enough to voice it to him constructively, rather than just google his name and keep pooring it on him. Many comments are from people that are speaking from experiences that happened years ago, and I take nothing away from that, I just hope that people aren’t using the ability to blog blindly as a sounding board to speak ill against someone because he is a Christian or Republican. I am not a Christian or and very liberal, but I do believe some people are going a little over the top. Merry X-mas to all.