(05/26/09 – Initial BadBadTeacher.com Report)
Tara L. Brandon, 38, a former biology teacher at Whitko High School in South Whitley, Indiana and the former director of Camp Whitley, a summer camp for youth, has been arrested on charges of sexual misconduct with a minor and child seduction.
Brandon is reportedly charged with 15 counts of sexual misconduct with a minor and 18 counts of child seduction on allegations that she had a sexual relationship with a boy, with the relationship starting when he was younger than 16 lasting until he turned 18.
A probable cause affidavit indicates that the alleged victim, who was employed as a camp counselor and is now 18, told police that Brandon had sexual contact with him at least 15 times before he turned 16.
The alleged victim also reportedly told investigators that they had sexual contact at least 18 times in the summers of 2007 and 2008 when he was 16 and 17-years old.
The alleged sexual encounters are said to have rarely occurred at the camp and never when campers were there.
The same probable cause affidavit also indicates that a witness told detectives he saw sexual activity involving Brandon and the victim at Brandon’s home early this year.
It is further alleged that during the course of their alleged relationship, the victim told police Brandon would even text the victim’s girlfriend to badmouth the victim and discourage the girlfriend’s relationship with him.
Reportedly, Brandon no longer holds a teaching position at Whitko High School and has been removed from her position as the head of a children’s summer camp.
Reportedly, Tara Brandon is free on bond.
01/15/10 – Not Guilty Verdict
After six hours of deliberation, a four-woman, eight-man jury found Tara L. Brandon not guilty on all 33 counts she faced.
Please see this Post & Mail report for additional information on the trial and verdict.
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Most of you folks are correct, she is a monster. However, the people to be looked at more closely are the individuals who came to her defense. Plew, Gates, et al have been covering up for this pedophile for years.
Most of you folks are missing the point that it is Plew, Gates et al who are covering for this monster and have been for years. Other kids have been victimized and their families have either been neutralized into submission or given promises of reward for their silence (i.e. scholarships etc.) Perhaps a class action civil suit would bring some justice to these victims. O.J. might have been found not guilty in criminal court but he sure has had to pay financially for his actions (not that monetary reward is good enough justice for pedophilia), but it sure would help with the therapy many of these kids will need later in life when they come to terms with what she did to them. Do some homework on the judge as well and you will discover just how close knit this network of politicians and community leaders are and to what degree of damage they are willing to cause anyone who stands up to their lack of integrity.
wow, t-bone. You don’t really sound like you were at the trial. Then you must not know tara very well. I testified and you know what there were alot of questions that were pointless that i couldnt even remeber what date they were on. We were together all the time. It was going on not for months but for years. You sound ridiculous, to be completly honest. So before you go posting what “you think” happened maybe you should get your facts straight.
Well, if you testified, then I cross-examined you. This lady is innocent.
There were so many major discrepencies in the testimony that the jury did the right thing and acquitted this lady. I sat through the whole trial and called several witnesses in her defense.
The law presumes people are innocent. Even after the jury found her not guilty, I am stunned that many of you make awful comments still presuming that she was guilty. Shame on you!
I can only hope that you are not falsely accused in the future.
Yeah i guess your just another one to fall under her lies. Its horrible how you can sit there and say she is innocent. When almost 20 of us testified and there was almost 30, how many people did tara have to testify for her when these events took place? right..?
Arata didn’t fall under her lies. He was paid to defend her. Of course he’s going to say she’s innocent publicly. They chose to fight the charges, and that’s what he does for a living.
The fact remains that the jury acquitted. Which doesn’t necessarily mean she’s innocent. But unless new charges arise with more substantial proof, this case is water under the bridge.
I’m certainly not convinced she’s truly innocent, but I wasn’t there and I don’t know for sure. And I certainly agree that being falsely accused would be a nightmare; I wouldn’t wish that on anyone.
As her attorney, do you honestly think he’s going to publicly say ‘they found her not guilty, but actually she is guilty so na-na, na-na-na… ?
Mr. Arata,
You did a fine job of discrediting everything you could to create reasonable doubt, including dragging kids through the mud. I still have not heard a reasonable explanation of why a 37 year old women has to text a 17 year old male kid 20 to 30 times a day when not employed?????? And remember the “story” is that she was trying to get rid of this employee. You also lied to the jury when you said she had never been accused of similar charges in the past, well maybe your words were convicted not accused. This lady is NOT innocent, she was just found not guilty. What do you think the out come of a civil trial would be when you only have to tip the scale with 51% instead of 100% in a criminal trial?
Interesting, heard from a friend of a jury member that they felt she was guilty but didn’t think there was enough direct evidence to convict. The trac phone, text messages (20-30 a day) trips out of the state, and sleeping in the same bed tells any reasonable person that somthing isn’t right, but does prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the offences occured? It is certainly very very very inappropriate. Something wrong was definately taking place.
I still wonder if the outcome would have been the same if it was a female teen accusing an adult male, I highly doubt it.
Many people who are guilty are found not guilty. Tara you know!!!!!!!!!!!!! My only hope for you is that you suffer everyday, you may walk the streets but people will always look at you and wonder, so the loss of reputation may it stay with you always and some day you will be judged. You no longer serve a place in this community so do us all a favor pack your bags and get out.
mom who cares, shed the disgust for tara she was found not guilty by her peers. It must have been clear that the evidence just did not add up. from what i have read it sounded like (Name Deleted by site moderator) got alot of his times and dates mixed up with the truth. If the evidence was there dont you think the people of whitley county would have put her away for good?? i thought that this trial was about inappropriate conduct with a minor? is that true? i guess that i dont see how a text message was inappropriate when (Name Deleted by site moderator) was an employee of hers? made whitley county laws have changed since i last lived there 10 years ago. Good job prosecuting attorney way to go and make yourself look stellar for the fine people of whitley county!!
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hey t-bone you look like an immensley respectable, professional individual posting the kid’s undisclosed name on this website…thank jah that badbadteacher.com at least has the decency to keep his name out of this, considering he’s the victim not the woman pictured above holding in her pedophilic tendencies. T-bone you can’t honestly sit there and tell me that after hearing all the evidence on the prosecutor’s side that her family is not housing within themselves a ship load of doubt about their daughter, relative, and friend. what 37 yr. old texts an 18 yr. old employee of their’s over 1200 times in one month, with only a fraction of those text messages being replied back to. Oh, the evidence was all there, but wow, her attorney was so good at selling nonsense that he could have talked me into skydiving without a chute
T-bone your right,a text message (meaning one text message)depending on content, would not be inappropiate. But you seem to be BLIND to the FACTS. It was not one text message, it was an average of 20-30 per day when the victim was not employed. They are only employed during the summer.
Furthermore; I don’t think most people could give accuate information on what they did a month ago let alone three years ago. Can you tell we what you were doing 1/15/08 at 7:00PM and what you had for lunch and dinner?
T-bone, I want to make sure I understand you. You believe it is appropriate for a 37 year old adult, in a supervisory position, to supply a minor with cigarettes, sleep in the same bedwith that minor, and text that minor 20-30 a day when not employed?
I think the facts prove that there was inappropriate activity