Bad Bad Teacher

A Bad Bad Teacher Editorial Opinion

Worthington Christian Schools, in Worthington, Ohio, is at the center of a scandal which will likely change the relationship between “church schools” and government agencies which certify teachers.

This Christian school system, which includes pre-school through high school and boasts over 1,200 students, was thrust into the bright glare of national attention owing to sex scandals.

In rapid succession Dwayne Smith, a very popular science teacher and soccer coach, was profiled as a self-admitted child molester and Jason Crary, a popular English teacher and soccer coach, was arrested on allegations of sexually abusing a then 16-year-old female student in Wisconsin in the late 1990’s.

The criminal case of Jason Crary is in its earliest stages. Like all persons accused of a crime Mr. Crary is entitled to not only his day in court but also a presumption of innocence as his case works its way through the system.

The case of Dwayne Smith is different.
There is no case against Dwayne Smith.
There apparently never was a case against Dwayne Smith.
And this in spite of his supposed “confession” to church and school officials of his having repeatedly sexually assaulted a then eighth-grade female student in 1996.

Dwayne Smith was profiled in the series, “The ABCs of Betrayal,” published by the Columbus Dispatch and exploring teacher misconduct. One of the reports in that series revealed that Smith in 1996 allegedly “confessed” to church and school leaders that he molested a middle-school girl. In the wake of his “confession”, Dwayne Smith resigned from Worthington Christian Schools in 1996.

The Columbus Dispatch report indicates that Worthington Christian school leaders said they did everything right. They say they reported the case to Franklin County Children Services and sent Smith to Christian counseling.

Apparently Franklin County, Ohio law enforcement either could not or would not pursue criminal charges against Smith. Why? It seems no one knows. What we do know is that Dewayne Smith was not charged with a sex crime in spite of his “confession” to school and church leaders. Whether law enforcement was actually aware of Smith’s “confession” is open to debate and speculation. As of this date there appears no definitive answer, only statements on the part of church and school administrators.

Two years after his resignation, Dwayne Smith was rehired by Worthington Christian Schools.

Reportedly his father, Taylor Smith, was at the time the Superintendent of Worthington Christian Schools.

Although Dwayne Smith had “confessed” his illicit activities to church leaders and school officials, he apparently did not reveal to the broader church congregation or to school patrons the nature of his transgressions.

And apparently neither did the church or school leaders who left church members and school patrons unaware of the potential dangers Smith presented to children. Both were apparently blissfully unaware of the dangers of a self-admitted child molester in the presence of their children and FOR TEN YEARS.

With the rehiring of Dwayne Smith, the leaders of the Grace Brethren Church and Worthington Christian Schools set out on what has turned into a ten year social experiment to see what happens, if anything, when a self-professed child molester is permitted ready and continual access to children.

It appears at this stage, that Mr. Smith has resisted the temptations to which he says he succumbed in 1996.

And make no mistake about it, Smith says he succumbed to temptation when he said of the eighth-grade girl, “She had been coming on to me for a while.”

In light of the Columbus Dispatch “expose” of Smith’s eleven year old “confession”, he resigned again from Worthington Christian Schools, as well he should have. But Smith’s departure from the school has not calmed the storm which is threatening to wash church and school leadership overboard.

Every state in the nation places restrictions upon registered sex offenders prohibiting them from being within specified distances, usually 1,000 or 2,000 feet of a school, playground, park, daycare or other place where children are frequently present. Of course these restrictions apply only to registered sex offenders, those found by our legal system to be guilty of sex crimes. They do not apply to those persons who say they molested children, unless the person making that admission is ultimately charged, tried and found guilty or alternately, confesses in court.

That society takes such precautions to protect children from those proven to have committed sex crimes says a lot about the wisdom of keeping sex offenders as far away from children as possible.

When a person admits sexually abusing a child, those in a position of authority should do everything within their power to insure the self-professed child molester is not placed in a position that provides them with ready access to children. And this without regard to whether or not the person making that admission is charged and found guilty of a crime.

It would require an eternal optimist or a blatant fool to place a self-professed child molester in a position of trust and authority with an ample supply of potential victims within easy reach. This is exactly what the administration of Worthington Christian Schools did in re-hiring Dewayne Smith, who by his own admission to church leaders in 1996 was a child molester.

Church members and school patrons will have to decide for themselves if their church and school are under the control of eternal optimists or blatant fools.

In either case, a change in school administration and church leadership would seem like a very good idea if one is interested in the welfare of the children entrusted to either.

And while church members and school patrons in Worthington, Ohio are making up their mind, it is time that the various state legislatures act to bring state licensed teachers working in “church schools” under the same rules and regulations applicable to teachers working in public schools.

That is, if they care anything at all about the children in “church schools”…

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This entry was posted on Sunday, October 28th, 2007 at 2:59 pm and is filed under Church Schools, Editorial/Opinion, Ohio.You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.