Posted on 12/27/2007 8:16:43 PM PST by redrunner
A former Las Vegas High School track coach impregnated one of his team members and then helped her get an abortion, Las Vegas police allege.
Kenneth Craig, 28, of the 2100 block of Tenaya Way, was arrested and booked into jail Dec. 20 on a felony charge of sexual misconduct with a student.
Craig worked as a substitute teacher for the Clark County School District from May 2003 to May 2007. He also was a track coach at Las Vegas High School from February to May 2006. His arrest report said that he was an assistant track coach for boys and girls at the school.
Police have recovered hundreds of pages of electronic correspondence between Craig and the then-17-year-old senior from a computer that the girl used. They subpoenaed Craig's MSN hotmail subscriber information. Some of the messages indicated that Craig feared discovery and knew that the relationship could have criminal consequences, police said.
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In one message, Craig talked about the possibility of facing jail time and losing his job, police said.
In another message, sent to the teen on May 26, 2006, Craig wrote, "You forget although track is over your still in school ... which means if I get caught at your house ... that is MY ASS," according to his arrest report.
He then told the girl that he was willing to meet her at night because it was less risky, the report said. He also reminded her to keep their relationship on the "DL," down low, the police report said.
The former Las Vegas High student told police that she and Craig first had sex in March 2006 in her parents' home, according to Craig's arrest report. Medical records obtained by police through an Oct. 15 grand jury subpoena showed the victim had an abortion on June 22, 2006.
The relationship first was reported to school district police by Las Vegas High's current girls track coach, Uvette Gonzaque-Francis.
As a public education employee, Gonzaque-Francis is required by law to report suspected abuse involving students. School police turned the case over to Las Vegas police, whose records indicate that they got the case on April 10.
Gonzaque-Francis told police she learned of the relationship from Craig's ex-girlfriend, Deanna Riddle.
Riddle gave birth to Craig's son on Jan. 10 at Southern Hills Hospital and Medical Center, according to a birth announcement published in the Review-Journal early this year.
On March 13, police said, Riddle reportedly told Gonzaque-Francis that Craig had sex with a female track athlete in 2006 and had gotten her pregnant. Gonzaque-Francis told police that Riddle said she paid for the abortion.
When police talked to the former student, she said Craig and Riddle accompanied her to an abortion clinic.
She said that "Deanna paid approximately $500 cash for the abortion and obtained the paperwork from the clinic," Detective Paul Slaninka wrote in the police report.
Police interviewed Riddle in May.
"I asked Deanna if she drove (the teen) and Kenneth Craig to an abortion clinic and Deanna stated that she drove her to a doctor's office and was unaware if it was an abortion clinic," Slaninka wrote in the report.
"She also stated that she gave Kenneth Craig money on numerous occasions and is unaware if he used those monies to pay for an abortion."
Electronic correspondence between Craig and the track team member make several references to her pregnancy and the abortion, according to the arrest report. Craig urged the student to save money because "we still have to go to the clinic in a couple of weeks," according to the police report.
Other messages touch on the victim's desire to "keep it" and the effects of the abortion procedure, according to the police report.
Craig declined to give Las Vegas police a statement in September. The arrest report said Craig was interviewed on the phone by school police in March. Craig admitted to having sex with the student but said that it occurred after the girl had graduated in June 2006, the arrest report said.
Police said the electronic messages they recovered contradicted Craig's statement. The arrest report quoted a May 30, 2006, message sent from Craig to the victim that asks: "your not going to sleep with me anymore?"
Las Vegas High School officials are on winter break and could not be reached for comment. Clark County School District spokeswoman Jaime Lea confirmed the period of Craig's employment but said a list of schools where Craig worked as a substitute teacher was not immediately available. "As a substitute teacher, he would have been at several different schools over the course of four years," Lea said.
She said Craig had "separated from the district" but would not specify whether that meant he was fired or he quit.
Craig's preliminary hearing is set for Feb. 20 in Las Vegas Justice Court.
The charge of sexual misconduct with a student was added to the Nevada Revised Statutes in 1997 thanks to Terri Miller, who is now president of the Stop Educator Sexual Abuse, Misconduct and Exploitation.
Miller said a daughter's friend had been sexually exploited by a teacher in Pahrump and was not prosecuted because the girl was not younger than 16, the age of consent in Nevada. Miller found that other states had laws that specifically prohibited teachers from taking advantage of their students, and she lobbied for such a law in Nevada.
In Nevada, anyone who is 21 or older and is employed in or volunteering in a position of authority at a school is guilty of a category C felony if he or she engages in sexual conduct with a pupil who is 16 or 17 and is guilty of a category B felony if the student is 14 or 15.
A category C felony is punishable by one to five years in prison and a fine of up to $10,000, and sexual misconduct with a student who is 14 or 15 is punishable by one to six years in prison and a fine of up to $5,000.
Miller continues to lobby for changes to the law and contends the punishments are not severe enough. She has been pushing for those who are convicted of such crimes to be required to register as sex offenders, but she said her effort was scuttled by legislators in the past session.
"Did you know that in Nevada, a person who sexually assaults a dead body is guilty of a Class A felony and is required to register as a sex offender, but a person who commits a sex offense on a child, someone who abuses their position as a trusted authority figure to abuse a child, that person is not required to register? This is sick," Miller said.
despite the fact that we hear of a teacher “shortage”, I personally know of several people who can’t buy their way into teaching....perhaps in some inner city areas they can’t get enough teachers, but in a good part of America, I suspect most education grads have to look for real work, I mean, work....
Gee! I wonder if that "winter" break just happens to coincide with our **national** holiday, Christmas! 2) On the very first day after the break that celebrates our national holiday, that government school will be packed with kids. It's the free babysitting I suppose.
Well said, yorkie.
so..while the abortion clinic workers are supposed to also be “mandated reporters” - it is shown, once again, that they repeatedly cover up for statutory rapists as long as they get their cash.
It looks like the only “mandated reporter” who actually followed through was the track coach.
“If only teachers were allowed to get married, this wouldn’t happen.”
dang!
someone beat me to it again.
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