January 9, 2012
The Judge: Hon. James G. Blanchard Jr
The Prosecutor: David Parks White
The Defense: Chadwick D. Medlin
The Charges:
1. Aggravated Child Molestation
2. Aggravated Child Molestation
3. Child Molestation
4. Sexual assault against a person in school
5. Giving false name
Saturday, December 24, 2011
Friday, July 22, 2011
Thursday, July 21, 2011
Application of the law in Georgia
http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/author/liz-goodwin/
By Liz Goodwin | The Lookout
Marietta mother Raquel Nelson--who lost her 4-year-old son when a car ran into him as she was headed home from the bus stop with her three children--may face up to two and half years in prison for jaywalking.
The Huffington Post's Radley Balko points out that Nelson may serve six times as many months in prison as the man who ran over her family and drove off.
That man, Jerry Guy, admitted he had been drinking and taking prescribed painkillers the night of the accident, and had been convicted in two earlier hit-and-runs. He served six months in jail for the crime.
A month after her son's death, and three days after the Atlanta Journal-Constitution ran a story called "Jaywalkers Take Deadly Risks," the Georgia Solicitor General's officer charged Nelson with homicide by vehicle and reckless conduct. She was convicted by a jury and will face sentencing next week, the AP reported. In an earlier jaywalking case, another mother was charged with involuntary manslaughter while the driver who hit her daughter was not charged.
Nelson, who doesn't own a car, said she was out shopping for supplies for her birthday with her three children when they missed their bus home, making them an hour late. She described what happened to her that night to the Atlanta Constitution-Journal:
When the Cobb County Transit bus finally stopped directly across from Somerpoint Apartments, night had fallen. She and the children crossed two lanes and waited with other passengers on the raised median for a break in traffic. The nearest crosswalks were three-tenths of a mile in either direction, and Nelson wanted to get her children inside as soon as possible. A.J. carried a plastic bag holding a goldfish they'd purchased.
"One girl ran across the street," Nelson said. "For some odd reason, I guess he saw the girl and decided to run out behind her. I said, 'Stop, A.J.,' and he was in the middle of the street so I said keep going. That's when we all got hit."
Balko asks why city planners are placing bus stops nearly a mile away from the nearest crosswalk. He argues that making the streets safer for people on foot (the area is consistently listed as one of the most unsafe for pedestrians) is a more humane and sensical approach than putting away a mother who has already lost a son. "If their aim was to make an example of a devastated mother to prevent others from jaywalking, they're delusional," he says.
But the Journal-Constitution says the public has been "unsympathetic" with the woman's story, arguing that parents should walk to traffic lights no matter how far away they are.
By Liz Goodwin | The Lookout
Marietta mother Raquel Nelson--who lost her 4-year-old son when a car ran into him as she was headed home from the bus stop with her three children--may face up to two and half years in prison for jaywalking.
The Huffington Post's Radley Balko points out that Nelson may serve six times as many months in prison as the man who ran over her family and drove off.
That man, Jerry Guy, admitted he had been drinking and taking prescribed painkillers the night of the accident, and had been convicted in two earlier hit-and-runs. He served six months in jail for the crime.
A month after her son's death, and three days after the Atlanta Journal-Constitution ran a story called "Jaywalkers Take Deadly Risks," the Georgia Solicitor General's officer charged Nelson with homicide by vehicle and reckless conduct. She was convicted by a jury and will face sentencing next week, the AP reported. In an earlier jaywalking case, another mother was charged with involuntary manslaughter while the driver who hit her daughter was not charged.
Nelson, who doesn't own a car, said she was out shopping for supplies for her birthday with her three children when they missed their bus home, making them an hour late. She described what happened to her that night to the Atlanta Constitution-Journal:
When the Cobb County Transit bus finally stopped directly across from Somerpoint Apartments, night had fallen. She and the children crossed two lanes and waited with other passengers on the raised median for a break in traffic. The nearest crosswalks were three-tenths of a mile in either direction, and Nelson wanted to get her children inside as soon as possible. A.J. carried a plastic bag holding a goldfish they'd purchased.
"One girl ran across the street," Nelson said. "For some odd reason, I guess he saw the girl and decided to run out behind her. I said, 'Stop, A.J.,' and he was in the middle of the street so I said keep going. That's when we all got hit."
Balko asks why city planners are placing bus stops nearly a mile away from the nearest crosswalk. He argues that making the streets safer for people on foot (the area is consistently listed as one of the most unsafe for pedestrians) is a more humane and sensical approach than putting away a mother who has already lost a son. "If their aim was to make an example of a devastated mother to prevent others from jaywalking, they're delusional," he says.
But the Journal-Constitution says the public has been "unsympathetic" with the woman's story, arguing that parents should walk to traffic lights no matter how far away they are.
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
Female Sex Offenders: Double Standard?
Bottom line on this teacher?
"Charged with sexual assault, Tapp eventually pleaded guilty to "offensive touching," and walked away with no jail time at all. Her punishment? She was barred from teaching in New Jersey public schools, and had to pay a $225 fine."
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/06/15/earlyshow/main1715421.shtml
(CBS) Are all sex offenders treated the same? Does the public take the cases as seriously when the offender or alleged offender is a woman? Many people are asking those questions after several highly-publicized scandals involving female teachers and male students.
As Susan Koeppen observed on The Early Show Thursday, the majority of sex offenders are men, but it's the women who get a lot of the attention.
When a beautiful teacher seduces a student, some people think, "What's the harm?"
But Koeppen spoke with one student who says his "affair" with a teacher left him devastated.
"I'm still trying to battle back," Jason Eickmeyer told Koeppen. "This happened in 2003, and it's 2006, and I still can't get it out of my mind."
At 15, reports Koeppen, Eickmeyer was a champion wrestler, with dreams of going to a Division I school. But he says all that changed his sophomore year at Hammonton High in Hammonton, N.J., when, he says, he caught the eye of 26-year-old gym teacher, Traci Tapp.
"She asked me my name," Jason says, "and I said, 'Jason Eickmeyer,' and she said, 'Oh, so the rumors are true.' And I said, 'What rumors?' And she said that she thought I was pretty cute.
"It kinda fired me up a little bit, being 15 years old, that's what you wanna hear from a beautiful teacher like that."
Jason says their relationship quickly escalated from hallway flirtation to a sexual encounter at the teacher's home. Jason says he was in love.
"Our dreams were to be together forever and produce the blonde hair, blue-eyed children," he says.
He says he began skipping classes to be with Tapp, and she told him to keep their affair a secret.
But it didn't stay that way for long.
"People always saw me together with her, every day," he tells Koeppen.
Jason says teachers as well as students knew about the relationship, but no one stepped in.
When Jason finally told his mother about the relationship, she reported it to his guidance counselor, who immediately called police.
"It hurt. I mean, he's my baby, he is my youngest son," says Tina Eickmeyer.
Two years after the alleged affair began, Tapp was arrested.
Tina says she's "disgusted" that nobody stepped in to stop the relationship before it was brought to her attention.
"Charged with sexual assault, Tapp eventually pleaded guilty to "offensive touching," and walked away with no jail time at all. Her punishment? She was barred from teaching in New Jersey public schools, and had to pay a $225 fine."
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/06/15/earlyshow/main1715421.shtml
(CBS) Are all sex offenders treated the same? Does the public take the cases as seriously when the offender or alleged offender is a woman? Many people are asking those questions after several highly-publicized scandals involving female teachers and male students.
As Susan Koeppen observed on The Early Show Thursday, the majority of sex offenders are men, but it's the women who get a lot of the attention.
When a beautiful teacher seduces a student, some people think, "What's the harm?"
But Koeppen spoke with one student who says his "affair" with a teacher left him devastated.
"I'm still trying to battle back," Jason Eickmeyer told Koeppen. "This happened in 2003, and it's 2006, and I still can't get it out of my mind."
At 15, reports Koeppen, Eickmeyer was a champion wrestler, with dreams of going to a Division I school. But he says all that changed his sophomore year at Hammonton High in Hammonton, N.J., when, he says, he caught the eye of 26-year-old gym teacher, Traci Tapp.
"She asked me my name," Jason says, "and I said, 'Jason Eickmeyer,' and she said, 'Oh, so the rumors are true.' And I said, 'What rumors?' And she said that she thought I was pretty cute.
"It kinda fired me up a little bit, being 15 years old, that's what you wanna hear from a beautiful teacher like that."
Jason says their relationship quickly escalated from hallway flirtation to a sexual encounter at the teacher's home. Jason says he was in love.
"Our dreams were to be together forever and produce the blonde hair, blue-eyed children," he says.
He says he began skipping classes to be with Tapp, and she told him to keep their affair a secret.
But it didn't stay that way for long.
"People always saw me together with her, every day," he tells Koeppen.
Jason says teachers as well as students knew about the relationship, but no one stepped in.
When Jason finally told his mother about the relationship, she reported it to his guidance counselor, who immediately called police.
"It hurt. I mean, he's my baby, he is my youngest son," says Tina Eickmeyer.
Two years after the alleged affair began, Tapp was arrested.
Tina says she's "disgusted" that nobody stepped in to stop the relationship before it was brought to her attention.
"If it had been a male, definitely, he would have been arrested right away," she contends.
Koeppen says: "We contacted the principal of the high school and the superintendent of Hammonton schools, but neither would comment. This case raises the question: Does our society have a double standard when the alleged perpetrator is a woman?"
"We just don't take it seriously," asserts psychologist Dr. Richard Gartner, who adds such cases are often the subject of jokes.
But Gartner stresses this is no laughing matter, noting that victims of female sex offenders can suffer severe emotional scars, including depression, anxiety, addiction to drugs and alcohol, and sexual dysfunction.
Says Gartner: "This can interfere with trust; this can interfere with self-esteem. It can go beyond love relationships — there can be all kinds of authority problems, because this is an authority that abused him."
Once an under-reported crime, cases of female sex offenders now make regular headlines, Koeppen says. But do the punishments fit the crimes?
"The reality is that they're just not going to be sentenced to the same kind of lengthy prison sentences that the men get," laments Tony Rackauckas, the District Attorney of Orange County, Calif.
He says he sees this double standard in the courtroom all the time.
One example: middle school teacher Sarah Bench-Salorio, convicted last year of sexually assaulting 11-, 12-, and 13-year-old boys. She faced more than 60 years behind bars. The judge gave her six.
"If she was a male teacher, I don't think she'd ever see the light of day again," Rackauckas says.
Tina Eickmeyer couldn't agree more, asserting, "There is a double standard; women can get away with it."
She says her son's relationship with his teacher took a devastating toll: His grades plummeted, he quit the wrestling team, and he was even suspended from school.
"It got to the point," Jason says, "where I didn't care if I graduated anymore, I didn't want to see anybody in that school, I didn't care about going on to wrestle, because all I could think about was her."
Charged with sexual assault, Tapp eventually pleaded guilty to "offensive touching," and walked away with no jail time at all. Her punishment? She was barred from teaching in New Jersey public schools, and had to pay a $225 fine.
"If she was a male teacher and I was a female student," Jason insists, "she would have been put away with maximum penalties. Three years of my life has been taken away because of a relationship, and I don't think justice was served at all."
The Eickmeyers say they plan to sue the school district for emotional damages, claiming the staff knew about the affair, but did nothing.
Koeppen says CBS News contacted Tapp, who declined a request for an interview, but denied having a sexual relationship with Jason.
The Early Show co-anchor Hannah Storm asked Koeppen what the allure is for female teachers who seek make student sex partners.
"Experts say many of these women were sexually abused as children," Koeppen says. "In some cases, these women say they were unpopular as teenagers, and these relationships make them feel cool and attractive."
What are the warning signs for parents that might indicate their child is having a relationship with a teacher?
"If your child is spending a lot of time with a teacher, male or female, outside the classroom," Koeppen says, "that's a major red flag. Look into it."
Koeppen says: "We contacted the principal of the high school and the superintendent of Hammonton schools, but neither would comment. This case raises the question: Does our society have a double standard when the alleged perpetrator is a woman?"
"We just don't take it seriously," asserts psychologist Dr. Richard Gartner, who adds such cases are often the subject of jokes.
But Gartner stresses this is no laughing matter, noting that victims of female sex offenders can suffer severe emotional scars, including depression, anxiety, addiction to drugs and alcohol, and sexual dysfunction.
Says Gartner: "This can interfere with trust; this can interfere with self-esteem. It can go beyond love relationships — there can be all kinds of authority problems, because this is an authority that abused him."
Once an under-reported crime, cases of female sex offenders now make regular headlines, Koeppen says. But do the punishments fit the crimes?
"The reality is that they're just not going to be sentenced to the same kind of lengthy prison sentences that the men get," laments Tony Rackauckas, the District Attorney of Orange County, Calif.
He says he sees this double standard in the courtroom all the time.
One example: middle school teacher Sarah Bench-Salorio, convicted last year of sexually assaulting 11-, 12-, and 13-year-old boys. She faced more than 60 years behind bars. The judge gave her six.
"If she was a male teacher, I don't think she'd ever see the light of day again," Rackauckas says.
Tina Eickmeyer couldn't agree more, asserting, "There is a double standard; women can get away with it."
She says her son's relationship with his teacher took a devastating toll: His grades plummeted, he quit the wrestling team, and he was even suspended from school.
"It got to the point," Jason says, "where I didn't care if I graduated anymore, I didn't want to see anybody in that school, I didn't care about going on to wrestle, because all I could think about was her."
Charged with sexual assault, Tapp eventually pleaded guilty to "offensive touching," and walked away with no jail time at all. Her punishment? She was barred from teaching in New Jersey public schools, and had to pay a $225 fine.
"If she was a male teacher and I was a female student," Jason insists, "she would have been put away with maximum penalties. Three years of my life has been taken away because of a relationship, and I don't think justice was served at all."
The Eickmeyers say they plan to sue the school district for emotional damages, claiming the staff knew about the affair, but did nothing.
Koeppen says CBS News contacted Tapp, who declined a request for an interview, but denied having a sexual relationship with Jason.
The Early Show co-anchor Hannah Storm asked Koeppen what the allure is for female teachers who seek make student sex partners.
"Experts say many of these women were sexually abused as children," Koeppen says. "In some cases, these women say they were unpopular as teenagers, and these relationships make them feel cool and attractive."
What are the warning signs for parents that might indicate their child is having a relationship with a teacher?
"If your child is spending a lot of time with a teacher, male or female, outside the classroom," Koeppen says, "that's a major red flag. Look into it."
What happens after an indictment?
The Indicted - Heather Newman Hart
http://community.lawyers.com/forums/t/67766.aspxOnce a person is indicted, the authorities often issue an arrest warrant.
Depending upon the nature of the charges, the person may arrange to surrender to the police and then post bail (or be released without having to post bail if the charges are relatively minor). If the charges are very serious, bail may not be an option. If the person cannot post bail, then he or she can sit in jail, but the actual preliminary hearing for the arraignment may have to occur more quickly in that case.
Most people, however, do not like sitting in jail and will bail out, if at all possible.
The first court date often is the arraignment. Most such preliminary hearings are pretty brief. (If the prelim is longer than 15 minutes, you have an unusual case.) The defendant can plead guilty or not guilty, etc.
If the defendant cannot afford an attorney, the usual course of action is to plead not guilty and ask for a public defender.
Discussions about a plea bargain, etc., generally do not occur before the arraignment as the many defendants are not assigned a public defender until the arraignment occurs. These discussions, if they occur at all, generally occur between the arraignment and actual trial date.
Second question: What about the right to a speedy trial?
Sunday, July 17, 2011
As of July 17, 2011
Out on $25,000 bail. (Cost $2,500) Violated bail, returned to court, let out again.
In the process of a divorce.
Supervised visitation with her children. (At least one sexual act was performed with both of her children present.)
The domestic court (divorce) cannot consider the criminal court action until it is final. When will that be? How long can this indicted sex offender continue to be in the community? Unknown.
In the process of a divorce.
Supervised visitation with her children. (At least one sexual act was performed with both of her children present.)
The domestic court (divorce) cannot consider the criminal court action until it is final. When will that be? How long can this indicted sex offender continue to be in the community? Unknown.
Indictment
http://www.thetruecitizen.com/news/2011-06-15/Front_Page/Former_educators.html
Former educators
2011-06-15 / Front Page
Two indicted for sex with students
Two school employees accused of sex with teenage students have been indicted by a Grand Jury.
Former Burke County Middle School guidance counselor Heather Hart was arrested in April after Sardis police officers discovered her in a parked car with a 14-year-old student. Hart gave officers a fake name and age.
At the time of her arrest, GBI agents said Hart, an Evans resident who had worked at the school for about four years, allegedly began seeing the Burke County High School freshman more than a year earlier when he was only 13.
Last week, the grand jury found sufficient evidence to indict Hart on two counts of aggravated child molestation, a single count of child molestation, sexual assault against a person enrolled in a school and giving a false name to a law enforcement officer.
The jury also returned indictments in a similar case that broke less than three weeks later. Holly Rachelle Whitfield, a former paraprofessional at River Quest, faces charges of aggravated child molestation, child molestation, enticing a child for indecent purposes and sexual assault against a person enrolled in school. The charges stem from her alleged relationship with a 15-year-old student who attended the Midville school which serves children with emotional and behavioral problems. The accusations surfaced when Burke County deputies interviewed the victim’s family as part of a burglary investigation in which the boy was arrested. According to the original report, the child’s grandmother said she’d seen Whitfield inside the teenager’s room on multiple occasions. Once, she reported, Whitfield was even retrieved from there by her (Whitfield’s) husband and mother.
At the time, deputies said Whitfield was also accused of having a sexual relationship with a second student who is 18 and over the legal age of consent.
Some Details
http://www.wrdw.com/schools/headlines/Middle_School_counselor_arrested_for_child_molestation_investigation_continues_119804669.html
News 12 at 6 o'clock / Wednesday, April 13, 2011
WAYNESBORO, Ga. -- An Evans mother of two is facing serious criminal charges. GBI agents say she was having a sexual relationship with a 14-year-old.
Heather Newman Hart was a counselor at Burke Middle School, and Sardis police say they caught her with a young high school student Monday night. GBI agents say they unfortunately see horrifying cases involving children all too often--rape, molestation, murder. But even they were shocked when asked to investigate a school counselor.
Special Agent in Charge Mike Ayers says Sardis police asked the GBI to become involved in the Heather Hart investigation Monday night. Sardis police allegedly caught Hart in a car in a local neighborhood acting inappropriately with a 14-year-old boy.
"They had reason to believe there was a possible sexual relationship that was ongoing between Ms. Hart and the high school student," Ayers says. He says he can not expand on the investigation in detail before it goes to trial, but his agents uncovered evidence which they believe proves the sexual relationship existed and had existed for quite some time.
Ayers says often, long-term abuse cases happen between family members or within the same home. But he says this case is different. "In this situation it's rather rare that you have an ongoing relationship this long that hasn't been discovered sooner than this." He adds that the GBI always acts especially quickly with cases involving children.
"Shocked that that's going on!" said Lexie TenHuisen. She has a son at the high school and a husband who is a teacher, and she says she can't believe anything like this would happen in their school system. "Well, people keep secrets. And I'm not really sure why it went on as long as it did. But it's shocking, and I just hope she's brought to justice."
Ayers says the charges Hart is facing now may only be the beginning. "There is still significant work that needs to be done in terms of creating a time line and looking at the event from a historical perspective." He believes at least a year of sexual involvement is possible, perhaps dozens of incidents for agents to trace back. "Each one of these events can become a separate criminal charge," he adds.
The story is stirring up mixed emotions around Waynesboro. Hart has been employed by the Burke County Board of Education for four years. One of her former students tells News 12, "Mrs. Hart was my counselor in middle school. I am in eleventh grade now. She was always there for me! She was a great person. I was shocked when I heard this. I started crying."
TenHuisen expresses concern for the young man involved. "I hope he gets counseling and leads a healthy and productive life once this is over."
The GBI says Hart turned herself in last night and faces charges for Aggravated Child Molestation, Aggravated Sodomy, Sexual Assault, and Providing False Information to Law Enforcement. Ayers says her criminal record is clean and that there's nothing in her school personnel file to indicate any complaints related to such accusations.
The case is ongoing. The Burke County Sheriff's Office, Waynesboro Police Department and Burke County Board of Education all worked with the GBI on this investigation.
News 12 at 6 o'clock / Wednesday, April 13, 2011
WAYNESBORO, Ga. -- An Evans mother of two is facing serious criminal charges. GBI agents say she was having a sexual relationship with a 14-year-old.
Heather Newman Hart was a counselor at Burke Middle School, and Sardis police say they caught her with a young high school student Monday night. GBI agents say they unfortunately see horrifying cases involving children all too often--rape, molestation, murder. But even they were shocked when asked to investigate a school counselor.
Special Agent in Charge Mike Ayers says Sardis police asked the GBI to become involved in the Heather Hart investigation Monday night. Sardis police allegedly caught Hart in a car in a local neighborhood acting inappropriately with a 14-year-old boy.
"They had reason to believe there was a possible sexual relationship that was ongoing between Ms. Hart and the high school student," Ayers says. He says he can not expand on the investigation in detail before it goes to trial, but his agents uncovered evidence which they believe proves the sexual relationship existed and had existed for quite some time.
Ayers says often, long-term abuse cases happen between family members or within the same home. But he says this case is different. "In this situation it's rather rare that you have an ongoing relationship this long that hasn't been discovered sooner than this." He adds that the GBI always acts especially quickly with cases involving children.
"Shocked that that's going on!" said Lexie TenHuisen. She has a son at the high school and a husband who is a teacher, and she says she can't believe anything like this would happen in their school system. "Well, people keep secrets. And I'm not really sure why it went on as long as it did. But it's shocking, and I just hope she's brought to justice."
Ayers says the charges Hart is facing now may only be the beginning. "There is still significant work that needs to be done in terms of creating a time line and looking at the event from a historical perspective." He believes at least a year of sexual involvement is possible, perhaps dozens of incidents for agents to trace back. "Each one of these events can become a separate criminal charge," he adds.
The story is stirring up mixed emotions around Waynesboro. Hart has been employed by the Burke County Board of Education for four years. One of her former students tells News 12, "Mrs. Hart was my counselor in middle school. I am in eleventh grade now. She was always there for me! She was a great person. I was shocked when I heard this. I started crying."
TenHuisen expresses concern for the young man involved. "I hope he gets counseling and leads a healthy and productive life once this is over."
The GBI says Hart turned herself in last night and faces charges for Aggravated Child Molestation, Aggravated Sodomy, Sexual Assault, and Providing False Information to Law Enforcement. Ayers says her criminal record is clean and that there's nothing in her school personnel file to indicate any complaints related to such accusations.
The case is ongoing. The Burke County Sheriff's Office, Waynesboro Police Department and Burke County Board of Education all worked with the GBI on this investigation.
The Start
http://www.georgia.gov/00/press/detail/0,2668,67862954_67866877_170100429,00.html
Burke County Middle School Counselor Arrested
| Tuesday, April 12, 2011 | Contact: SAC Mike Ayers - (706)595-2575 |
Sardis, Burke County Georgia – As result of information developed by the Sardis Police Department, a Burke County Middle School counselor has been arrested by the GBI for having a sexual relationship with a student.
Heather Newman Hart, 34, was arrested today by the GBI on Aggravated Child Molestation and Sexual Assault charges.
Sardis Police requested the assistance of the GBI Thomson Office on April 11, 2011, after their discovery that the counselor might be involved in a sexual relationship with a juvenile student.
The sexual relationship with the student is believed to have been ongoing for approximately one year, and there are no indications that any of the incidents occurred on school property. Hart has been employed by the Burke County Board of Education for four (4) years.
The Augusta Judicial Circuit District Attorney’s Office is in consultation with the GBI concerning this investigation. The Sardis Police Department and the Burke County Sheriff’s Office are participating in the investigation. The Burke County Board of Education has also aided in the investigation.
Additional charges are likely to follow as the investigation continues.
Heather Newman Hart, 34, was arrested today by the GBI on Aggravated Child Molestation and Sexual Assault charges.
Sardis Police requested the assistance of the GBI Thomson Office on April 11, 2011, after their discovery that the counselor might be involved in a sexual relationship with a juvenile student.
The sexual relationship with the student is believed to have been ongoing for approximately one year, and there are no indications that any of the incidents occurred on school property. Hart has been employed by the Burke County Board of Education for four (4) years.
The Augusta Judicial Circuit District Attorney’s Office is in consultation with the GBI concerning this investigation. The Sardis Police Department and the Burke County Sheriff’s Office are participating in the investigation. The Burke County Board of Education has also aided in the investigation.
Additional charges are likely to follow as the investigation continues.
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