North Miami teacher accused of molesting 4 girls at private school

[Judi Lynn]

North Miami teacher accused of molesting 4 girls at private school

Associated Press
Posted December 5 2003

NORTH MIAMI -- A 74-year-old teacher has been accused of molesting four girls at a North Miami private elementary school and the school's administrator has been charged with failing to report the alleged abuse, police said.

Samuel K. Morton, who teaches at Bethany Covenant, was charged with four felony counts of lewd and lascivious molestation of a child and surrendered to police Wednesday.

School Director Joyce Cowan, 67, was charged with a misdemeanor count of failure to report child abuse. The school is affiliated with neighboring Bethany Evangelical Covenant Church.

Police started its investigation in late October after a student told her mother that Morton had fondled her, said Detective Kathleen Ruggiero, a North Miami police spokeswoman. (snip/...)

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/miami/sfl-124teachermolest,0,4564932.story?coll=sfla-news-miami

[DemBones DemBones]

1. Sadly, this shows again that pedophiles go into fields where their

work puts them in contact with children, that's why so many are teachers, coaches, scout leaders, and clergymen of all denominations (Christian and Jewish and presumably other traditions as well.)

[0007]

2. 74 years old? Wow! Goes to show that only he boby changes...

but the mind doesn't. So this man must have one hell of a background, I wonder if he's ever been caught before this incident.

[The Backlash Cometh]

3. That's what I'm talking about.

When the scandal about the Catholic priest was revealed, the one thought that crossed my mind was that if it took so long to reveal the secrets of one massive organized cover up, how hard would it be to uncover all the tiny, disjointed cover ups that occur all across this nation in private schools and churches?

[jmcgowanjm]

4. assume innocence of man and lying by girl/mom based

on so many false past allegations not panning out.

Elementary girls can lie better than Condi Rice.


Life has taught me to trust physical evidence
above what anybody tells me, no matter how
seemingly "sincere". You'll have to ask
somebody else how often a child is coached
to tell a fabricated story during a divorce or
custody battle.

http://www.pathguy.com/abuse.htm

[jmcgowanjm]

5. add to that religious school strapped for cash/personnel

Busy admin and parents who think religious schools
are better for their kids than public.

Volatile mix.

[The Backlash Cometh]

6. Chances of you ever getting on a jury: zilch.

You've opened the door for too many crimes that will go unpunished. Testimony evidence IS enough to convict an individual, and some crimes, especially attempted sexual battery, only have that kind of evidence. Hope they give you the Auf Wieddersehen, baby, in the voir dire.

[Bandit]

8. Testimony evidence is enough to convict

Sad but true. Imagine if four people told you they saw a flying saucer. Four people's word can get you the death penalty but if the same four people said they saw a UFO they would be laughed out of the neighborhood. :crazy: People's word is only good if the subject matter is acceptable.

[The Backlash Cometh]

10. And that's why you do your best to select a fair and impartial

jury BEFORE the trial begins.

[NashVegas]

7. Q: What Physical Evidence do Molesters Leave?

As opposed to rapists?

A: Nada.

I might say you have a good point, if only because, having walked in those shoes (clergy abuse) at a time when the issue was not discussed, nor at a time when children were taught that they have the right to set boundaries over their bodies, if someone had asked me to name names at the age of 9, I would have named anyone *but* the actual perps, out of deathly fear.

Five years later, though, it would have been a different tale - like this:

A 15-year-old girl said Morton touched her buttocks under her clothing while she was a student at the school five years ago, police said.


Elementary girls can lie better than Condi Rice.

Both boys and girls get abused. So ... what? Boys are worse liars? Tell me - are these teachers lying, too?

School teachers witnessed some of the alleged acts committed by Morton during summer field trips and reported the incidents to Cowan.p

As for your link, I found this part interesting:

I do not charge for an initial chat, and I do the cases where the person is clearly innocent pro bono.

No quarrel with his pro bono for the 'clearly innocent.' I wonder what he charges the possibly guilty?

[snoochie]

9. WTF?!!

Why would you reflexively state the position that the girls were probably lying (presumably based on 'so many false allegations blah blah blah')?!

Then you make the outrageous claim about only trusting pysical evidence (?!)... Do you expect elementary 'girls' (you assume boys aren't molested) to carry camcorders around all the time?!!!!!

And it's clear you didn't even bother to read the article...

Something smells...

[Lindacooks]

12. Wrong.

False reporting of child abuse, like false reporting of rape, is only about 2%, the same as any other false crime reports. Kids rarely lie about this stuff. Read this:

http://incestabuse.about.com/b/a/045270.htm

and after you've learned something about the reality of the situation (not by reading biased reports by disgruntled men), then you will be able to comment on it.

[snoochie]

11. This topic needs MUCH more attention

From a respected and credible source on the suject:

From the NIS-3 study

Frequency:

In the US: Data collected for the congressionally mandated Third National Incidence Study of Child Abuse and Neglect (NIS-3) found that, in 1993, an estimated 3.2 per 1000 children (or a total of 217,000) were abused sexually; this represented 29% of the total number of children known to have been abused. NIS-3 used a definition that subsumed a range of behaviors, including intrusion, genital molestation, exposure, inappropriate fondling, and unspecified sexual molestation. NIS-3 is the single most comprehensive source of information about the current incidence of child abuse and neglect in the United States and is based on a nationally representative sample. At best, incidence is an underestimate; however, the cases counted are only those occurrences known to professionals and do not include incidents of sexual abuse that have not been disclosed. With sexual abuse, the number of undisclosed incidents is believed to be large, owing to the stigma and criminal behavior involved.

The 1993 NIS-3 incidence figure of 3.2 per 1000 children represents a statistically significant 68% increase from the 1986 Second National Incidence Study of Child Abuse and Neglect (NIS-2) incidence of 1.9 per 1000 children. In part, this difference is due to increased recognition of sexual abuse in the pediatric population. A classic prevalence study of New England male and female college students, which used a definition that included both contact and noncontact abuse with older perpetrators and children younger than 17 years, revealed that 19.2% of female students (1 in 5 women) and 9% of male students (1 in 10 men) reported sexual misuse during their childhoods. These figures are believed to be conservative estimates; other studies using different methodologies support using these figures as reasonable prevalence estimates.

Mortality/Morbidity: A number of psychological and medical consequences have been described as associated with sexual abuse. Psychological disorders are reported as having an increased incidence in those who have been abused sexually and include depression, eating disorders, anxiety disorders, substance abuse, somatization, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), dissociative disorders, psychosexual dysfunction in adulthood, and a number of interpersonal problems, including difficulties with issues of control, anger, shame, trust, dependency, and vulnerability.

PTSD and its relationship to sexual abuse have received considerable professional attention. The diagnosis of PTSD in the context of sexual abuse requires the occurrence of maltreatment and (1) frequent reexperiences of the event via intrusive thoughts and/or nightmares; (2) avoidance behavior and a sense of numbness toward common events; and (3) increased arousal symptoms, such as jumpiness, sleep disturbance, and/or poor concentration. Note that no universal short-term or long-term impact of sexual abuse has been identified, and the presence or absence of various symptoms or conditions does not indicate nor disprove the occurrence of sexual abuse.
------------

Don't bury your head in the sand on this, folks. Check the database of registered sexual offenders in your areas. You are almost guaranteed to be shocked.

Tell your children: NO TOUCHING IN BIKINI / BATHING SUIT AREAS. And let them know that they can always feel safe telling you ANYTHING, that you will still love them, no matter what! This is important! Also, tell them that if anyone tries to get them to keep secrets from you that they should not trust or listen to that person!

This is one of the easiest crimes to perpetrate, as children are so trusting and so easily manipulated. This causes LIFELONG damage and it has to stop.

Please keep this thread kicked. Too many parents are unaware of how prevalent this kind of abuse is. :(

[jiacinto]

13. I am so glad that I left FL

I really am. The place is a hellhole unless you're very rich.