This weekend, a Nebraska teacher was caught naked with a high school student by local police. The chase that followed before their actual capture would have been quite embarrassing for both sides.
However, the investigation revealed that the teacher in question is also the wife of an employee of the Department of Defense. The events surrounding this story range from the ridiculous to the disturbing.
Unfortunately, sexual misconduct in public schools continues to surface. Let’s take a look at this latest scandal and how other sex scandals are playing out in public schools across the country.
An embarrassment
Substitute teacher Erin Ward was caught naked with a 17-year-old student in her car Saturday night. The teacher was caught after her car was reported for suspicious activity around three in the morning.
When the police arrived, the young man got out of the back of the car dressed in leather and got into the driver’s seat in an attempt to escape. The troubled teen ended up wrecking the vehicle after just two blocks, after which he took off running.
Ms. Ward was arrested at that time. After getting dressed and revealing her teacher ID, she admitted to having had sexual intercourse with the teenager.
The boy was eventually found wearing only his underwear and a T-shirt. In addition to being a very bad substitute teacher, Ms. Ward is also the wife of a DOD employee.
William Douglas Ward is the Deputy Director of the Commander’s Action Group and Senior Advisor for Nuclear Deterrence at the United States Strategic Command, commonly referred to as STRATCOM. STRATCOM’s primary mission is to detect and deter attacks.
Unfortunately, Mr. Ward failed to detect and deter his wife’s extramarital activities.
RELATED: Bill Maher says he’s ‘OK’ with abortion considered ‘murder’ due to overpopulation
Worrying trend
While Ms. Ward is avoiding a statutory rape charge thanks to Nebraska’s age of consent being 16, she is being accused of sexual abuse by a school employee. Douglas County Deputy District Attorney Brenda Beadle said of the incident:
“If it’s an ongoing relationship, which is what we see here, then I consider that treatment.”
Grooming, in this case, is the act of a school employee actively engaging in and encouraging inappropriate relationships with students and children. Unfortunately, this latest event in Omaha is not an isolated case.
This week, a former Chicago Public Schools student filed a lawsuit against the district over sexual abuse she suffered. While attending Greater Lawndale High School for Social Justice, the student referred to as Jane Doe was sexually abused for several years by the Dean of Students, Brian Crowder.
Lawyers on the case wrote:
“The silence and inaction of CPS, through its administration, faculty, staff and other agents, facilitated Brian Crowder’s grooming and exploitation of Jane Doe, a student in their care, throughout of her time as a student at LVLHS from 2012 – 2016.”
RELATED: Whoopi Goldberg Says Abortion Is Not Covered by the Ten Commandments: ‘It is You, Your Doctor, and God’
Meanwhile, in northern Virginia, three current or former Loudoun County public school employees have been charged with crimes over the course of a year:
- a former cafeteria employee allegedly assaulted a student
- a substitute teacher was charged with possession and production of child pornography
- A high school teacher has been suspended for soliciting a child under the age of 15 online
Local reporters are still trying to discern exactly when LCPS parents were made aware of all three of the above situations.
How and why?
Americans often wonder how teachers and other people in positions of power can get away with deviance and abuse of this magnitude. Why someone would choose to take advantage of those in their charge may seem like an impossible question to answer.
But the truth is that just as absolute power corrupts absolutely, so too does perceived authority, be it positional or by proximity to authority. Did Mrs. Ward think she could get away with her abuse?
Probably. Why did she believe it?
Most likely, it is the culmination of a few factors. Most abusers are not first-time offenders, so there’s a good chance this guy wasn’t his first victim.
That means he might have gotten away with it before. She may also have believed herself to be untouchable because of her husband’s position.
After all, DOD personnel and their spouses are trustworthy and upstanding citizens, right? Finally, her position as an educator also makes her a “trusted” person.
However, just like any institution built on power, this nation’s public school system is unfortunately just as vulnerable to corruption as the next. The victims of this institutional rot are our nation’s most vulnerable people, and it threatens to perpetuate itself forever unless parents and citizens take back their power and shut down the system.
Now is the time to support and share the sources you trust.
The Political Insider ranks #3 on Feedspot’s “100 Best Political Blogs and Websites.”