Somerset ES parent who secretly recorded children changing, showering sentenced to 20 years

Md. man who secretly recorded children changing, showering sentenced to 20 years

Children were invited to 'splash parties' at Oldale’s residence where they were encouraged to change clothes or take showers before they went home.

A man who invited children into his home in order to secretly record them while they were changing clothes or using the bathroom was sentenced to 20 years in federal prison Monday.
Jonathan Mark Oldale, 55, will spend 20 years behind bars followed by a lifetime of supervised release on charges of production and possession of child pornography, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Maryland.

Oldale will also be required to register as a sex offender where he resides, where he is an employee and where he is a student.
He also was ordered to pay a $400,000 money judgement in lieu of forfeiting his interest in his house, which he had used to commit his crimes.
According to his plea agreement, on May 5, 2017, the Montgomery County Police Department received a complaint from an employee at a children’s gymnastics facility in Silver Spring that Oldale had placed a backpack containing a camera disguised to look like a car key fob in the bathroom. The employee told officers about a prior incident, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, where Oldale had done the same thing.
Police searched his home, and found three computers, two of which had been on the “dark web” and accessed child pornography or exchanged child pornography. A second search of his home found three “spy cameras” and footage of children in his bathroom changing, showering and using the toilet...

https://www.wusa9.com/article/news/local/md-man-who-secretly-recorded-children-changing-showering-sentenced-to-20-years/65-d7864e6d-a056-4f1c-aa23-f16d4b41fcc1?fbclid=IwAR0ZQfyLo7Cw6fmChMk8iMGXu7-CUZfiJiM9HwQzUw-Ue79onag_5pnwqxc

MAN ARRESTED FOR VIDEO SURVEILLANCE MAY HAVE LINKS TO PTA AND CUB SCOUT TROOP

A Chevy Chase man arrested in October for conducting nonconsensual visual surveillance in a private place may have ties a local elementary school parent-teacher association, according to two PTA newsletters from September 2016.

Police arrested Jonathan Oldale, 54, Oct. 18 concluding a nearly five-month-long investigation, according to an Oct. 27 police press report. Police began investigating Oldale in May after an employee of the Silver Star Gymnastics and Fitness Club reported finding a backpack containing a concealed camera under a "wet floor" sign on the floor of a bathroom...

http://www.thesentinel.com/mont/news/local/item/5996-man-arrested-for-video-surveillance-may-have-been-a-pta-and-cub-scouts-rep

Police: Man hid camera in bathroom at Montgomery Co. gymnastics facility

WASHINGTON — Police have arrested a parent they say attempted to record people in the bathroom of a Montgomery County gymnastics and fitness facility earlier this year.

Montgomery County police arrested 54-year-old Jonathan Oldale on Oct. 18 after they say, on May 5, he put a backpack containing a camera in the unisex bathroom at the Silver Star Gymnastics and Fitness Club located at 2701 Pitman Dr. in Silver Spring, Maryland.

Oldale is a parent whose children are enrolled in gymnastics classes at the studio, police said.

An employee called police after he saw a backpack under a “Wet Floor” sign on the floor of the bathroom and noticed a camera inside what appeared to be a car’s key fob inside the backpack. The camera “was hot to the touch” and its light was on, indicting that it was recording, the employee told police...

https://wtop.com/montgomery-county/2017/10/police-man-hid-camera-bathroom-montgomery-co-gymnastics-facility/

Police: Father hides ‘pinhole spy camera’ in bathroom of Silver Spring gymnastics center

SILVER SPRING, Md. (ABC7) – While two siblings attended gymnastics class, their father placed a hidden camera inside the facility’s restroom in hopes of recording children, Montgomery County Police say.

Authorities have charged Jonathan Oldale, 54, of Bethesda, with one count of visual surveillance-prurient intent.

According to court documents, on the evening of May 5, an employee at the Silver Stars Gymnastics and Fitness Club in Silver Spring located a backpack stashed underneath a wet floor sign in a lobby-area unisex restroom. The sign was positioned directly in front of the sole toilet...

http://wjla.com/news/local/police-father-hides-pinhole-spy-camera-in-bathroom-of-silver-spring-gymnastics-center

Corporations Now Have Voting Rights in Montgomery County PTAs

Your local PTA is now longer just the voice of parents and guardians.  

Montgomery County PTAs are now giving corporations voting rights in local PTAs.  

This is not a corporation donating to a PTA, this is giving a corporation an actual membership with voting rights in PTAs.  Google, Pearson, FieldTurf, and many of the other Board of Education no-bid favorite corporations should be snapping up PTA memberships to ensure their continued presence in MCPS classrooms. 

   Pta Corporate-business Membership Form by Parents' Coalition of Montgomery County, Maryland

Moving away from PTA discussed at BOE Committee meeting

Thanks to parent Danuta Wilson for attending this Board of Education committee meeting. These meetings are not recorded and not available on video.  It is only when citizens volunteer their time to attend these committee meetings that the public finds out what the Board of Education is planning.

At the September 27, 2012, Board of Education Communications and Public Engagement Committee meeting I found two topics of interest:

Dana Tofig outlined a new initiative called Neighbor to Neighbor that MCPS will be launching on October 8, 2012. The goal is to engage the public in self-guided small group discussions on a variety of topics. The first topic will be the MCPS Operating Budget. To help with the discussions there will be a website, tool kit and other ways to communicate with MCPS throughout the process and to ask questions. MCPS will be aggressively reaching out to non-profits, community organizations, Parent Advisory Council, etc to seek feedback. The notes from the various meetings will be shared with the Superintendent and the Board of Education and there will be a report on the input received.

Another topic had to do with visits to cluster schools by the Superintendent and the Board of Education. This is in addition to cluster visits that have already been scheduled. Brian Edwards said that the goal was to move away from the traditional PTA managed visits and instead to build a grassroots network. I like this idea a lot and would love to see it in practice. I look forward to hearing more about it.
 
Danuta Wilson

Agenda Communication Public Engagement

PTA Silenced

Today the Board of Education voted on an agenda item to turn 20 acres of public school land over to County Executive Ike Leggett.


What was most stunning about the discussion at the Board table was that at no time did any of the Board members mention that PTAs had never been heard from on this Agenda item. 


The organization where Shirley Brandman, Pat O'Neill, and Phil Kauffman were officers prior to coming to the Board of Education table was completely ignored in this rushed decision. 


There was no PTA or MCCPTA statement on school land needs in the public comment of today's Board meeting, and there was no mention made as to the exclusion of PTAs from this process during the Board discussion. PTAs meet monthly and a Board item with only 2 business days notice to the public guarantees that PTAs will not be able to meet and formulate a position prior to a Board vote.  


The last time the Brickyard Middle School site was up before the Board of Education for possible surplusing (at the request of then County Executive Doug Duncan) over 300 PTA and community members showed up at a public hearing to speak to the need for school land in the County. 


This time? PTA was silenced.

Frederick County PTA Opposition to Charter School Application

The [Frederick County] PTA has issued a very misleading action alert to its members, wrongly suggesting that approving our charter school will hurt existing programs. They try to raise fears about teaching being laid off as a result. Whether charter schools are budget neutral depends on the funding model FCPS [Frederick County Public Schools] uses, not the applicants. If anything, the PTA should be taking issue with FCPS, not us. 

Over the last year, the number of charter schools in the country increased 9%, despite challenging economic circumstances around the country. Despite its historic budget shortfall of $20 billion, the state of California lead the country in the creation of charter schools, increasing them by 12%. Other districts can manage to create charter schools, and FCPS has provided no reason why it cannot manage its budget as well as other districts who continue to start charter schools despite challenging circumstances.

This is outrageous. Is it any wonder why parents continue to leave the PTA?

I attached the "Action Alert" from the PTA below. Read it and decide for yourself.

Tom Neumark

Frederick Classical Charter School 

Action Alert Charter School Revisit 11211

PTA, Promethean and Pepsi

PTA Watch: They still don’t get it: PTA, Promethean and Pepsi

I really don’t know who exactly makes these decisions, but I really wish Nationalm [PTA] would spend more time working on things that actually work for us local units and less time on partnerships that are so clearly useless to us and on bombarding us with Pepsi messages that aren’t working.

I just heard about this new program with Promethean that National is touting, and it’s hard to believe.  Have you read this at all:http://www.marketwire.com/press-release/National-PTA-and-Promethean-Announce-Great-School-Fundraisers-Contest-LSE-PRW-1341395.htm ?  I sure hope the check to National [PTA] was big, because this does nothing for local units.  The small print makes it even more clear.  This is basically National telling locals to jump through all kinds of hoops and fundraise more (something Natonal is always telling us not to do) all in order to get a discount on one very specific set of products.  How does that make sense?

As far as Pepsi goes, enough already. Please. I get the PTA emails and the PTA facebook postings and I’ve seen the huge spot on the PTA homepage.  In the last two months, I’ve received almost nothing except messages asking me to go click on a Pepsi thing to help National.  The worst part is that the “largest nonprofit focused on children” has spent all this time and energy promoting this contest and is still only in 119th place.  Last month, PTA wound up in about 80th place.  Only the top two get funded.

When Chuck was elected and Byron was hired, all we heard about was this new focus on serving local units, but all we’ve really seen is partnership after partnership that brings in dollars to National, do almost nothing for local units and then go away. Does anyone remember the movie night fundraiser with HP?

All PTA Watch wants is a National office that serves local units rather than a National office that serves the National office...

National PTA picks Promethean!

Anyone ask the teachers if they want a "Promethean Board?" What about school districts that use a competitor's product? And let's not forget the maintenance and upkeep on these boards. The MCPS Board of Education just spent $202,300 on bulbs for the Promethean projectors and $253,606 on Promethean maintenance, data networks and upgrades.

What's in this "initiative" for National PTA?

PTA | For Immediate Release

National PTA and Promethean Announce
“Great School Fundraisers” Contest

Alexandria, VA (October 26, 2010) – National PTA and Promethean are launching a national initiative to help members “Fund their Dream ActivClassroom.”

As part of a new three-year sponsorship, Promethean, a global education company committed to supporting teaching and learning, will help local PTAs interested in adding interactive technologies into classrooms and investing in digital-age learning resources.

“Parents are important catalysts to change in thousands of schools around the country. We are delighted to be working hand-in-hand with them to strengthen and reinvest in schools. When we give our educators the tools and support they need to be successful, we build a stronger future for our children and our country,” says Mark Elliott, President, Promethean North America...

Response to PTA Support for Ambulance Fee

Dear Parents of Montgomery County students:

 

Yesterday, I was advised that the Whitman PTA had circulated a request that all parents send the Montgomery County Council a letter urging the Council to adopt "revenue enhancements," including the proposed ambulance fee.  As a result of many inaccurate facts being disseminated by proponents of the proposed fees, I am writing this letter to provide you, the parents, with the other side of the issue. 

 

First and foremost, each of you should know that the language of the bill specifically provides that the money gained through the ambulance fee will be used to supplement (and not supplant) existing fire and rescue budgets, which means that the Montgomery County school system will receive absolutely no additional monies through imposition of the proposed fees. Indeed, the fees will ultimately detrimentally affect the finances of the County, which may mean additional future cuts.

 

Mr. Leggett has argued that insurance companies will be paying the bills. This is misleading. First, the bill specifically notes that except in the case of hardship, which must be submitted in the form of a waiver, that “each individual who receives an emergency medical services transport is responsible for paying the . . .. transport fee.” Second, if insurance companies do ultimately assume the cost of the fees, they will be forced to re-coup their costs through raised premiums. While proponents have argued that the increases will be minimal, I, as a business owner, will beg to differ. Even a 1% increase in premiums will result in thousands of dollars in increased costs to companies currently paying health insurance premiums, resulting in those companies’ being forced to decrease the benefits provided to employees.

In 2009, press releases by the County stated that the fees were intended “to recover costs generated by providing . . . transports via County ambulances.” Where once the intent was to seemingly limit the fee to “County ambulances,” which would necessarily remove those transports provided by NON-County purchased units, the County Executive has now broadened the imposition of the fee to all Fire and Rescue service vehicles, regardless of how those vehicles were purchased, how the equipment onboard the units was purchased, how the fuel was purchased, and whether the personnel staffing the vehicles are volunteers or career members of the fire and rescue services. It should be noted that several stations in the County (including the BCC Rescue Squad) are either entirely (as in the case of BCCRS) or substantially funded by community donations, meaning that the equipment, gas, vehicles, buildings, etc. are not owned or operated by the County.  And yet, the County Executive still intends to charge for transports made in those units.

The County Executive’s current plan is perhaps most short-sighted in its potential effect on fire service volunteers. Notwithstanding that no money will actually make its way back to fund non-County owned stations, volunteers, non-County purchased vehicles, or non-County purchased equipment, some County residents will believe that donating to these organizations will be unnecessary (since they will believe that the fees being imposed are going to all fire and rescue departments in the County). If donations decrease substantially to these organizations (like BCC Rescue Squad and Wheaton Rescue Squad), how will the County Executive avoid incurring millions and millions of dollars in costs to hire career fire personnel to do jobs currently performed by volunteers and provide or replace community-purchased fuel, vehicles, or equipment? The County Executive will lose every cent he proposes to raise and more – putting the County (and its education system) in more fiscal jeopardy in three or ten years (long after his departure) than it is in now.

Finally, as some of you may be aware, fire and rescue departments throughout Montgomery County (including BCC Rescue Squad) provide opportunities for high school children to volunteer in the communitiies where they live.  The experiences these kids have are invaluable to personal development.  Young volunteers are taught what it means to give back to the community, be compassionate, be responsible, undertake difficult and demanding training, and respond, day and night, to help others and guide them through tragedies.  If ambulance fees are imposed, these programs, and the entire volunteer system in Montgomery County, are at risk.  Therefore, and for the reasons noted above, we urge you to oppose these ambulance fees.

Brooke Davies,

Vice President, Bethesda Chevy Chase Rescue Squad

Chief Operating Officer, Davies Consulting, Inc.

Whitman PTA pushes tax increases

In an e-mail being circulated by MCCPTA, the Whitman PTA Cluster Coordinators suggest a "sample letter" to be sent to Councilmembers in regard to their budget deliberations. The "sample letter" has the sender supporting modest "revenue enhancements."

According to the DC Examiner, here is what those "revenue enhancements" would mean to Montgomery County citizens. If you are going to send this "sample letter" to the County Council, know what these "modest increases" will mean to your home, family and neighbors.

By Leggett's calculations, doubling the energy tax would add about $100 annually to residential energy bills, and $3,360 to commercial energy bills. The tax increase would end at the end of fiscal 2012.

"If you just turn down the thermostat, you can avoid the tax," he said. "I thought that was fair."

Leggett's revised budget also includes a $1 increase on the county's $2 monthly cell phone levy. The energy and cell phone tax increases together would restore 70 percent of the county's shortfall. 

Read more at the Washington Examiner here. 

__________________________

Sent by: mccpta_board@yahoogroups.com

Subject [MCCPTA_Board] CALL OR EMAIL COUNTY
05/05/2010 11:06 COUNCIL TO OPPOSE FURTHER CUTS
AM

Hi all,

See below for a sample letter that we have circulated in the Whitman Cluster to urge people to voice their opposition to further cuts by the County Council to MCPS. We have asked people to email or call this week as the straw vote is scheduled for May 20.

Our schools are putting it out on the list serves, and grade schools are asking room parents to send out to class parents. Some PTA presidents, together with cluster reps, will also be handing out flyers at drop off and pick up to get the word out to as many as possible.

Obviously, the more people who contact the County Council the better, so we hope you'll add your Cluster's voices to the mix.

Best,

Jean Schlesinger, Deborah Goldman and Keith Parsky (Whitman Cluster Co-Coordinators)


Dear Councilmembers,

I am a parent of Montgomery County public school students. I understand that because of the serious
economic crisis in Montgomery County that MCPS has to make do with less next year. Consequently, I
accept that the reduction of MCPS’ budget by $137 million, while unfortunate, is necessary. I do not
agree and am strongly opposed to the County Council’s efforts to impose an additional $30
million cut to the school system’s budget. Such a cut would be gambling with the quality of our
children's education, as it would put our schools at further risk of a $52 million penalty from the
State, for failure to comply with the Maintenance of Effort Law. The $137 million cut is barely
tolerable, given the increase in enrollment of more than 2000 students and the heightened needs of
students due to the increase in poverty across our County. Risking a cumulative cut of $219 million
is simply irresponsible. This fall, I will vote for Councilmembers who fight to preserve the high
quality of education for which Montgomery County is nationally known and who are unwilling to penalize
our children any further.
I do support the revenue enhancements necessary to balance this year's budget, including the
modest proposed increases in energy and cell phone use taxes, as well as the ambulance fee. 


NAME
ADDRESS 

Northwest High School parents form independent coalition

Frustrated with discipline problems and other issues, parents at Northwest High School have formed the Northwest High School Coalition of Concern Parents (NHSCCP)

According to their Yahoo group home page, the NHSCCP's mission is to "provide insight and support for the safety and security of all students, teachers, staff and visitors of Northwest High School so that the Northwest community can advance the goals of MCPS within the boundaries of Northwest High School." Northwest High School parents are encouraged to subscribe to the new Yahoo group.

Meeting minutes for the first two meetings of the NHSCCP can be found at the links below.

http://www.scribd.com/doc/15070491/NHSCCP-Meeting-Minutes-April-30th
http://www.scribd.com/doc/15070492/Welcome-to-the-2nd-NWHSCCP-Meeting

The Gazette also reported recently on the formation of the NHSCCP.

http://www.gazette.net/stories/04152009/montnew211405_32479.shtml
http://www.gazette.net/stories/04292009/montlet173843_32536.shtml

The Sopranos Meets the PTA

The "More" Child blog reports on the activities of the Montgomery County Council of PTAs (MCCPTA) this week in an article entitled: The Sopranos Meets the PTA.

Berthiaume: "I'm sorry...had I known...I would have sat stone faced."

Statement of MCPS Board of Education member Laura Berthiaume on February 9, 2009, during Board of Education discussion of resolution to vote on MCPS FY10 Operating Budget
(transcribed from webcast at 1:25:57)

Once I pass my vote on this proposed budget, the budget will move forward and I will support it as it will be the decision of the whole board, which I will be obliged to support. To be on the team means to support the team position, and I will. But I do not believe that to be a team player means to sit mute when the play is being called, or to fail to vote in good conscience yea or nay, or to fail to explain my vote on how the play should be executed and so I am going to do that now.

First, I want to say that I am disappointed that the Board was unable to have the benefit of the evaluation of the Learning Center transition before acting today. The resolution before us specifically approves the 2010 Special Education staff plan as proposed. I don't know how the Board can effectively provide oversight on, or input into, a special education staffing plan when it is missing vital information on whether or not one of the major moves in how we provide special education services over the last two years has in fact worked for the special education students receiving those services. This is the equivalent of buying a "pig in a poke".

Second, I do not agree with the Board's current approach to the budget. As this stands, it does appear that a majority of the Board is committed to passing the Superintendent's budget without change. Apparently on the theory that the federal, state and county numbers at this time are uncertain and furthermore that to change anything at all is to somehow invite the County Council to change the numbers in the eleven categories as set forth in the resolution. The uncertainty as to the federal and state numbers can be rectified, as I believe we are going to entertain a motion to amend, to take up those considerations in April, rather than in June. At that time those state and federal numbers will be certain. I hope and encourage the Board to support that motion.

The uncertainty as to the county number is present every single year. To take the position that the Board will always support the Superintendent's Budget in February, without change or until it comes back from the County Council, lest the Council interfere with the budget, effectively means that every February the Board will always accept the Superintendent's recommended funding. By taking this position the Board is agreeing to basically limit its role to behind the scenes advocacy for priorities that may, or may not ever receive public exposure. And furthermore, is largely agreeing to limit its role to that of cheerleader for the budget. What is left to be decided in June is solely whether anything will be restored, not whether anything that perhaps should have been cut was not in fact cut.

Keep in mind that our inaction now does in my opinion effectively doom the Middle School Magnet Consortium and the Reading and Staff development positions, because teachers will need to commit to positions for the next school year and many will chose to take new positions or leave the system, rather than bet on an uncertain restoration of the cuts.

It seems to me moreover that a failure by the Board to actually evaluate and make appropriate changes to the proposed budget now is in fact itself an invitation to the County Council to meddle. If the Board will not do its own business as a body that is supposed to oversee the school system budget, and do so in a representative fashion for the best interests of the students, taking into account public testimony, then I see no reason why the County Council should hesitate to do our business for us. Beyond this it seems to me that to take this approach to the Budget wastes an awful lot of time and effort, both by the Board and by the community at large.

If it is the Board's intent to always support the proposed Budget in February, as is, with no changes, and then to make changes around the edges only in June after the County Council has adopted its budget, then perhaps we should just have the Superintendent present the budget to the County Council directly in February. Let our PTA's and parent's advocate directly to the Council. For it is clear we'll take no action right now as a result of the public's advocacy. And perhaps not very much action at a later time. After all, it will always be true that the school system as a whole will have moved ahead by June on the assumption that 99% of the Budget is a done deal. It seems to me to be inefficient and unseemly to sit in front of a crowded room in January full of people who think that their pleas will result in action now, if we know that no changes will be made. To raise hopes and expectations when the reality is that there is no hope is unfair.

As I left one Budget hearing I heard one parent say to another that the Board seemed to be moved by the stories that we heard of the children in the MPAC program. And there was real excitement in that parent's voice. I was the Board member who responded so enthusiastically. To that parent, I'm sorry. Sorry I responded so positively to your story. Had I known how misleading my reaction was, I would have sat stone faced.

In sum, if the Board will not do its job, then I will cast my vote against the budget because I believe we have a job to do. After I cast my vote, as I said, I will support it once it passes. But I encourage the Board to take this up again in April and to do its job now. Thank you.