Breaking**Inspector General: "Actions of MCPS senior leaders do not demonstrate either accountability or transparency." Report on MCPS Failure to Background Check Staff/Contractors/Volunteers.

Today, the Montgomery County Office of the Inspector General issued a report entitled, "Review of MCPS Background Screening Office."

The IG's Report details disturbing gaps in the MCPS background checks of staff, contractors and volunteers.

The MCPS Superintendent, Thomas W. Taylor, responded to the Report and criticized the IG's process.

The IG responded to the Superintendent's criticism with a response letter that included the following statements:  

...OIG staff met with members of the Superintendent’s leadership team on June 25th and in response to that meeting made corrections to address the concerns raised and provided a revised draft report on July 7th. On July 16th we held another meeting to discuss MCPS’s proposed corrective actions and address any other questions or issues. At no time during or after that meeting did MCPS leadership request additional changes to the report, raise wording discrepancies, or identify any inaccuracies. The Superintendent did not attend either of these  meetings, and despite his claims, MCPS leaders did not exhibit or invite an authentic collaboration. In fact, during our last meeting with MCPS leadership, they repeatedly refused to discuss specifics of certain planned actions which would assist the OIG in determining if the proposed steps would address observed deficiencies or offer alternative considerations. It was only in the Superintendent’s July 25th formal response that we learned of the nature and extent of discussions with the State regarding CPS checks...

...Lastly, in contrast to their statements, the actions by MCPS senior leaders do not demonstrate either accountability or transparency. The fact remains that thousands of individuals with unsupervised access to MCPS schools and students have not had a criminal history check in more than five years and thousands more have not completed a CPS check. In the end, only one entity is tasked with and has accepted the responsibility for obtaining these background checks to safeguard employees and students, and that is MCPS.  

The full IG Report is reproduced below: 

Montgomery County Public Schools, Maryland screening of employees by Parents' Coalition of Montgomery County, Maryland on Scribd

Jury Retrial Set for 9 Days in April for Former Cloverly ES Teacher John Vigna

 Trial - Jury 04/22/2024

09:30:00 Chernosky, Theresa ; Calendar Judge 5, CR

Criminal Courtroom 9C - North Tower

Damascus Man Charged with First Degree Child Abuse

 For Immediate Release: Wednesday, January 10, 2024

Gaithersburg, MD – On Monday, January 8, 2023, detectives from the Montgomery County Police Special Victims Investigations Division (SVID)-Child Abuse and Sex Assault Unit arrested 25-year-old, Oliver Hernandez Caballero of Damascus, for allegedly causing severe injuries to his 5-month-old child.    

The investigation has revealed that on Thursday, December 28, 2023, Hernandez Caballero was at home, alone with his 5-month-old child. At approximately 9 p.m., the child was taken to Shady Grove Hospital following concerns that the child was having difficulty breathing and eating.     

   

The child was transferred to the Children’s National Medical Center as a result of severe and unexplained injuries to the head and body. Child Protective Services (CPS) notified detectives from the SVID-Child Abuse and Sex Assault Unit of the incident.   

 

Throughout the course of the investigation, detectives obtained information leading to the accusation that the child's father, Hernandez Caballero, abused the child, resulting in severe injuries. 

 

Hernandez Caballero, who is the child’s biological father, was arrested on Monday, January 8, 2024, on the strength of a warrant. He was transported to the Montgomery County Central Processing Unit where he has been charged with two counts of first-degree child abuse. He is currently being held without bond.   

https://www2.montgomerycountymd.gov/mcgportalapps/Press_Detail_Pol.aspx?Item_ID=44586

New Trial Granted to Former MCPS Teacher Previously Convicted for Sexually Abusing Students

 

A new trial has been granted for a former Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) elementary school teacher previously convicted of sexually abusing several students.

In 2017, John Vigna, of Silver Spring was found guilty on nine counts involving four victims. Vigna was serving 48 years in prison, but on July 12 was released ahead of a new trial.

Vigna’s conviction was tossed out by Montgomery County Circuit Court Judge David Lease earlier this month after new attorneys for Vigna argued during his first trial, he had “ineffective assistance of counsel.” This was reached after a series of trials from November to March.

Vigna was a 5th and 6th grade teacher at Cloverly Elementary School for 20 years. A 2016 class on “body safety” triggered the investigation that led to his arrest and conviction. the class teaches students how to identify sexual abuse and teachers noted the physical reaction of one student. The investigation led police to ask any potential victims to come forward and five victims named in the 15-count indictment identifying Vigna...

New Trial Granted to Former MCPS Teacher Previously Convicted for Sexually Abusing Students - Montgomery Community Media (mymcmedia.org)

Maryland Catholic Conference will support bill to eliminate statute of limitations, but only for future cases of abuse

The lobbying group that represents Maryland’s Catholic churches said Monday that it will support legislation in the upcoming state General Assembly session that would eliminate the statute of limitations in civil suits involving future cases of child sexual abuse.

While throwing its support behind the legislation, at least as it applies to future cases, the Maryland Catholic Conference at the same time indicated it would continue to oppose a provision that survivors and their advocates have long fought for — a “look back window” that would give survivors a two-year period in which to file lawsuits alleging abuse in the past, regardless of when the abuse occurred...

...The conference’s statement also comes after The Baltimore Sun reported that the church has spent more than $200,000 in recent years to prevent lawmakers from expanding the state’s statute of limitations arising from sexual abuse claims.

The legislation in question is a bill written by a group of survivors and their attorneys. Originally titled the “Hidden Predator Act,” it would establish the two-year window for past cases. Other states, including Arizona, California, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina and Washington, D.C., have established such look-back windows for civil suits...

Maryland Catholic Conference will support bill to eliminate statute of limitations, but only for future cases of abuse – Baltimore Sun

Investigating and disciplining educators appropriately for even small instances of misconduct is key to deterrence, according to Grant. “Because if people know that if they get caught doing even something small, that it’s going to be handled … it creates deterrence.”

Berkeley High knew for 15 years of allegations chemistry teacher sexually harassed students

After years of sexual misconduct complaints, the school district signed a gag order allowing Matthew Bissell to quietly resign.

https://www.berkeleyside.org/2021/11/23/berkeley-high-knew-about-matthew-bissell-sexual-misconduct-allegations

Baltimore teacher says he was fired after calling Child Protective Services

 “I saw [the teacher] attacking three kids while we were in circle time because she was very, very upset and she wanted to make a point, keep the kids in check,” Shulevitz told Project Baltimore.

“What do you mean by attacking?” asked Project Baltimore Investigative Reporter Chris Papst.

“Hitting,” said Shulevitz. “Hitting the students. I was shocked.”..

https://foxbaltimore.com/newsletter-daily/baltimore-teacher-fired-calling-child-protective-services?fbclid=IwAR0OG3zyp7JpywacZyYgI4HeaWTBxjP_22MHlEBNV3Va2JxKWtYqR_fv7ME

Breaking: Whitman Crew Letter: July 2018 - "parent informed the Board of a rumor of a sexual relationship between Shipley and a former crew member that began following her graduation" "MCPS was aware of the allegation"

To the Whitman Crew Community: 

We are heartbroken and disgusted by the information which came to light last week regarding Kirk Shipley’s alleged sexual abuse and sexual misconduct. When we were informed, we immediately severed all ties with him and instructed him not to have any contact with current or former athletes, parents, or other members of our community. We are incredibly sorry for the pain and anguish that all of our athletes and parents are experiencing. We regret offering Shipley a position for this fall season and, in retrospect with what we now know, that was clearly the wrong decision. We, as Board members, are also parents of athletes and we would never knowingly put our children at risk. We know many parents, current athletes, and former athletes are disturbed and angry. You have every right to be. We are as well.
 
We want to be transparent with you regarding what the Board knew, when the Board knew it, and why the Board took the actions that it did.
 
In July 2018, a parent informed the Board of a rumor of a sexual relationship between Shipley and a former crew member that began following her graduation. This rumor came to light one month after the Board had initiated an investigation in response to an unrelated individual boating complaint regarding Coach Shipley. When the Board learned of the rumor, it was told the parent had already reported it to Montgomery County Public Schools and child protective services. The Board confirmed that MCPS was aware of the allegation and the Board immediately reported the allegation to SafeSport. As a member of U.S. Rowing, Walt Whitman Crew must follow the policies of SafeSport, which gives SafeSport exclusive jurisdiction over allegations of sexual abuse and the process by which those allegations are investigated. To be clear, SafeSport policy does not allow an organization to investigate such matters itself. The Board relied on the respective expertise and experience of MCPS, SafeSport, and Montgomery County child protective services to investigate and report any findings of sexual abuse or misconduct by Shipley. Neither MCPS, SafeSport, nor Montgomery County child protective services reported any findings of sexual or physical misconduct to us..

In June 2021, the Board received disconcerting feedback regarding Shipley during our annual survey. None of the issues raised allegations of sexual or physical misconduct. However, given the nature of the concerns, we immediately suspended Shipley, and we hired an independent investigator to perform a review of the program. Our decision to hire an independent investigator was based on several factors. We wanted to:

• have a neutral third party lead the process;
• engage someone with expertise in conducting investigations; 
• encourage community members to come forward; and 
• protect the privacy of the athletes and parents who were willing to share information confidentially.

We relied on the investigator’s findings, including the categorical statement, "There have been no allegations (or findings) of any physical or sexual misconduct on the part of Coach Shipley or anyone else involved with the program." Had this fact not been reported to us, our decision for the fall would have been different. For the concerns about Shipley that were noted in the report, we believed that we could establish protocols to address them effectively. Again, it was made clear that there were no allegations or findings of sexual misconduct contained in the report that was provided to us. We want you to know that we made what we believed to be the best decision for our children and our club, based on the information we had at the time.

On August 18, 2021, we were notified by US Rowing that SafeSport had an open investigation of Kirk Shipley that we did not know about when we made the decision to continue his employment. We immediately contacted SafeSport and they told us the following: 

1. They received a complaint in October 2020, which they closed in early July 2021 because there was "not enough to report"; 
2. On July 19, 2021, they received new information, which they did not disclose to us, so they reopened the investigation and they assigned an investigator at the end of July; 
3. Kirk Shipley was still eligible to coach; and 
4. We were prohibited from taking action as a result of learning about their investigation.

We had no knowledge of the SafeSport investigations when we made the decision to employ Shipley this fall.

When, on August 24, 2021, we learned that a criminal complaint had been filed against Shipley, we immediately severed all ties with him.

We want to apologize to those who bravely came forward to raise concerns and who feel like those concerns were not heard. The health and safety of our kids is and always has been our primary concern. As fellow parents, we acknowledge the anguish, turmoil, and pain that this brings to our student athletes.

Our focus now is on providing resources to our athletes, healing our community, and cooperating with the investigation. With that in mind, we have made the difficult decision to suspend the fall program, including Learn-to-Row. We are working on identifying alternative fall rowing programs and will have more information to share in the coming days. 

To assist with the healing, we have also lined up several therapists who deal specifically with trauma to work with any parent and/or athlete who wants counseling. They are: 

Gavin W. Behrens & Associates - Bethesda
https://www.gbehrensandassociates.com/

Rathbone & Associates - Bethesda/Rockville 
https://rathboneandassociates.com/
Britt Rathbone or John Dunn, specifically

Julie Baron & Associates - Rockville
https://www.juliebaronandassociates.com/

Also, Georgette Saad from the Sibley Group in DC (https://thesibleygroupdc.com/) is available for psychoeducational group sessions for parents, followed by separate group sessions for female and male rowers. Tentative days/times are Friday, September 3 at 7pm, Saturday, September 4 at 1pm, and Wednesday, September 8 at 5:30, 6, or 7. If you or your child is interested in attending a group session, either in person or virtually, please contact Marianne Sullivan, mariannesullivanmd@icloud.com, who is coordinating the schedule. We are paying for these group sessions out of dedicated funds – and welcome anyone who wants to contribute to this fund to support the athletes.

 Please let us know if you have questions. You can email Dave Charlton (crewdad@davecharlton.net).


Sincerely, 
Whitman Crew Boosters Board of Directors 

Board of Education: The school board also argued that there is no law establishing a duty for school staff members to intervene to protect students from alleged police misconduct.

...In a separate court filing, the Montgomery County Board of Education asked that allegations that school staff members were negligent and violated the boy’s rights be dismissed.

The board argues that, although the child exited the school, he was in the presence of the assistant principal and was supervised.

The lawsuit alleges that Pfeiffer, the assistant principal, was within feet of the boy when police arrived...

https://bethesdamagazine.com/bethesda-beat/courts/in-lawsuit-response-police-officers-deny-mistreating-5-year-old-boy/

Police officers involved in 5-year-old student viral body cam disciplined

 https://wjla.com/features/i-team/police-officers-involved-in-5-year-old-student-viral-body-cam-disciplined?fbclid=IwAR1usWor-oe2J-pulp9m78noaUKz6mNNIBKhVUQbIqydTJXSerEBHGxjU0A

"Every adult in the room really did a disservice" to the little boy says Katz, including school officials when the child was brought back.

WTOP:  Kate Ryan

Now @MoCoCouncilMD holds briefing on a Jan 2020 incident in which a 5 year old boy was taken back to his school by Montgomery County Police. The incident, caught on video shows police yelling at the child, handcuffing him, and urging his mother to beat her child.

President of @MoCoCouncilMD Tom Hucker noted that the case is now in litigation, but said the briefing was needed, but "too much time has already gone by" since the incident more than one year ago. 

Montgomery County Police @mcpdChief opens with a statement. Says as Chief, a father, and a 35 year vet of the force "was deeply troubled by the actions of my police officers" in the case. 

Says the law regarding public employees bars him from discussing disciplinary measures and limits his ability to certain questions. 

Asked why it took so long for the internal investigation, @mcpdChief says a DOJ recommendation of getting those done in 90 days precedes the use of body-worn cameras, and says the investigation took place in the middle of a pandemic. 

"When we do these reviews," Jones says, it must be done in a "fair and just system". Jones says he's been around since 1985 when there were 75 officers in dept. 

Jones said since then, there's been a push to make sure all officers are treated fairly. So in looking at this case, he wanted to be sure that the dept would not be accused of "discriminatory practices". 

Sitting in on the hearing, Montgomery County CAO Richard Madaleno. He points out County Executive's budget includes 2 new internal affairs positions. 

Council President @CmHucker asked what is fireable offense? "An officer committing a felony" said @mcpdChief or lying or "being dishonest" said Jones. 

Hucker asks "Isn't it difficult for an officer" to know exactly what is a fireable offense. Jones says no. 

Hucker asks could the officers in the case--who are both still on the force---could be called out on a case like the one involving the 5 year old boy. "They could" said Jones. Heavy sigh from Hucker. 

CM @MC_Council_Katz opens questions saying "I know you all" and says he appreciates @mcpdChief coming before council, but says a case like this can "Never" happen again "especially to a child." 

Discussion of body-worn camera program, Chief Jones says he has 1 person to do all the redactions on all footage. 

"Video is great" but says "it is not the all to the end-all" says @mcpdChief 

For anyone following, @mcpdChief is the handle for Chief Marcus Jones. (Don't want to confuse anyone.) 

CM @MC_Council_Katz Chair of Public Safety Committee asks how often a child leaves a school and when police might be called. @MCPS Supt Smith says "It is quite a rare" situation when a child (elementary for example) would leave and police would be called. 

Katz said he was asked why police were called. He asks if SRO assigned to school cluster was notified. Chief says he believes the SRO was not notified. 

Katz says he's watched every minute of video, and asks why "wasn't the school in charge of the child at that point" when the boy was brought back to school building and under school supervision. Why did police stay? 

Jones doesn't answer directly, indicating he can't say. 

"Every adult in the room really did a disservice" to the little boy says Katz, including school officials when the child was brought back. 

At this point, CAO Madaleno interjects, noting General Assembly legislation on police powers (wide-ranging bills) being acted on now could have impact in the county. 

CM @RicePolitics asks, what is the policy when a child leaves schools? (Directed to @MCPS Supt Smith) 

CM @RicePolitics asks why the SRO assigned to school wasn't called? @MCPS Super Smith says he can't answer. (there is a current debate on council and state level on SRO's in schools) 

Rice who has been a supporter of SRO's asks, citing the fact that they are trained directly in working with students. 

If an admin feels they witnessed abuse: are they required to report that? @MCPS Super Smith says school personnel are required to report abuse. Rice: did they report this? Smith says can't answer due to litigation. 

Rice asks @MCPS Super Smith what would he have done in a case like that? (Involving the little boy) 

Smith speaks generally on discipline, restorative practices, etc. 

"If you had a definition of school to prison pipeline, you could slot in this video" says @willjawando "Imagine how long it was for this little boy" who was yelled at and "failed" by every adult involved. 

CM @willjawando says people have cited how long the 51 minute video is..."Imagine" he says how long it felt for the 5 year old boy involved. 

Jawando prefaced Q&A asking for answers, knowing that litigation could keep @mcpdChief from answering. One question the Chief does answer...no one should scream at inches from the face of a young child. 

Jawando asks if Chief would support repeal of #LEOBR @mcpdChief said he would not support wholesale repeal, but some elements of that. 

CM @willjawando says anyone who did what he saw on the video "they do not deserve" to serve as a police officer---Jawando says that's his feeling on the matter. 

Jawando asks precisely when @mcpdChief saw the Jan 2020 video--the Chief said he saw it in December---nearly a year later. 

"To say the obvious--this is a very unsatisfying conversation" says @hansriemer says laws barring access to more info on this incident need to be changed. 

"Everyone's hiding behind this lawsuit--what happened happened" says Reimer. 

"We're just potentially perpetuating the problem" said @hansriemer by not conversing more freely about the incident. "Catastrophically flawed" system of discipline in policing, says Riemer. 

"We need to design a matrix for things that happen at schools and then clearly delineate" who should respond "and why it should not be police officers" says @hansriemer Does say that police can offer mentorships that benefit kids, but the system needs a change. 

CM asks when complaint was filed that triggered the investigation into the incident. @mcpdChief says late Jan 2020 complaint filed. 

CM @nancy_navarro says she won't belabor the issue, but says as budget is considered, SRO alternative model should get another look. 

"I still am pretty speechless" said @nancy_navarro Can't imagine-as a mother--"this is a very extreme incident." 

In describing the video, @nancy_navarro struggles for words. "We have some work to do. There aren't a lot of answers today because there's litigation." But she says current legislation addresses some of the issues raised. 

CM @EvanMGlass says training not the issue in this case. Police, he said, were dealing with a crying child. This wasn't a case of lack of "de-escalation" training. Asks about protocols for placing a child in a patrol vehicle. @mcpdChief says no formal protocols 

CM @EvanMGlass asks how a school employee could have witnessed what police did in the video--but @MCPS Super Smith says "I can't describe--specifically this event" says he has "a lot of thoughts and emotions" about the situation. 

Council members @nancy_navarro and @EvanMGlass say that perhaps, a closed meeting is required so that they can get more info, but adds there's a need for public info and understanding. 

CM @Andrew_Friedson says the incident was a failure by everyone involved. Friedson agrees closed session needed to get at questions that can't be answered in public setting. Notification to council was "inadequate" 

CM @albornoz_gabe the last speaker says "This was before the pandemic" and says now with kids who've been through a challenging year with the social and emotional impacts, a need for care. 

"Totally and utterly indefensible" says @albornoz_gabe Notes as the former Director of Recreation, saw law enforcement engage positively with young people. "What I saw on that video...made my stomach turn." 

CM @albornoz_gabe recalls when he was a 5 year old boy and was separated from a group, and how a police officer helped him and treated him with love and care. Says that's still a vivid memory...

https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1379503909711061004.html