11/14/2007

By ALAN SCHER ZAGIER  / Associated Press

For nearly three decades, Amy Davis says she suffered in silence, hiding the shame of two years of serial sexual abuse by a trusted junior high teacher.

On Wednesday, the 40-year-old Columbia woman broke her silence, buoyed by an Associated Press investigation into teacher sex abuse and subsequent calls for reform by a Missouri lawmaker.

"I'm on a mission now," Davis said at a Capitol news conference convened by state Rep. Jane Cunningham, R-Chesterfield, to announce legislative hearings and proposed changes to the state's disciplinary system for teachers who commit sexual misconduct. "I realized I could not remain quiet any longer."

With her mother, brother and 10-year-old son at her side, Davis described her early teen years as a lonely, socially awkward girl in Moberly who craved attention. She also described an authority figure who preyed on her vulnerability and caused a lifetime of pain.

Davis said she was the man's baby sitter and had a two-year sexual relationship that started when she was 12. When Davis tried to break free soon after her 14th birthday, she said, the teacher raped her.

Twenty-six years later, her assailant continues to teach in southeast Missouri, Davis said.

The Associated Press does not normally identify victims of sexual abuse, but in this case Davis agreed to have her named released. The AP is not identifying the teacher because no criminal charges or civil complaints have been filed.

The teacher did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

For Cunningham, chairwoman of the House Elementary and Secondary Education Committee, accounts like the one shared by Davis point to the need for change.

Davis said she lodged complaints with Randolph County investigators and the teacher's subsequent employer seven or eight years after the abuse but that nothing was done. Randolph County prosecutor Mike Fusselman said he is looking at reopening the case after Davis' recent disclosure. Fusselman was not the prosecutor when she made her earlier report.

In Missouri, 87 licensed teachers lost their credentials from 2001 through 2005 because of sexual misconduct, the seven-month AP investigation found.

That group includes former teacher Greg Crowley, who worked in eight school districts over 15 years, including three school systems after he quietly resigned from the Kingston district in 2000 following sexual harassment and misconduct complaints by at least a dozen students.

Nationwide, the practice of school districts knowingly allowing such teachers to take other jobs is so pervasive that it is often referred to by shorthand: Districts pass the trash to employers willing to look the other way when hiring mobile molesters.

"The problem is so common the issue has developed its own nicknames," Cunningham said.

Cunningham plans to file a teacher misconduct bill on Dec. 1, the first day possible to introduce legislation for the 2008 session, and hold a pair of hearings on Jan. 16 and Jan. 23.

While the bill's specifics remain uncertain, Cunningham said it will likely include these provisions:

_ Tightened background checks of prospective teachers by requiring the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education to not only conduct criminal background inquiries but also use a second, broader database of child abuse and neglect reports.

A recent state audit cited poor communication among the education department, the Missouri State Highway Patrol and the Department of Health and Senior Services for allowing teachers with histories of child and elder abuse to continue working with children, despite state laws intended to bar such offenders from the classroom.

_ Annual background checks of licensed teachers. Criminal record checks are required for new teachers and for those whose licensing requirements change, such as teachers promoted to principal. But the system doesn't monitor teachers licensed before 2004 or those who get in trouble after the initial background check.

_ Expand the obligations of local school districts to report alleged criminal misconduct or child abuse investigations to the education department, even those that result in dismissals. The department currently often only learns of such red flags after a conviction.

And those who commit conduct violations that don't rise to the level of a criminal offense — a common finding in the AP investigation — are exempt from the background checks.

_ Require local school districts to check a confidential education department list of criminal or child welfare complaints before hiring teachers. The registry would not be made public.

_ Remove the statute of limitations for bringing charges of sexual misconduct with a minor.

"It is wrong to call sex between an adult and a child consensual, or casual," Cunningham said. "It is rape."

Cunningham had previously said that she hoped to prohibit local school districts from signing confidentiality agreements with teachers who commit sexual misconduct. That sort of secret deal allowed Crowley to continue teaching for five years after leaving Kingston.

Cunningham said Wednesday that she now favors the approach requiring districts to consult the confidential, expanded registry of complaints against teachers.