XPost: school.general, sac.general, alt.politics.democrats   
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   From: losers@dnc.org   
      
   Redlands police have arrested a former high school drama teacher   
   on suspicion of having sex with two underage students and   
   possession of child pornography, making him the third former   
   teacher in the school district to be charged with sexual abuse   
   in the past five years.   
      
   Joel Everett Chandler Koonce, a La Verne resident who began   
   teaching at Redlands High School in September 2016, was taken   
   into custody just after 10:30 a.m. Thursday in Ontario. He was   
   booked at the West Valley Detention Center in Rancho Cucamonga   
   on suspicion of sodomy with a person under the age of 18, sex   
   with a foreign object, oral copulation with a person under the   
   age of 18, sex with a minor and possession of child pornography.   
      
   Koonce, 27, was being held without bail, but it was not   
   immediately clear why bail was not offered. He is scheduled for   
   arraignment Tuesday in San Bernardino Superior Court, according   
   to jail records.   
      
   Koonce allegedly engaged in sex acts with the two female   
   students from 2016, beginning when they were 16 years old,   
   through 2018. Koonce was suspended by Redlands Unified School   
   District in October 2017 and fired a month later, but the   
   alleged sexual relationships continued into 2018, police said in   
   a news release.   
      
   Redlands police believe there could be other victims, and   
   encourage anyone with information to contact Detective Elyzabeth   
   Green at 909-335-4714.   
      
   Performance issues surfaced first   
   In a news release, Redlands Unified on Friday said problems with   
   Koonce began in July 2017 with performance issues that had   
   nothing to do with sexual misconduct, then escalated in October   
   2017, when an employee reported Koonce for alleged misconduct   
   involving a student. A report was filed with child protective   
   services, then the Redlands Police Department, and Koonce was   
   suspended. But, at the time, the investigation could not   
   corroborate any criminal wrongdoing.   
      
   The following month, Koonce was fired.   
      
   “Based on the fact that the district had lost faith in Koonce to   
   properly carry out his duties and responsibilities, and the fact   
   that he was still within his probationary period as defined by   
   the Education Code, the decision was made to release him from   
   his contract with the district in November of 2017,” the news   
   release said.   
      
   Despite Koonce’s termination, the allegations against him did   
   not cease. In July 2018, a school district employee heard a   
   rumor that Koonce was still engaging in inappropriate sexual   
   conduct with students, and a second mandated report was   
   submitted again to child protective services, prompting another   
   investigation, according to the school district.   
      
   Last month, one of the alleged victims came forward with new   
   allegations, prompting a follow-up investigation by police, and   
   a second victim was discovered, leading to Koonce’s arrest,   
   police said in a news release.   
      
   Attorney Morgan Stewart, of the Irvine law firm Manly, Stewart &   
   Finaldi, said he represents four alleged victims of Koonce,   
   including the two he was arrested for allegedly abusing, but has   
   yet to file a legal claim, a precursor to a lawsuit, against the   
   school district.   
      
   ‘Acted like a friend’   
   He said Koonce acted more like a student than a teacher, which   
   he used to his advantage.   
      
   “He acted like a friend — hung out with the students, would help   
   them ditch class, would tell them secrets, would do drugs with   
   them, would buy them drugs,” Stewart said.   
      
   Stewart recently settled sex abuse lawsuits involving three   
   former Redlands Unified teachers and eight victims or alleged   
   victims for $15.7 million, the largest payout in the school   
   district’s history to end sex abuse litigation.   
      
   In the past five years, Redlands Unified has paid out a total of   
   $21.7 million to Stewart’s firm to settle sex abuse lawsuits.   
      
   Koonce’s arrest is the latest development in a 14-month   
   investigation by the Southern California News Group into sexual   
   abuse of students at Redlands Unified School District, where   
   administrators have been slow to report suspected sexual abuse   
   of students to police and child protective services.   
      
   A review of more than 2,000 pages of police reports, depositions   
   and internal school district records showed a pattern of school   
   district administrators failing to address warning signs of   
   sexual abuse and inappropriate conduct between students and   
   teachers. The  most glaring examples were former Redlands High   
   School teacher Kevin Patrick Kirkland and former Citrus Valley   
   High School teacher Laura Whitehurst.   
      
   In August 2016, Redlands Unified settled a civil lawsuit with   
   one of Whitehurst’s victims, whose child she bore, for $6   
   million. That settlement came four months after Kirkland’s   
   arrest. Under a plea agreement, Kirkland was convicted in June   
   2017 of molesting four female Redlands High School students from   
   June 2014 through May 2016. He was released from custody the day   
   he entered his plea, after serving only less than 14 months in   
   jail.   
      
   Lessons learned at Redlands Unified   
   Officials in Redlands Unified appear to have learned lessons   
   from the Kirkland and Whitehurst cases.   
      
   Not only was Koonce reported to authorities as required by the   
   state’s mandated reporter law, but the school district even   
   submitted notice to the California Commission on Teacher   
   Credentialing. According to the commission’s website, Koonce   
   still holds a valid single-subject credential to teach English.   
      
   In light of the rampant sexual abuse at the district in recent   
   years, it has launched a campaign, “See Something, Hear   
   Something, Sense Something, Say Something,” and recently   
   released a poster the district has encouraging all of its   
   schools to post in common areas. The poster, also disseminated   
   via the district’s mobile app, includes a 24-hour CPS hotline to   
   call and report suspected abuse: 1-800-827-8724.   
      
   On Nov. 13, Redlands Unified’s Board of Education will review   
   and act on the final version of a new professional conduct   
   policy for all staff.   
      
   “Cases like this are truly reprehensible, but it is important to   
   be reminded that the unconscionable actions of a few of our   
   staff who violate our trust does not diminish the trust we have   
   in our 1,800 employees who continue to perform in the best   
   interests of our students,” Redlands Unified Superintendent   
   Mauricio V. Arellano said in Friday’s news release.   
      
   https://www.redlandsdailyfacts.com/2018/11/09/another-former-   
   redlands-high-school-teacher-arrested-for-alleged-sex-with-   
   underage-students/   
       
      
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