'Huggy' Teacher Accused Of Molesting Students

[The Straight Story]

'Huggy' Teacher Accused Of Molesting Students

POSTED: 10:01 am EST December 8, 2005
UPDATED: 1:12 pm EST December 8, 2005

An elementary school teacher in Osceola County, Fla., was charged with molestation after several students reported that they were touched inappropriately by the man, according to a police report.

Osecola County sheriff's detectives arrested Chestnut Elementary School teacher Raymond Anthony Luaders, 55, Wednesday.

An investigation was launched into Luaders after a parent reported to the school district in November that students were apparently being touched in an inappropriate manner.

The parent said her child said Luaders touched her and made her feel uncomfortable on several occasions, the report said.



http://www.local6.com/news/5491705/detail.html

[Name removed]

1. Deleted message

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[Matariki]

7. there's not enough info in the article to know whether the guy is guilty

or not. yet you automatically seem to assume he is. i've noticed the tendency to assume guilt when it comes to child pornography or molestation. i wonder why?

[bryant69]

10. Well it could just be assuming guilt cause this guy lives in Florida

which is, as noted, a red state.

Bryant
Check it out --> http://politicalcomment.blogspot.com

[MadisonProgressive]

12. Only because of rigged elections

[mattclearing]

16. Thank you. n/t

[WI_DEM]

29. but what does that mean about the nearly 3 million people in FL

who voted for Gore and Kerry?

[MoonRiver]

19. Because people are extremely protective of innocent children?

And tend to air on the side of keeping them safe from predators? :shrug:

[Endangered Specie]

31. This coming from someone where movie stars get elected governor...

you should not be talking.

[mondo joe]

2. As a man, I wouldn't risk being a teacher for anything.

No idea if this guy did something wrong or not. But I wouldn't blame any man for getting out of teaching because of the risk of false accusation.

[proud2BlibKansan]

6. Men can be wonderful teachers

but they need to be very careful, especially if they are working with young kids.

[FreedomAngel82]

20. Yes

My US History teacher was an older guy (about my grandfather's age) and he was one of my favorite's. He made us think and have discussions and participate. I really liked his class. I had another really good teacher who was a band director who was a guy (who had the cutest son *sigh*) and when he was our director our band was the best. So there are a lot of great men teachers out there. I had a US History teacher who was good but he had a monotonic voice and did lecture classes and I had him right after lunch in a hot room in the afternoon so people always fell asleep. And yes I too agree you should wait until more comes out about the case before stating someone is guilty.

[RaleighNCDUer]

25. or not so young kids. nt

[Name removed]

3. Deleted message

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[acmejack]

4. No, No! They ALL happen in NYC!

Don't you watch "Law & Order" (or "Son of Law & Order" or "Yet More Law & Order)?

[proud2BlibKansan]

5. Anyone remember the McMartin case in CA?

Detectives interviewed other students who gave similar stores.

Luaders was taken into custody based on the interviews.

http://www.religioustolerance.org/ra_mcmar.htm

[walldude]

13. I do, and unlike most people I also remember they were innocent

and their lives were totally destroyed. We need to be careful on this kind of thing. I notice some people are quick to automatically believe this because the guy is in a "red state" :eyes: Whether the guy is a repug or a dem doesn't matter at this point. If this is some kid with an overactive imagination or a parent who grilled their kid till the kid said what they thought the parent wanted to hear. The sad thing is if the guy is innocent his life is already destroyed. Like with the McMartins once the stigma is attached to you you will never get out from under it...

[proud2BlibKansan]

14. Two of those women died penniless

They sued one of the parents and were awarded $1. All of the teachers lost their teaching certificates - for BEING ACCUSED. NONE were found guilty.

There are some updates at that link I posted. Sad, sad story.

[walldude]

23. I remember there being no stories in the media when they

were found to be innocent. The national media went into full Nancy Grace mode on them when they were accused, hell I thought they were these horrible monsters, then, when the charges turned out to be false, not a damn word no retractions, no statements nothing.. I for years thought they were guilty and in jail till I saw a special on HBO telling the truth.

[proud2BlibKansan]

28. That HBO show was great

I also thought they were guilty until a relative in California sent me some clippings from an alternative paper there. The articles were all about that secret tunnel the kids claimed was under the school. Turned out they demolished the school and there was no tunnel. They did find a garbage dump full of trash from pre WWII.

After that, I started reading up on the case and was (still am) outraged by the injustice. There have been a couple other similar cases. One in Fall River, Mass and another in Washington state. And sadly, many of these kids are now adults and are in therapy because of the damage done to them from being dragged into these bullshit cases. The kids in the McMartin case are starting to recant their stories now.

Ever since then, I question these stories when they interview kids and make accusations based on what kids have said. And the real tragedy is that kids really are abused by adults. We have yet to solve that problem.

[Poet Lariat]

8. My sister is a second grade teacher

She and the other teachers at her school, male and female alike have adopted a "no touch" policy to prevent any appearance of impropriety. She doesn't even give her kids a "shoulder hug" anymore. Sad that it's come to this. Sign of our times.

[GreenPartyVoter]

9. It's like that everywhere these days. As a coach I was very surprised to

have an 8th grade girl climb into my lap and hug me. She was having a terrible day and I wanted to help her but I also knew that hugging is very frowned upon these days. Anyway, I let her sit there a moment and talked her through what was going on then sent her on her way.

[proud2BlibKansan]

22. I think it's okay to hug back

at least that is the popular opinion where I teach.

I used to be a Cub Scout leader and after several years, the BSA contacted me and wanted me to pay $50 for a background check. I was volunteering my time and they expected me to pay to continue to do so? I had umpteen years experience as a teacher, a masters degree in education and a couple problem free years of experience leading the Cub Scouts and that wasn't good enough. So I quit.

Same deal when our school put in a before and after school care program. The agency that ran it offered all of us teachers jobs working in the program. But they wanted US to pay for a background check before they would hire us. The stupid thing is that state law mandates school districts run background checks on teachers so that had already been done. But this agency thought we would all jump at the opportunity to pay our own money for a repeat background check so we could make an extra $15 a day babysitting. Guess how many of us signed up to work? LOL

[GreenPartyVoter]

27. I had to pay the $55 for my fingerprinting and background check to

coach. I wish the schools would pay this stuff instead of sticking the employees with it.

[proud2BlibKansan]

30. We have to pay for ours too

but what gets me is that every agency requires their own version. Hence, the after school care people wouldn't accept the checks the school district had done.

[GreenPartyVoter]

32. Yeah, I have heard of teachers moving and having to get them done

again. Someone needs to centralize this stuff and make it universal.

[proud2BlibKansan]

15. They have been telling us not to touch kids for a couple decades now

but the day I can't return a hug is the day I quit.

[Poet Lariat]

18. I fully understand your point and my sister actually did get out of

teaching for awhile, partly over this issue. She returned a couple of years ago for financial reasons and the fact that she felt her talents as a teacher, even though she can't do it the way she would like, would help more kids than if she stayed at home out of the profession.

Most of their time now is spent preparing kids for tests as part of NCLB.

[Cleita]

11. Teachers should keep their hands to themselves because

just these types of accusations can be made. Years ago when the witch hunt at the McMartin nursery school in L. A. got teachers arrested and charged with child molestation, many school districts implemented such a policy.

I knew some teachers then who said it was sad that they couldn't hug their kids anymore, but it wasn't worth the risk because kids can be so manipulated by adult parents who are nutjobs.

[proud2BlibKansan]

17. In my state, if a teacher is ACCUSED

a letter is added to your permanent file with the state and it stays there for years (I think 5). It doesn't matter if you are exonerated, you still get that 'red letter' in your file. And when it comes time to renew your certification, that letter alone is enough to be denied. If you want to go teach in another state, you may as well forget it. Your file follows you wherever you go.

It's called 'guilty even if proven innocent'. Nice, eh?

[pinniped]

21. Didn't Do fly off on the Hale Bopp Comet?

He came back as a skool teacher?

[proud2BlibKansan]

24. LOL it's his evil twin

[pinniped]

26. I saw the Hale Bopp, it was pretty damm cool.

Those Heaven's Gate web programmers are true space pioneers.

[The Straight Story]

33. LOL I KNEW he looked familiar! (nt)