March 1 - Kansas City, Kansas Public Schools

Back to web versionPosted on Sun, Mar. 08, 2009Half of Kansas teachers who lost licenses were involvedinappropriately with studentsMonday, Mar 9, 2BY HURST LAVIANAThe Wichita EagleMore than half of the 76 Kansas teachers who have lost their licenses since 2000 were involved in inappropriate relationships withstudents or were convicted of sexually abusing other children, state records show.Reports of teachers having inappropriate contact with students have become increasingly common in recent years. But lastmonth's arrest of the assistant principal of Cloud Elementary School caught many by surprise because the alleged victim was a 6-year-old girl.Only three of the 76 revocations this decade involved charges of sexually molesting grade-school-age children, Kansas StateDepartment of Education records show.Experts in the field, however, say it's happened before."Normally, people who have a sexual interest in children are going put themselves around children," said John Shehan, director ofthe exploited child division of the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children in Alexandria, Va. "They're going to migrate toplaces where children are."Sedgwick County sheriff's Sgt. Amy Tracy, who works in the Wichita/ Sedgwick County Exploited and Missing Child Unit, said ifcrimes involving young victims appear relatively rare, it's probably because young children are less likely to report abuse."It's a very sensitive subject for kids," she said.The former Cloud Elementary assistant principal, Robert C. Baker, 59, is free on $250,000 bond pending a March 18 preliminaryhearing on charges of rape and aggravated indecent liberties. Baker, an employee of USD 259 since 1974, told a judge during hisfirst court appearance last week that he was retired.The three Kansans who lost their teaching licenses for incidents involving children in grade-school-age children:• Anthony Baker, 37, was a librarian at Muncie Elementary School in Leavenworth when he was arrested in 2007 on federalpornography charges.One of the children found in the images on Baker's computer was a 10-year-old girl he had been tutoring at the school. He wassentenced to 17 ½ years in prison on the pornography charge.Baker also was charged in Leavenworth County District Court with rape, aggravated criminal sodomy, aggravated indecentliberties and sexual exploitation of a child. A preliminary hearing on the state charges is scheduled for this month.• Scott A. Habegger, 36, was the principal at Prairie Center Elementary School in Olathe when he was arrested in 2006. He wascharged with sexually assaulting a fourth-grade boy while student-teaching at a Lincoln, Neb., grade school in 1995.The victim was 21 when he came forward to tell authorities about the case. The victim said Habegger befriended him one day atrecess, then later molested him repeatedly at Habegger's home and during several out-of-town trips. Habegger pleaded nocontest and is serving an eight- to 20-year sentence at the Nebraska State Penitentiary in Lincoln.• Michael G. Lambdin, 38, was an English teacher at Liberal High School until he was arrested in May 2006 and charged withmolesting two young girls. He was convicted of molesting one of the girls, who was 6 at the time, in Seward County District Court.He is serving time for rape, aggravated indecent liberties and sexual exploitation of a child at the Hutchinson Correctional Facilityand will be eligible for parole in 2024.Teacher licensesThere are more than 70,000 teachers licensed in Kansas, though not all are working full-time assignments.Kevin Ireland, a lawyer for the Kansas State Board of Education, said a teacher's license can be revoked if he or she is convictedof a felony or of a misdemeanor involving theft or drugs. Engaging in sexual activity with a student is also grounds for a licenserevocation.Before 2001, it wasn't illegal in Kansas for a teacher to have consensual sex with a 16- or 17-year-old student. Today it's a felonyfor a teacher to have sex with a student no matter what the student's age.When deciding whether to revoke a license, Ireland said, the board must find "clear and convincing evidence" that the teacher hasviolated state ethics standards.