Student Safety Task Force Releases Report In Wake of Sex Abuse Scandal

GREENBELT, MD — A review of student safety policies and staff training in the wake of charges filed against a former Prince George’s County Public Schools aide who forced students to perform sex acts that he filmed was released Tuesday.

School system officials asked a task force of experts from the legal field, child development, education and other areas to look at how policies are implemented and how staff members are trained. Dr. Charlene M. Dukes, president of Prince George’s Community College, led the group.

A federal grand jury has indicted Deonte Carraway, 22, of Glenarden, with 13 counts of sexual exploitation of a minor to produce child pornography, involving 11 minor victims ranging in age from 9 to 12 years old.

Carraway was an assistant for Judge Sylvania Woods Elementary School in Glenarden.

“It is the responsibility of adults to protect children from harm,” Dukes said at Tuesday’s press conference to announce the findings.

That belief was the foundation of the task force’s work, which included more than 30 meetings; those have  been criticized because they were not all open to the public. Dukes said the meetings were closed because the members wanted candid input from the people who spoke to the task force.

Victims and their families were not approached by the task force because of the ongoing legal cases, she said.

“We were not asked to investigate the Carraway situation and we did not, that was not our role,” Dukes told reporters.

Two takeaways from the report: The school system should take a “universal precautions” approach to screening and training of employees and others in schools, and include a searchable database for rapid identification of red flags; and curriculum at all grades should be updated to focus on preventing child sexual.

According to the 13-count federal indictment, from October 11, 2015 through February 1, 2016, Carraway coerced and persuaded multiple children to engage in sexually explicit conduct in order to produce videos of that conduct. The images produced include Carraway engaging in sexual activity with victims, as well as the victims engaging in sexually explicit conduct at Carraway’s direction, prosecutors claim.

Lawsuits have been filed by several families of the victims claiming that Principal Michelle Williams ignored the predatory behavior of Carraway, which was well known by students, teachers and parents and reported to the school’s principal, says WTOP. 

Williams has been placed on administrative leave as the school district and principal face lawsuits from victims.

Safety Task Force Findings

“When the Task Force was commissioned, (Dr. Kevin M. Maxwell, Chief Executive Officer, PGCPS) set no boundaries or limits on what and where we could examine and the recommendations we could ultimately put forward. He was clear in his expectations that the Task Force could and would have access to whom and what was necessary to complete the charge,” said Dr. Dukes. 

The Task Force examined four key areas: Culture and Climate; Reporting and Training; Screening of Employees, Volunteers, Vendors, and Contractors; and Curriculum and Counseling. The five major recommendations of the report are as follows: 

1. Reporting Procedures. The CEO should report publicly each year on system-wide efforts related to student safety, including data, strategies, and outcomes on steps taken to address the major recommendations of this report.
2. Accountability. The CEO should ensure that each principal conducts safety assessments and uses the results to develop and implement comprehensive strategies to include screening and training of employees, volunteers, vendors, and contractors; evaluation of physical facilities; and curriculum/lesson content reviews.
3. Oversight. The CEO should establish an Office of Monitoring, Accountability, and Compliance with direct reporting to the CEO, to assume responsibility for assuring implementation of procedures associated with policies approved by the Board, and to assure fidelity in training, awareness of individual responsibility to report to whom by when, and compliance.
4. Universal Precautions. The school system should develop and implement a “universal precautions” approach to screening and training of employees, volunteers, vendors, and contractors, to include a searchable database for rapid identification of red flags.
5. Curriculum. The school system should update the K-12 curricular content focused on preventing child sexual abuse that is developmentally age-appropriate, engaging of parents and guardians, and meets evidence-based criteria for effectiveness in mitigating instances of child sexual abuse.

In response to the report, Maxwell said he will establish a new Office of Monitoring, Accountability, and Compliance, charged with overseeing the fidelity of training, implementation of, and compliance to the new procedures, protocols, and curriculum suggested in the report. In addition, he is convening a workgroup of high-level school system administrators to review and implement all or most of the 61 considerations and 28 opportunities to update, clarify, and/or enhance administrative procedures within the four key categories, the district said in a news release. 

Maxwell also agreed with the recommendations for yearly public reporting procedures; accountability for training; an update of the system’s curricular content on preventing and teaching about child sexual abuse, preK-12, in a developmentally age-appropriate manner; and the development and implementation of a “universal precautions” approach to screening and training to ensure that all individuals who come in contact with children in PGCPS schools on a regular basis must be trained and screened and approved before that contact is permitted. The approach will include a searchable database for rapid identification of red flags in consultation with outside experts in the field.

SEE ALSO:

• Federal Child Porn Charges Filed Against Teacher’s Aide
• Teacher’s Assistant Made Child Porn In Elementary School: Police
• Principal on Leave, School Sued in Child Porn Case: Update
• ‘Vile Incident’: Number of Child Victims Increases
• Child Sex Abuse Suspect Denies Wrongdoing; Second Lawsuit Filed

Carraway was originally charged with 10 counts of felony child pornography, sexual abuse of a minor and second-degree sexual offense.

Police said they found 40 videos Carraway made of children engaging in sex acts at the suspect’s direction.

Carraway faces a minimum mandatory sentence of 15 years in prison and a maximum of 30 years in prison followed by up to lifetime of supervised release for each of the 13 counts of production of child pornography. Carraway has an initial appearance scheduled in U.S. District Court on March 4.

School Training, Reviews Under Way

Since the abuse allegations came to light, every school building was ordered to hold mandatory meetings with staff to review the procedures for reporting abuse and suspicious activities.

Professional school counselors reached out to students to teach lessons in the classroom that address the differences between appropriate and inappropriate physical contact; personal body safety rules and when to use them; and how to identify trusted adults to whom they can report when they feel unsafe.

“As a father, grandfather, and educator that has dedicated my life to the education and safety of students across the state of Maryland, my heart goes out to the families and victims at Judge Sylvania Woods Elementary School and the entire Glenarden community,” said Maxwell during a press conference in February. “I, like many, was shocked, appalled, disgusted, and disheartened by the allegations that a former PGCPS employee harmed students and vulnerable children.”

Families Urged to Call FBI

FBI Special Agent in Charge Kevin Perkins last week reiterated the plea that anyone with information about the case, or other victims, contact authorities.

Call the FBI’s Baltimore office at 800-CALL-FBI or call the Prince George’s County Police at 301-772-4930.

Federal prosecutors would not have to call children to testify to prove the charges of producing child pornography. That will be a factor in determining how Carraway’s case proceeds, authorities said.