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Mokapu sex abuse case
may force schools to
change rules

By Debra Barayuga
Star-Bulletin

The parents of two former Mokapu Elementary students who were sexually molested by a teacher hope that a recent court decision will force the Department of Education to respond properly to deal with future allegations of sexual molestation.

A Circuit Court judge on Friday issued a 102-page decision that found the Department of Education and former teacher Lawrence Norton liable for $1.7 million in damages for failing to protect the students and for negligent infliction of emotional distress.

Mark Davis, attorney for the plaintiffs, said that by awarding damages, the court recognized how seriously sexual molestation can affect victims and the importance for the schools to understand how to properly deal with these kinds of allegations.

Parents Mary and Benjamin Draughn and Cynthia and Steven Davis filed a lawsuit in 1997 after Norton was acquitted twice in criminal trials. The allegations came after Norton was returned to the classroom in 1993 with no restrictions or supervision because school administrators felt he had been exonerated in court.

Yesterday, Cynthia Davis, reached at her home in Colbert, Okla., said her daughter, now 17, cried when told of the court's decision. "She knew her family always believed her and finally the DOE and state now believes what happened."

Child can now get counseling

The healing process is only beginning for her daughter who was 12 when she was molested, Davis said. But no amount of money will make her daughter normal again.

Mary Draughn, now living in New Orleans, said her daughter, now 15, can now get the counseling she needs to begin healing after "five years of hell."

They're glad finally someone listened and the girls are vindicated, she said.

The parents had noted the irony that Norton was psychologically tested, underwent rehabilitation and counseling before he was sentenced on another sexual molestation charge, but his victims received no counseling.

Marie Laderta, supervisor of the tort litigation section in the attorney general's office, declined comment on the decision saying they are still reviewing it and hope to decide this week if the state will appeal. "We're looking at issues that may or may not be appealable."

Greg Knudsen, Department of Education spokesman, yesterday said the department will be taking a close look at the decision and viewing it in the context that's needed.

"We have general procedures in place that apply and accommodate situations like this but perhaps it's advisable to have something more specific for matters important to the safety and welfare of our children."

Tom Yamashita, the department's civil-rights compliance officer, last week said the department is currently putting together a comprehensive plan to address all forms of harassment, not just sexual molestation, in the schools. Part of that plan includes specialized training on how to conduct investigations.

Judge rebukes principal

"My personal opinion is a lot more needs to be done for school administrators on investigations and we're developing plans right now to bring about training," Yamashita said.

But Davis says training school administrators to investigate teachers with whom they may have personal relationships with is the "wrong way to investigate sexual molestations."

It was clear when the first allegations arose in 1991, school officials did not believe the child because Norton was well-liked by the children and their parents, Davis said.

According to the strongly worded decision by Judge Sabrina McKenna, the court found that Principal James Schlosser's testimony insisting that what Norton did was not sexual touching "to completely lack credibility."

Schlosser's testimony was "motivated by his desire to have an excuse for his obvious mistakes in failing to follow DOE policy and in failing to contact the parents," McKenna wrote. Also, Schlosser's failure to contact the parents before he interviewed the two girls "flies in the face of common decency and common sense."

The parents only learned that Norton was under investigation after they were contacted either by military investigators or read it in the newspaper.

Schlosser, now principal at Kalaheo High, could not be reached for comment.

"Anytime a child comes forward with allegations, they need to be dealt with seriously," said Davis, who called pedophilia in the public schools an "epidemic."

Norton when contacted said he had nothing to say to the press. Because he filed for bankruptcy, the court can't seek judgment against him.