Molested girls' Cynthia Davis, whose daughter was molested by a teacher at Mokapu Elementary School, said she hopes a Hawaii Supreme Court decision holding the state fully liable for $1.7 million in damages to two families will help protect other school children in Hawaii.
families hope state
learns lesson
The isles' high court ruled a teacher
should have been monitoredBy Susan Essoyan
sessoyan@starbulletin.com"At last, after eight long years, my daughter can have all the treatment she needs," Davis said by telephone from Oklahoma, where the family now lives. "I hope this decision will go a long way toward making Hawaii's children safer."
The teacher, Lawrence J. Norton, had been acquitted of molesting a student in 1991 at the school on the Marine Corps base in Kaneohe, and was returned to the classroom. There, he continued to invite select fourth- and fifth-grade girls to join him over their lunch hour, and was later charged with molesting three students.
The high court ruled Nov. 27 that the school system was 100 percent liable for damages because it should have foreseen the possibility of such behavior and taken steps to prevent it, despite Norton's acquittal. A Circuit Court decision in March 2000 had split responsibility between Norton and the state, 51 percent and 49 percent, but the state and families appealed.
Greg Knudsen, spokesman for the Department of Education, said abuse cases are rare and "have always been taken seriously." "This is an exception," he said, "and a costly one."
James Schlosser, former principal of Mokapu Elementary, said he cautioned Norton to keep his distance from students after department officials reinstated him as a teacher, but felt "I could not treat him materially differently than any other employee" because he had been acquitted.
Apparently, such warnings are not enough. According to the high court's ruling, the DOE should have acted "as would a reasonably prudent parent" and investigated Norton's background and supervised his contact with children. Although Norton had no criminal convictions, the court noted that interviews with family and friends and a psychological examination could have uncovered a history of pedophilia.
Mark Davis, attorney for the victims, said the decision shows the department must be especially vigilant in such cases.
"Any ambiguity that existed in terms of their obligation to investigate allegations by students is gone," he said last week. "Their obligation is now as clear as it could be."
The damages, which cover psychological trauma from the molestation through ensuing trials, will be paid to the families of two Marines, Lt. Col. Ira Steven Davis and George Draughn, who have since moved to the mainland. During the 1994-1995 school year, their daughters reported that Norton had fondled their buttocks in the course of giving them hugs. A third girl told authorities that he had rubbed her breast.
Norton was indicted in January 1995 on the latter charge and pleaded no contest in November of that year. Another girl had witnessed that incident. He was fired the following May, just before being sentenced to a year in jail. At his sentencing hearing, Judge Sandra Simms noted that Norton had a history of abuse and was aware of it when he became a teacher in 1990.
After serving his term, Norton was also tried in 1997 on the Davis and Draughn molestation charges, but the trial ended in a hung jury. He was retried on the charges later that year and acquitted. The families of the two girls, however, succeeded in winning their civil case for damages in Circuit Court. Norton filed for bankruptcy and claims against him were dismissed.
The standard of proof is higher in criminal cases than in civil cases, requiring proof "beyond a reasonable doubt" and barring admission of evidence of past offenses, according to attorney Davis. "Frequently, in criminal cases it's the testimony of a child vs. that of an adult," he noted.
Knudsen said the department does criminal background checks before hiring teachers, but Norton was hired before that policy took effect, and in any case, his record was clear. "For a criminal history check to raise a red flag, there has to be a conviction," he said.
He said that the department trains administrators on how to conduct thorough investigations when abuse allegations surface. "We have regular training of school personnel and administrators on all matters related to sexual harassment, abuse, assault."
Schlosser, now principal at Kalaheo High School, said such cases are challenging for administrators, who must respect the rights of all sides.
"Society needs to remember that we're educators -- we're not police, we're not investigators, although we have received a significant amount of training," Schlosser said.
Tom Yamashita, director of the Civil Rights Compliance Office in the Department of Education, said Friday that schools are obliged to conduct investigations immediately and notify parents. If the allegations are serious, the employee is placed on unpaid administrative leave.
"If the person is acquitted, you can't necessarily use what happened against the individual and deprive that individual of his or her rights," he said. "But at the same time, it seems to me prudence would dictate that there be some observation regarding the conduct of that particular employee."
In Norton's case, the court noted that the school could have stopped his practice of entertaining girls during recesses and forbidden him to touch students. In some cases the DOE transfers teachers from the classroom into resource positions in which they do not directly supervise children.
Cynthia Davis, whose daughter was 12 at the time, said the molestation was just the beginning of the ordeal because school officials did not believe the allegations, and the case dragged through court for many years.
"The first call should be to the parents, and the second to the children's advocacy center," she said. "We were never notified by any DOE personnel that this was going on. Instead, my daughter was hauled into the principal's office. It seemed like their primary concern was Mr. Norton's rights, rather than the rights of the children."
Her daughter still remains troubled, she said. "Maybe she'll be able to get her high school diploma now," Davis said. "She's 20 and she hasn't finished yet. But we will never be able to replace what she had: the chance to grow up safe and protected."
State Department of Education
