It's not our fault, say Carlsbad Schools and Allen Stanford in separate cases

UPDATE: YES, IT IS YOUR FAULT, SAY JURORS TO SCHOOL DISTRICT.
 
Jurors Award Molestation Victims $4.5M
Molester Responsible For 60%, School District 40% Of Award
Channel 10 News
June 19, 2012

San Diego County jurors have awarded two girls $4.5 million because they were molested by their Carlsbad elementary school teacher. The North County Times says jurors also ruled unanimously Monday that the Carlsbad Unified School District was negligent for failing to supervise the teacher...

In his 2010 criminal trial, 41-year-old Raymond Firth pleaded guilty to two counts of sexual battery and one of false imprisonment. He spent 22 months in prison and was released in March. He did not attend the civil trial. He will be responsible for 60 percent of the award, the school district for 40 percent.

An attorney for the district says he doesn't know if they will appeal.



Nobody seems to be watching as predators cavort in our schools and in our financial system.

Let's start with our schools. Even if schools wanted to lay off the bad teachers and keep the good teachers, they couldn't do it. Principals rarely observe teachers. Principals tend to form political alliances with the teachers who control the most powerful cliques. Given the worthless evaluation system in place now, laying off by seniority makes just as much sense as having principals choose who gets laid off. We need observations of teachers--done by professional evaluators.

Then there's our financial system. The SEC wasn't even enforcing the rules that were already on the books when Bernie Madoff stole his fortune. We need more regulation, but what good will it do unless we have good watchdogs?

This morning we have stories of two defendants, Carlsbad Unified School District and Ponzi artist Allen Stanford, who both say it wasn't their fault that innocent victims were harmed.

It's not the school's fault, says Dan Shinoff. "So why is the school district here? The school district is here because it has deep pockets. This is about money," says school attorney [Dan] Shinoff. But I notice there is an ad for a local Lutheran school next to the story. Obviously, some people are drawing the conclusion that the school wasn't as vigilant as it should have been.

Closing Arguments Begin In Case Against School District
June 13, 2012
Channel 10 News
CARLSBAD, Calif.

Closing statements began Wednesday in a civil lawsuit against the Carlsbad Unified School District over a former teacher sent to prison for sexually abusing two students.

The parents of two girls are suing the district for an undisclosed amount in connection with the 2010 sexual battery conviction of 39-year-old Raymond Firth, a former teacher at Pacific Rim Elementary School. The parents say the district failed to protect their children from Firth, who was a teacher at the school for seven years.

Firth pleaded guilty in 2010 to molesting three little female students he was entrusted to teach. The 41-year-old was sentenced to 3-and-a-half years in prison but was released in March after serving just 22 months.

In court Wednesday, Firth was called a "monster" and a "master manipulator." The victims' attorney, David Ring, told jurors how the sexual abuse has devastated their lives.

"She has post-traumatic stress disorder from the molestation," Ring said of one of the girls.

Ring stressed how the psychological effects will haunt the girls, now teens, forever. "This is their one chance to come to court so the verdict you render is not just for now it's for the rest of their lives," Ring told the court.

Dan Shinoff, who represents the school district, reminded jurors it was Firth who sexually abused his students and the district should not be held liable for the ex-teacher's deviant behavior.

Shinoff said, "He is an animal, the worst of animals."

Shinoff also questioned why the victims' parents weren't going after the former teacher for compensatory damages.

"So why is the school district here? The school district is here because it has deep pockets. This is about money," said Shinoff.

Firth did have to testify, but he did so by video.

Closing arguments resume Thursday.



And who does Stanford blame for the damage to innocent victims? The prosecutors who charged him!

Stanford blames U.S. for destroying his business
U.S. urges 230 years prison for Allen Stanford
Jun 14, 2012
(Reuters)

Allen Stanford, facing sentencing for running a $7 billion Ponzi scheme, on Thursday blamed the U.S. government for ruining his business and said he never intended to defraud anyone.

"They destroyed it and turned it to nothing," Stanford said in federal court in Houston, where he was found fuilty last March of fraud and conspiracy. "Stanford was a real brick-and-mortar global financial empire."

Stanford spoke haltingly and appeared to struggle to control emotion at the sentencing hearing. Prosecutors have asked for a sentence of 230 years, arguing in court papers that Stanford's crime was "one of the most egregious frauds in history." His attorneys have asked for a sentence of about 3 years, or the same amount of time Stanford has been in federal custody.