An Elementary School Repeatedly Dismissed Allegations Against Its Principal. Then, an FBI Agent Pretended to Be a 13-Year-Old Girl.
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This article was produced in partnership with the Anchorage Daily News, a member of the ProPublica Local Reporting Network, and KYUK, a public radio station based in Bethel, Alaska.
BETHEL, Alaska — For some parents, it was the gifts from the principal to young girls and their families that gave them pause. A few too many presents that cost a little too much money. Then began the late-night Facebook messages.
Through most of it, the principal of one of the largest elementary schools in rural Alaska remained on the job and in close contact with students. Then, in December, Gladys Jung Elementary Principal Christopher Carmichael was arrested by the FBI's Child Exploitation Task Force and later charged with possession of child pornography, attempted coercion of a child and sexual abuse of a minor.
In a state with a history of failing to protect children, and in a region with a sexual assault rate more than six times the national average, parents of girls are asking the same question: How was this allowed to happen?
An investigation by the Anchorage Daily News, KYUK public radio and ProPublica found that at least twice over the previous four years, parents had complained to police about Carmichael. In 2016, Carmichael admitted behavior to his supervisors that, under Alaska ethics laws for educators, could have cost him his teaching certificate.
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The case of the charismatic Bethel school principal is the latest in a string of rural Alaska educators accused of sexually abusing students. Prior generations of children in the region suffered abuse at the hands of visiting Catholic priests, many of whom worked in village and regional schoolhouses. Separately, Alaska Native students from the region were plucked from their homes and shipped to boarding schools , where some were abused and many punished for speaking their indigenous language.
Western Alaska accounts for just 10% of the state population but 40% of all educators sanctioned for sexual misconduct with students over the past decade, an analysis by the Daily News, ProPublica and KYUK has found.
It's very isolated in Western Alaska, hell the whole state is pretty isolated, so it's easy for predators to get away with committing their evil crimes
No, all were abused in one form or another. Sadly the state has not learned from the experience of thousands of students and allowed this type of behavior to still be condoned.
That is just it Kavika. It isn’t like this is a new problem. Nor is it merely another example of a pedophile rapist. This is the result of the systemic, generational neglect and abuse of Native populations. This has been happening for literally hundreds of years.
Sadly the state of Alaska hasn't leaned any lesson from the recent past.
This is an ongoing crime and this is just one of the settlements made the Jesuits for the abuse of Native Alaska children.
40%? Holy crap.
Sad. Sounds like systematic failure all around.
I would say.
But then again, I have a terrible feeling that this is going on across the US.
My middle school principal went to jail for molesting male students. Several of his victims later committed suicide. And a young man living in my county had to resign from his teaching position for asking for pics of students in their underwear. He had to surrender his teaching license for a year, but as far as I know, was not required to register as a sex offender.
We as a society do not value the psychological safety of our children enough to rock the boat and protect them from those who would harm it.
It makes me sad, then angry that these (insert derogatory term here) don't even care that they ruin a young persons life.
Same here, but it also makes me angry that those who have committed such crimes often get a slap on the wrist, if they're even prosecuted at all.
Another man who used to rent a house across the street from my office was accused twice, once by the college students he taught, and once by his wife, of possessing child porn. He got off easy the first time by admitting that he had child porn, but claiming it was for "research". I believe he entered an Alford plea. He even kept custody of his toddler-aged kids. The second time, when his wife found it, his house wasn't searched until he'd had plenty of time to get rid of the laptop on which she wife had seen the porn. No charges at all that time, IIRC. Apparently, his parents have $.
Here they just caught a 19 yr old man for making and distributing child porn. Apparently he had an accomplice that was under age. Makes me think the victims were really young.
I think they are going to throw the book at him. They said the underage accomplice is going to juvenile court.
Had one happen recently in our area where i knew the guy very well .... or at least i thought i did.
It blew my mind what this guy was doing. I couldn't believe it.
Predators clearly make the best liars. No doubt about it.
And, if you review the Indian Child Welfare Act cases in Alaska, you'll find that child abuse is just a normal way of activity up there. Hell, 30% + of the kids covered by ICWA are abused and the courts just throw the cases out the window.
It is not the job of people who work with kids to be friends to those kids or their families. It’s just not. Any attempt to be so should raise an eyebrow, if not a red flag.