Coach's future is up in smoke after his arrest for cultivating pot.

A former assistant football coach at Washington High School in Massillon County, Ohio finds his future up with the school “up in smoke” after being arrested in an investigation that netted over 300 marijuana plants being cultivated at two residences.

Former high school kicker and quarterback Brett Marshall was employed as a volunteer assistant coach at the high school up until his arrest. What has also come to light is that Marshall was also arrested in 2006 for another drug-related offense.

School policy dictates that assistant coaches, whether on a paid or volunteer basis, must submit to a background and then be certified before they can assume coaching duties on the field.

The checks conducted by the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigations would have definitely turned up Marshall’s 2006 arrest in which he was charged with a major and minor misdemeanor for permitting drug abuse.

 “Assuming the clerk of courts submitted it, if the individual was arrested, booked and fingerprinted and that was sent to us, it would be returned.” said Ted Hart, a spokesman for the Ohio Attorney General’s Office.

So what exactly happened here? At this point, the story gets a little murky as to what went wrong. By all means, an offense of this sort should have disqualified Marshall right off the bat.

Reporters for CantonRep.com attempted to reach several high-ranking school district employees including Superintendant Lisa Carmichael, Assistant Superintendant Mark Fortner and the Security Administrator. Emails and phone calls were not returned.

What can be gathered then, is that this may have been a case of Marshall slipping under the radar. This blogger’s suspicions were aroused by the following statements from Board Member Marshall Weinberg:

“Brett’s name just showed up in a list of approving people,” Weinberg said. “He was nonpaid and had been there for a while.”

And the 2006 charge?

Without a doubt it would have raised a red flag in anybody’s mind,” he said. “These (coaches) are who’s around our kids. The safety of our kids is a prime concern on a daily basis.”

But surely the system would have caught him right?

“We fingerprint and do the whole thing,” he said.

Well, somewhere along the line there was a mix up because now the coach working directly with young students has been arrested for growing dope plants and not just a few for “medicinal purposes”.

You can’t just have a background system sitting there and expect it to work. If the Massillon School District wants to avoid another incident like this in the future, they should to take the background screening process a little more seriously.

Gerard Bruzzese had been hired by Xaverian High School in 2002 to coach the freshman baseball team. Bruzzese was brought on despite an arrest,  conviction and a 1 year jail sentence stemming from involvement in a a stock-fraud scheme that had roots with Russian crime syndicates and the Columbo crime family.

Bruzesse’s lawyer, Arthur Aidala, stated in his client’s defense that the crime in question was “a minor, white-collar case over a decade ago and they were only asking him to coach the baseball team part-time. All he did was teach kids how to hit, catch and throw a ball.”

The former high school baseball coach now finds himself involved in a probe by the Brooklyn District Attorney into the Luchese crime family, suspected of running a massive illegal gambling operation

Although not charged with any crimes, he has been tied to a person of interest in the case who was recorded speaking to Bruzzese about an illegal gambling website operated by the Luchese Family.

People may be divided on this one.  This man did make some bad decisions for himself, but ones not directly affecting his suitability to coach young students. 

After all, Mr. Bruzzese isn’t a sex offender nor does he have a history of violence.

However, a high school hiring an individual who had trafficked with violent underworld organizations? Granted he wasn’t operating as a hit man or enforcer, but I’m not sure I’d want someone making those type of personal decisions coaching my kids.

It’s a little bit of worst case scenario thinking but what’s not to say he wouldn’t be tempted to involve himself again for the promise of quick cash?  A wrong bet gets placed, maybe a “business arrangement” goes wrong, money is owed, the potential for something out of a Martin Scorcese movie arises, a high school baseball team is caught in the middle…no school wants that kind of nightmare or the bad press which goes along with it.

The nature of the crime may not have made him unfit to coach, but then again, repetition of “white collar crime” can have just as serious repercussions for the person and the people around them as much as one serious sex offense or violent crime.

Heated debate surrounds a bill being considered in the Utah state legislature that would require referees for public school athletic programs to undergo criminal background checks.

Heated debate surrounds a bill being considered in the Utah State Legislature which would require referees for public school athletic programs to undergo criminal background checks. The bill would apply to 1,700 public schools sports officials

The checks would consist of fingerprinting administered by the Utah Bureau of Criminal Investigations. It has not been decided yet if referees may end up paying for their own checks or whether it will be passed on to the school districts.

Utah Representative Laura Black contends that the law is a preventative measure which will ensure protection of students. Arguing that it would be foolish to wait for something bad to happen before acting, Black stated, “I’d rather see us be proactive on this.”

Not so fast, countered Representative Brad Dee who regards the bill as unnecessary, citing no previous incidents reported involving athetic program referees.

“Is this a solution to try and find a problem?” he asked.

Black fired back stating sports officials are in a position where the trust of the student is placed in their hands. The potential for an incident in which an individual with a criminal background is hired to work with youth could be significant.

And what do the referees themselves have to say about this?

Mick Fieldsted, who has worked for years as a baseball and football referee, said, “As an official, you are never left unattended with students at all. It’s a pretty guarded situation.”

True as that may be, Mr. Fieldstead can’t account for the lone student changing in the locker room or the student athlete walking alone to their car after a big game. Granted, the rule may be that the officials are never left unattended with students, but there are always exceptions

Who’s not to say someone might not be lurking in a parked car or loitering behind the grandstand after the big game waiting for the right moment to act on a selfish or peverse desire?

Does anyone remember the Titanic? The supposedly sink-proof ship that skimped out on lifeboats? Well, the unthinkable did happen and the results were pretty tragic.

While comparing background checks in Utah one of the worst naval disasters in history may be a bit much, it was the first analogy that came to mind. I think you get my point.

Furthermore, this is by no means an attempt to go looking for a problem that doesn’t exist. It’s a more of a sensible identification of a potential problem and heading it off before one our our children is harmed needlessly.

McInerney stated that his intention was to prevent teens from engaging in underage sex and experimentation with drugs and alcohol.

The New Jersey Star-Ledger reported that Bart McInerney, former baseball coach at St Rose High School in Belmar, New Jersey is in hot water for engaging in sexually explicit phone and text message conversations with his young charges from 2001 up until his arrest in 2007.

Although McInerney stated that his intention was to prevent teens from engaging in underage sex and experimentation with drugs and alcohol, testimony from his former students suggested otherwise.

“I was unsure of everything.” said one witness who took the stand describing how McInerney had initiated conversations regarding sports and family life, but then veered into sexually explicit lines of questioning. “At first I was hesitant and then he pushed a little more.”

Other former students stated how their coach had offered cash payment for every “sexting” text message sent his way. Subject matter typically revolved around intimate relations with girlfriends and masturbation. One young man said that he had collected close to $600 before McInerney’s arrest in 2007.

The real bombshell to us is when former St. Rose Athletic Director Richard Stainton took the stand. Looking out at the courtroom assembly, Stainton admitted that a background check was never run on McInerney. In fact, there wasn’t even a resume kept on file for him!

Is it just me or do these creeps just get a little more brazen year after year? Paying teens for sexually explicit text messages? I wonder how McInerney thought he could he could get away with something like that

Let’s hope that whoever replaced Richard Stainton has enough sense to run a thorough background screening on any and all coaches looking to ply a part in the St. Rose academic programs. I think the fallout of one Bart McInerney is enough for any school to have to deal with.

Shane Vicars, an after-school program teacher and mentor to young children, finds himself in custody after being arrested Wednesday, January 14th on suspicion of more than 15 counts of lewd acts and child annoyance.

KCRA.com reported that Shane Vicars, an after-school program teacher and mentor to young children, finds himself in custody after being arrested Wednesday, January 14^th on suspicion of more than 15 counts of lewd acts and child annoyance.

A credentialed child development teacher operating with the San Juan Unified School District in Sacramento County, Vicars is said to have victimized program participants ranging in age from 7 to 11 years old. Detectives with the Sacramento Sheriff’s Department were also said to believe that “there’s a high probability that there are other victims.”

Vicars, 25, had begun work in 2008 at Sierra Oaks Elementary assisting students with their studies before and after school. Although the background check portion of his application had come back clean, parents began noticing an unusual behavioral pattern with Vicars and his young charges. 

Collie Christensen is a parent whose children are students at Sierra. Oaks said that Vicars often would spend free time playing with his sons between work shifts as well as on the weekends.

He stated, “I was 25 once and my idea of a good time wasn’t hanging out with 5 and 10 year old boys”

The consensus among concerned parents was that the situation was getting a little too creepy to tolerate and decided that tactful action was required.

Christensen said, “My wife and I talked about it and started talking to some other parents…my wife wrote a very nice letter to the school superintendant, to the principal, to the head of the Discovery Club.”

However, at the time of the KCRA.com report, the school wouldn’t acknowledge it had ever received a letter alerting them of Vicars’ inappropriate behavior, stating it was a “personal matter.”

Trent Allen, Director of Communication for the San Juan Unified School District, said that if a letter had been received concerning that level of misconduct, a prompt and immediate investigation would have been initiated.

 However, Allen has stated the district is prepared to cooperate with the authorities.  “It’s a criminal investigation. We’re assisting the Sacramento Sheriff’s Department as needed.” 

Collie Christensen is one of many parents who feel it shouldn’t even have come to this point: “The fact that the school district knew something and didn’t do anything about it and now he’s been arrested, shame on them.”

Despite Vicars having passed his background check, there seems to have been way too many signs this individual was not fit to interact with young children. A thorough and ongoing investigation will no doubt provide the answers many parents are seeking. Even if the San Juan School District is vindicated of any negligence, it needs to carefully reevaluate the way it responds to future parental complaints or suspicions concerning creeps in the classroom.

KPIC 4 News in Oregon conducted an investigation into the educational institutions where Richard Parrett was employed over time. The overall findings point to an inadequate background check process and an almost willful disregard on the part of personnel in charge of making the final decisions in employing him.

In 1996, Richard Parrett was employed as a youth pastor at the Open Bible Christian Center in Riddle, Oregon. There, he was involved with a minor under his care in a manner that was described in a disciplinary letter as “not reaching the full extent of intimacy but was still highly inappropriate.”

After the incident, Parrett was dismissed from his position and moved out of the state. Gary Peterson who was the pastor at the time, admitted to poor judgment in deciding not to contact police regarding the incident. Upon learning years later that the same individual was in the running for a job at Riddle High School, Peterson stated that “I never thought he would get a job working with kids again. A lot of people dropped the ball starting with me.”

And yes, there would be more balls dropped in the years that followed. What’s so surprising is that despite the facts being out in the open, no one seemed to think of running a dedicated check to determine the extent of past misconduct.

In any event, Riddle School District Superintendant Dave Gianotti was unable to provide any record of a background check ever being run on Parrett. Did they even have a background check process in place?  Gianotti said that “We do now. I don’t know about at the time, we don’t have any records of it.”

Parrett served at Riddle High for two years as the assistant coach for the boys’ basketball team and then, in the summer of 2002, was hired by the Canyonville Christian Academy (CCA). Again, hiring protocols that should have been in place and questions that should have been posed were both noticeably under-utilized or absent.

Former CCA superintendant, Pam Shepard, stated that Richard Parrett’s 1996 incident was discussed at length at a board meeting with other members before he was hired. KPIC, which was allowed access to the board’s meeting minutes, found no record whatsoever of that discussion.

A reasonable explanation for such a blatant departure from established protocol was not to be found in the reply provided by current CCA Chief Executive Officer, Dan Godzich:

“My understanding is the superintendant essentially has the hiring authority. And of course there are sometimes gaps between board meetings and there are places and slots that need to be filled and there is authority for a superintendant to hire in the interim of that sort of thing.”

Gary Petersen, who served on the board at CCA before moving to Ohio, said that “I don’t know how the board didn’t know about the incident…someone should have stepped forward.”

Fortunately, it’s a wake up call that hasn’t gone unheeded. Because of the KPIC investigation, CCA has reviewed and revamped its background screening process.  Additionally, Oregon has recently passed blanketing legislation that will require stricter background screening standards for all school districts.

While a background check may not have uncovered any convictions (because Parrett wasn’t charged the first time), it may very well have uprooted the complaint against him for inappropriate conduct with a minor at his previous place of employment and led his new employer not to put their trust in him.

Arnold Martinez, an assistant coach at Greeley West High School in Colorado, was arrested this week on several marijuana charges.

Martinez, along with two other men who were arrested last month, allegedly ran a multi-million dollar marijuana operation. Law enforcement officials stated that the operation could have raked in more than $3 million.

Martinez was hired by the Greeley-Evans School District 6 in 2006. He was convicted of a felony possiession of marijuana in 1994. School officials knew of his felony conviction and yet still hired him as an assistant wresting coach “after an extensive review and interview.”

Sheriff’s deputies found 1,300 marijuana plants on Martinez’s property. He also had a renter who was also arrested for being part of this operation. Court documents showed that Martinez was receiving $4,320 per month in rent from his tenant. Harvesting the marijuana every two months and shipping mainly to California brought in $3.2 million.

Martinez was released Tuesday on a $25,000 bond. The charges he is facing include: cultivation of marijuana; distribution of marijuana; and possession of more than 100 pounds of marijuana.

A spokesman for the school district commented that they are allowed to hire people with felony convictions in non-teaching roles and that Martinez is one of two people who they hired with a known criminal record.

It may be prudent for the school to review this policy. Keeping our children safe and away from this type of influence should be a top priority. What do you think?

Edward Yancey, a registered sex-offender has been working as a volunteer youth basketball coach for Long Beach, Mississippi’s city recreation program.

The program did run a criminal background check on Yancey, but only in his county of residence. The problem with that is Yancey moved to the area last month and was told to register his new address with the Department of Public Safety. They gave him 10 days to comply, but he failed to follow through.

Had the city’s recreation program expanded their criminal background check to include a nationwide sex offender search, they would have discovered that Yancey is a registered sex offender with a classification of “violent.”

Furthermore, conducting a federal criminal search at his previous address would have provided them with the details of his conviction leading to the sex offender status. Yancey was convicted in 1998 of using a computer to send sexually explicit materials. He was given 3 years of probation, mental counseling and has to register as a sex offender.

Yancey now faces two charges: failing to register as a sex offender and allegedly molesting a 10-year old boy. His bond is set at $1 million.

Clish was heading to trial on October 27th on four felony and one misdemeanor sexual abuse charges.

He was the coach for the Appleton Rebels Youth Baseball team in Appleton, Wisconsin. The charges, however, did not involve any of the players. Clish allegedly gave a 17-year old boy rum and then assaulted him.

Once those charges were filed, other allegations appeared including a sex charge in 1983 that involved a 14-year old. Clish was never convicted. In addition, another man came forward and accused Clish of assaulting him in 1977 and 1978 when the man was 13 and 14-years old. He was a batboy for the team Clish coached.

Unfortunately, we will never know now if Clish was innocent or guilty of the crimes against him. However, this incident has prompted the Appleton Rebels Little League to examine running background checks. Prior to now, they have not background checked their coaches. One hopes that the introduction of background checks in the league will keep unfortunate incidents, like this one, from occurring.

The Post-Gazette’s investigation revealed dozens of past and present officials registered with the PIAA who possess criminal convictions including child molestation, possession of child pornography, gun crimes, drug offenses and more.

According to a statement released on their website in response to the investigation, the PIAA has taken other measures rather than conducting background checks to insure the safety of the children involved in their sporting events. Aside from requiring sports officials to reveal prior criminal convictions on their applications, they also rely on other people in the organization to let them know who has been charged and convicted, or pled guilty to crimes. They also have adopted policies to prevent unsupervised contact between students and sports officials.

The PIAA also cites the cost of doing background checks as a major factor to why they have not enacted the policy thus far. They fear losing officials if they must raise the price of dues. Dues average around $40.00 per official and they anticipate the background checks to cost $50.00, thus doubling the price for their officials. The PIAA claims they could not afford paying for the background checks on their own.

Additionally, the PIAA’s statement included the following:

“To summarize, this issue is one that has been debated by PIAA for several years now. While criminal background checks may be a “feel good” means of taking some action to protect student-athletes, it is not the only, and is certainly not even the best, means available to provide protection. PIAA has taken a different approach, but with (so far) very good results. Perhaps, though, after further assessment of benefits and costs ofdoing so, we will also require criminal background checks. Stay tuned for future developments.”

One hopes that they will see the benefits to conducting background checks outweigh any costs involved when it comes to the welfare of our children.