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.

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.

Nakia “Keith” Owens was pulled over by police in October 2005 for not having license plates or visible registration on his car. When police checked the inside of the vehicle, they found a bag with marijuana, as well as a sock with crack cocaine in it. Both items were found inside an equipment bag marked as belonging to the Sacramento Raiders youth football team. In fact, Owens admitted to police that he was the little-league coach during the search of the car.

Owens was a passenger in the vehicle, but he was under what is referred to as “searchable probation.” He was also wanted for several vehicular violations.

Thankfully, the children involved with this little-league team weren’t outwardly harmed by their coach’s actions; however, a drug test and background check, including a motor vehicle records, would have been prudent.

Hoff has two previous convictions of sexual assault on a child: one from 1987 and one from 1995, for which he served nearly six years in a Colorado state prison. Both charges were felonies, requiring him to register as a sex offender.

The head coach of the youth football team in Bennett, CO, Brandon Lambrecht, stated that he was aware of Hoff’s criminal history. He allowed Hoff to continue to work as long as he notified the parents of team members. A fellow parent found him on the sex offender registry in 2005, which was his first year serving as an assistant coach for the team on which his son plays.

Hoff told the news station which found his criminal record that he was never told he could not work for the team because of his status as a sex offender and that he would have left the team if they had asked him to.

The team plays in the Elizabeth Parks and Recreation District league. They did not have any records of Hoff being a coach within their league. They issued the following statement, “We conduct CBI background checks on all coaches. All head coaches and assistant coaches are required to sign a form stipulating that they have no convictions for any offense of a sexual nature or any offense of any kind involving children. We’ll be following up with the teams and coaches from Bennett to determine what involvement Mr. Hoff may have with a team.”

Clayton Hoff can be found on Colorado’s Convicted Sex Offender site here.

Strittmatter allegedly began text messaging the student in May and as time progressed, the messages became more sexual in nature. According to the affidavit, some of the messages included:

“I’m lying here in bed can’t stop thinking of you. I need you.”

“I wish I could hold you now. I have to refrain from the ultimate passion with you but I don’t think I can.”

“I miss you. I need you. I wish you were here.”

The student’s father noticed the text messages at a softball game when his daughter handed him her phone. He then gave the phone to his son, who showed him one of the messages.

According to the arrest report, the girl’s father approached Strittmatter’s wife regarding the matter, but she begged him not to destroy their family. The father also allegedly spoke with Strittmatter who admitted to having a problem.

Strittmatter was officially charged with Unlawful Contact with a Minor, Corruption of Minors and Harrassment & Stalking. He was released on a $5,000 bond and is scheduled to appear in court on August 12, 2008.

He resigned his position as coach via email on June 13, 2008.

The Indiana Area School District Superintendent has declined to comment on the charges, stating that it is a police matter, but that the school district is cooperating with the investigation. It was also noted that Strittmatter was only an assistant varsity coach and not a teacher in their schools.