Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, August 4, 1993 TAG: 9308040207
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By LAURENCE HAMMACK STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
William Shepherd, principal of Hurt Park Elementary School, investigated the case himself with plans all along to report it, according to his attorney, Vincent Lilley.
But Shepherd was charged with not acting quickly enough under a seldom-used and vaguely worded state law.
"I think the better course would have been to immediately make the report," Juvenile and Domestic Relations Judge Joseph Clarke said.
However, Clarke threw out the misdemeanor charge after Lilley argued that it was "unconstitutionally vague."
As the school's principal, Shepherd was required to report "forthwith" to Roanoke's Child Protective Services any suspicions that one of his pupils had been abused at school or elsewhere.
On the morning of April 27, an 11-year-old girl arrived at Hurt Park with bruises on her face. Several teachers testified that they noticed the bruises and told Shepherd.
But Child Protective Services never heard from Shepherd. Instead, an investigator with the agency went to the school later that day after learning about the case from one of the child's relatives.
The child's mother has since been convicted of using a piece of a plastic race track to beat her child in an attempt to discipline her concerning problems at school.
On the day the child arrived at the school with her face badly bruised and swollen, Shepherd began an investigation and later brought the mother to the school for questioning, witnesses testified.
That was his mistake, prosecutors said.
"Mr. Shepherd took it on himself to conduct his own investigation," Betty Jo Anthony, the chief assistant commonwealth's attorney, said. "It's up to somebody else to investigate."
Shepherd had faced a $500 fine under a state law that requires teachers, principals and other professionals who work regularly with children to report any suspicions of abuse.
While doctors, social workers and police officers are expected to act "immediately," Shepherd fell under a different clause of the law that requires making a report "forthwith."
The case thus turned on the definition of "forthwith" and what Shepherd believed was his responsibility.
After a brief recess to conduct some legal research, Clarke found several cases in which appellate courts found that "forthwith" could be as long as 11 months - in that case, the time it took a commonwealth's attorney to take action against someone with a bad enough driving record to be declared a habitual offender.
Several teachers testified that Shepherd told them he understood that the abuse had to be reported, and Lilley said Shepherd planned to do it that day - before officials learned of it from another source.
Shepherd did not testify Tuesday, and declined to comment after the charge was dismissed.
School officials say they have taken unspecified disciplinary action against Shepherd, and the School Board is scheduled to vote this month on whether to reappoint him as Hurt Park principal.
Since the April incident, the law has been clarified to give officials an exact limit - 72 hours - within which to report cases, instead of dealing with ambiguities such as "forthwith."
But Anthony said she has problems with the new law, too.
"A 72-hour limit is ridiculous, when at the end of six hours the child will be sent back to an abusive environment if nothing is done," she said.
by CNB