Teacher's Aide Claiming Sexual Harassment by 10-Year-Old Girl Wants ‘Just Treatment'

Date: Tuesday, March 27, 2007
By: Jackie Jones, BlackAmericaWeb.com

We've all heard stories about teachers and school personnel molesting children or behaving in an inappropriate manner. But what options are available to school personnel when the shoe is on the other foot?

Kevin Wilson, a former teacher's aide at a Prince George's County, Md., elementary school is trying to find out.

Wilson, who was assigned to a fourth-grade class at Woodmore Elementary School in Mitchellville, said his troubles started in October.

According to memos to school officials and in an interview with BlackAmericaWeb.com, Wilson recounted several instances in which a 10-year-old girl deliberately bumped into Wilson, touched him or approached him. One memo from the girl's teacher documented a "pointed attempt to brush up against Mr. Wilson" when the pupil asked to go to the restroom.

The incidents, Wilson said, "started with her just bumping into me without saying ‘Excuse me,'" Wilson said, and escalated with attempts to brush against him while he was bent over another student's desk helping him with an assignment.

No action was taken, Wilson said, until the girl grabbed his buttocks. He reported the incident to the principal and a meeting with the girl's mother was scheduled.

After the meeting in the principal's office, the girl was reassigned to another classroom, but Wilson said the harassment continued as she approached him several times in the school cafeteria or on the playground, Wilson said.

Again, he sent a flurry of e-mails to the principal and to county officials seeking help.

"I became paranoid," he said. "I was always looking around me to see if she was coming. That's no way to work."

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On one occasion, the girl sent a friend to deliver a message to Wilson. He said his concern intensified when a teacher at the school remarked, "I see you have made a new friend," referring to the girl's focus on Wilson.

Wilson said the girl was given an assigned seat in the cafeteria, in an effort to keep track of her movements, but he was told that was as far as the administration was willing to go to discipline the girl.

He asked the principal to turn the matter over to the school system's labor relations office and said he would consider legal recourse if the matter could not be resolved.

"If I had touched somebody, it would have been all over the six o'clock news," Wilson said.

In a Nov. 7 e-mail, the principal, Jill Walker, told Wilson that his reaction was excessive.

"At the elementary level, we are not here to throw the book at our children but to assist them in understanding proper social behaviors. I feel that as the administrator, the classroom move for this student is appropriate. We will continue to monitor her progress and behaviors," Walker wrote.

Walker would not discuss Wilson's case with BlackAmericaWeb.com and referred all questions to the school system's human resources department. A spokeswoman said that as a matter of policy, the department does not discuss personnel cases with the news media.

On Dec. 11, Wilson received a letter from Walker asking him to report to human resources the next day. There, Wilson said, he was told that he had gone too far in pressing officials to resolve the issue, that he was being fired and would receive a termination letter in the mail.

"He's never received a formal termination, and he feels he hasn't been treated justly,' Wilson's lawyer, Damani K. Ingram, told BlackAmericaWeb.com.

Ingram said teacher aides in the Prince George's County school system are not protected by the union, so the rules that guide the termination of personnel may be different for non-union employees.

"Unions are very helpful in resolving issues for the employees, especially while they are still employees," but that was not an option for Wilson, Ingram said. "The problem now is he has to pursue the issue with private resources. It's just tough. He was a private aide, though it was through the county school system; his particular classification is quite challenging."

Ingram said he is evaluating Wilson's case to determine what steps can be taken and that "we're pursuing talks with the school system" to try and resolve the issue.

"I was just doing my job. I reported the truth, and it was treated inappropriately. I was the fall guy for just doing my job," Wilson said.

"I just want to clear my name," he added. "I haven't been able to find work and I am looking forward to a resolution very soon."