Monday, June 29, 2009

Teachers Robert Rich & Adam Windsor Charged with Inappropriate Behavior with Students

Two local teachers face criminal charges amid allegations of inappropriate behavior involving female students at their schools, the Frederick County State's Attorney's Office said Friday.

A Catoctin High School teacher is accused of inappropriately touching a 17-year-old female student, authorities said. A Ballenger Creek Middle School teacher faces allegations he videotaped 13- and 14-year-old girls as they changed clothes.

A grand jury on Friday indicted the men, both Hagerstown residents, said Assistant State's Attorney Lindell K. Angel. Warrants will be issued for their arrests.

If convicted of the most serious offenses with which they are charged, Robert Rich, 47, and Adam Windsor, 25, could each face 25 years in the Maryland Division of Correction.

Rich, a science teacher at Catoctin High, has been employed by Frederick County Public Schools since January 2004, said Marita Loose, the school system's communications director.

Rich was accused of having an inappropriate relationship with a student. He was indicted on six misdemeanor counts of fourth-degree sex offense and one felony count of child sex abuse on school property, Angel said.

An investigation by Detective Michael Davies of the Frederick County Sheriff's Office began after the teen victim confided her allegations to a family friend, who told the girl's parents.

Windsor, the theater arts and band teacher at Ballenger Creek Middle for three years, became the focus of an investigation by sheriff's Detective Willie Ollie as an offshoot of an investigation by the Baltimore office of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Angel said.

Executing a search and seizure warrant of Windsor's residence as part of a child pornography investigation, ICE agents found video footage on his computer taken at Ballenger Creek Middle, Angel said.

Windsor is accused of using a cell phone to videotape girls changing in a room set up for costume changes, Angel said.

The ICE agent assigned to the pornography case was not available Friday.

The grand jury indicted Windsor on two counts of child sex abuse, exploitation and two counts of visual surveillance with prurient intent, authorities said.

Both teachers were placed on administrative leave when school officials became aware of the police investigations, Loose said.

Rich has been on administrative leave since May 6; Windsor has been on leave since April 24.

"School administrators were directed by law enforcement not to share information about these matters with staff or the school community while the investigations were ongoing," Loose said.

13 comments:

  1. wow and i went to CHS.. scary.. I am glad I never had Mr. Rich as a teacher.

    ReplyDelete
  2. You know this is rather appalling. You base judgments on a quick report in the news and condemn both men. As point of fact, the girl who accused Mr. Rich has gaping holes in her story. More people have come forward since the posting of this story to say how the girl is a known liar. Unfortunately, once he's found innocent, no one will care or listen to that. Furthermore, its girls like that who lie that make cases against real perverts all the more difficult to bring to justice.
    She was 16, and not a virgin. He never touched her. I hope you post the rest of the story when it comes to light.

    ReplyDelete
  3. If any new information on any of these stories posted on this site is found or sent to me... I will post that information.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I strongly believe Mr. Rich is innocent!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Mr. Rich's case is not a "her word against his" matter, so the girl's character is irrelevant. Don't get me wrong: I don't know her and I'm not trying to defend her. But it is FEAR OF BEING DISBELIEVED that prevents many women and children from reporting crimes committed against them, and THAT is what makes it difficult to bring perverts to justice.

    Personally, I'm inclined to believe her simply based on how this was discovered. She told a friend who then told her parents? If she were lying to get her poor, innocent teacher in trouble, she would have gone straight to a school official.

    Regardless, Mr. Rich's school computer was seized and searched for evidence when these accusations were brought forth, so I'm confident that we will see more than 'he said's and 'she said's in this case.

    Innocent until proven otherwise, but I strongly believe Mr. Rich is guilty.

    ReplyDelete
  6. http://www.gazette.net/stories/07012009/frednew164726_32536.shtml

    ReplyDelete
  7. I agree with the fear of being disbelieved that many victims go through- but she told many lies to fellow students as well as her parents. Which makes the case even more appalling that a girl would lie about this.
    On the other hand, there are those who will believe any 'victim' when they say they were abused in some fashion, whether its true or not. And trust me- some women lie about this. I know of two other instances where women flat out lied about the men in their life to glean sympathy.

    ReplyDelete
  8. I had Mr. Rich at Catoctin and knew him, albeit minimally, on a personal level. He was a kind and generous man, always kind to students, always eager to help.
    This does not mean that he is innocent. But no one should assume his guilt before trial. It is innocent until proven guilty in the United States. It is that way for a reason.
    If he did have a relationship with the student, it is certainly inappropriate and he deserves to be charged appropriately. If he did not, he will have already lost his job and be regarded as a criminal by all in the community.
    That doesn't seem fair to me.

    ReplyDelete
  9. I'm sure some women do lie about having been abused, but I'm also sure that there are many MORE men who lie about their innocence. And I would love to know how you judge which women are lying and which are telling the truth, because several of my friends have confided in me stories of their past abuse and I'm wondering if my sympathy was ill-spent. There is a huge shortage of kindness in this world, after all, so I would hate to think that I had wasted any of my own on undeserving liars.

    Forgive my sarcasm, but do you see my point?

    I would rather be accused of offering sympathy to someone who wasn't truly abused than to be caught throwing stones at someone who was truly hurting and in need.

    Conversely, when it comes to the safety of our youth I would rather err on the side of caution than allow opportunity for abuse. In my mind it is better that an innocent be distrusted or thought ill of than a cleverly camoflauged pervert take advantage of our trust... and our children. It may seem unfair, but I have seen worse injustices in this world. Child molestation is a great example.

    I'm sorry if anyone is offended by my belief that Mr Rich is guilty. It is based not only on the facts of the case as they have been presented to me but also on my personal experiences with Mr Rich outside of his teaching position, which I will not discuss here as it would be injurious to his character.

    You have every right to believe that he is innocent, but do not slander this girl to prove your point... that is injurious to her character.

    ReplyDelete
  10. I am not slandering this girl. What I've posted were facts discovered through the investigation. And I think its perfectly fine to believe a 'child' when they make accusations providing there is proof. This case offers only what she says and what he says. He has no prior cases, no past accusations. The student, on the other hand, shows she's lied, and not just about Mr. Rich.
    I hope you will post the results of this case as they come to light.
    As for judging which women tell the truth and those who do not, I think in cases where one fo the persons either accused or the accuser has a history of lying, I think its pretty logical to disbelief the story when there is no proof.
    By all means, dicuss your personal experiences with Mr. Rich. It certainly cant be as injurious as what you've already posted here.

    ReplyDelete
  11. How do you know that the case offers no further evidence than what was said?

    You have posted no facts, no links, no sources, no true evidence whatsoever. Therefore your badmouthing is simply that: badmouthing. (AKA slander)

    I will gladly post further information regarding this case as it comes to light, but the crinimal jury trial will not take place until October 27th per the Circuit Court of MD website, so you will have to wait until then.

    ReplyDelete
  12. It's soooo creepy because I had mr. Windsor as my theatre arts teacher in 8th grade and I never wouldve guessed he would do somethig like that. I can't believe he did that.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I was one of those girls from Ballenger Creek. Stop slamming the girl from Catoctin, only she knows what really happened. Some of us have been to hell and back beause of this. Just because a teacher is nice doesn't mean they can be trusted. I learned this the wrong way, and it's affected every relationship I've had with a guy because I'm scared to even let him touch me.

      Delete