Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, February 13, 1993 TAG: 9302150254
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: KEVIN KITTREDGE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: PEARISBURG LENGTH: Medium
SEX CHARGES SHOCK GILES
Giles County residents expressed shock and dismay Friday at the arrest of a schoolteacher and scoutmaster on charges he sexually abused teen-age boys.Commonwealth's Attorney James Hartley said he expects additional charges to be filed against Timothy Myers, a Ripplemead resident and member of the Giles High School class of '83. He did not know when.
Myers is alleged to have sexually abused as many as five teen-age boys.
At least some of the incidents are alleged to have occurred at a Giles County cabin in January.
Investigators said Friday they still are interviewing witnesses in the case and do not expect more charges until Myers after the weekend.
"We're going to try to have the investigation wrapped up by the end of next week," said Willie Lucas of the Giles County Sheriff's Department.
Myers, a first year teacher at Eastern Elementary School near Pembroke, was arrested Wednesday on two charges of aggravated sexual battery and one of forcible sodomy involving two boys. Hartley said the boys were 14 or 15.
Myers was later released on $15,000 bond. A court date has not been set.
Myers' attorney, John Quigley of Christiansburg, could not be reached for comment Friday afternoon.
In addition to his teaching job, Myers was a basketball and soccer coach, assistant recreation director for the town of Pearisburg and scoutmaster for Pearisburg's Boy Scout Troop 34.
He was arrested at Eastern Elementary School after school Wednesday - only a few days after a parent first brought to the attention of local authorities allegations that Myers had sexually abused teen-age boys.
Hartley stressed that none of the incidents under investigation took place at the school, where Myers taught sixth and seventh grade.
Friday, authorities declined to say where Myers met the boys he is accused of assaulting.
But some privately stressed that Myers - as a teacher, scoutmaster and coach - knew boys through several sources, and even met them sometimes to go to shopping malls.
As a result, they say, it is difficult to pin down just how Myers knew anyone.
In any case, Myers has been stripped of virtually all his official duties in the wake of the charges against him. He was removed from his job as teacher, with his salary placed in escrow, until the case is resolved, school officials said this week.
He also has been removed from his position as assistant recreation director for the town of Pearisburg. And the district Boy Scout office in Charleston, W. Va., has yanked Myers from his scoutmaster post.
Scouting officials declined to say if any of the boys involved in the alleged abuses were Boy Scouts.
"The local authorities are handling all of that. It's not something we get involved in," said David Kemper of the Charleston-based Buckskin Council, of which Troop 34 is a part.
"It's very unfortunate," Kemper added.
Friday, local scout leaders and most of the rest of Giles County certainly would have agreed.
"It was totally unexpected," said Pearisburg Town Manager Ken Vittum of the charges against Myers. "Something like this is just something that you never want to have happen."
"The majority of the people I've talked to are really surprised. There are some people who are angry," Pearisburg store owner Wayne Gentry said of Timothy Myers - whom he worked with in the local boy scout troop.
Gentry - who has known Myers for more than a decade - described him as a hard worker who held three jobs while earning his degree at Radford University. He said he and others considered Myers responsible.
Gentry, echoing regional scout leaders and local authorities, declined to say if any of the boys involved were Boy Scouts.
As a scout leader, Gentry said, Myers had helped push several scouts toward their Eagle badge, scouting's highest rank.
Like most who spoke to a reporter Friday, Gentry said he couldn't believe the news.
"He would be the last person I would have thought that of," Gentry said.
Gentry met with Myers on Friday about scouting matters, he said.
"He led me to believe that he was hurt by the allegations," Gentry said.
Authorities would not release the location of the cabin where some of the incidents are alleged to have occurred. They also declined to name the cabin's owner, who they say was not involved.
"I know the cabin owner personally," said Lucas, the Sheriff's Department investigator. "He's one of the finest fellows I've ever known."