Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, April 6, 1993 TAG: 9304060273
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: LAURA WILLIAMSON STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
ACCUSED COUNSELOR WILL LOSE JOB
The Roanoke School Board is expected to vote tonight not to renew the contract of John Canty, a high school counselor accused of having sex with a 13-year-old student.Canty, 33, was suspended with pay the week following his March 1 statutory rape indictment. The next week, he was suspended without pay.
The charge followed a yearlong investigation begun when the student reported the incident to social workers in another jurisdiction.
Canty has pleaded not guilty and "vehemently denies the charges," his attorney, Tony Anderson, said Monday.
He would not comment further on the case or on the School Board's expected action. Canty's trial has been set for June 10.
"I guess it's just their opinion that when you have somebody as outgoing as I am, it draws attention away from the school," Canty said of the administration's decision not to rehire him. "It's their decision and we have to live with their decision."
School administrators last month said Canty would remain under suspension until the case was resolved. But they now say the suspension - and his contract - will end June 17, the last day of the academic year.
"His contract will not be renewed," said Faye Pleasants, executive for staff development and personnel for the Roanoke schools. She wouldn't comment on what might happen if Canty is acquitted. Pleasants said she could not comment further on the case because personnel matters are confidential.
Canty, a dropout-prevention counselor and junior varsity football coach at William Fleming High School, works for the city schools under a contract that is renewed annually.
He has been accused of having sex with a 13-year-old girl at his Roanoke home last June. Canty allegedly took the girl there as part of an effort to prevent her from dropping out of school.
In an unusual move, prosecutors did not ask police to arrest Canty but took the case directly to a grand jury last month because they anticipated it might become a sensitive issue. Canty had accused police in 1990 of using excessive force when they beat him with nightsticks and sprayed him with Mace after he tried to help two girls arrested on trespassing charges on Hershberger Road Northwest.
His allegation and others prompted the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People to ask for a federal investigation of the Roanoke Police Department. The U.S. Justice Department determined that police did not use excessive force but did use poor judgment.
Canty came before the courts again in October when he was convicted of striking a motorist in the face after their cars nearly collided on Colonial Avenue Southwest.