ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, November 19, 1996 TAG: 9611190118
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-4 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: RICHMOND
SOURCE: Associated Press
An 8-year-old deaf boy was sexually abused and a deaf 10-year-old was beaten and kicked at the Virginia School for the Deaf and Blind in Staunton, a parent's group alleged Monday.
In an anonymous letter sent to the group, the writer alleged that the boyfriend of a female dormitory supervisor had abused the boys. Mary Willets, spokeswoman for the Parents Spearhead Committee at the school, read the letter at a State Board of Education meeting.
The man sodomized the 8-year-old and hit and kicked the 10-year-old in the groin, the letter said.
Neither boy is still a student at the school. Both say they were dismissed a month ago for behavior instigated by the man who abused them.
Joseph Panko, school superintendent, denied the allegations in a telephone interview after the board meeting.
``I'm very aware of the situation surrounding each of these students, and I am confident there will not be findings that children were physically or sexually abused here,'' he said.
The accused man visited the dormitory only once or twice, and he was never left alone with students, Panko said, adding that he welcomes an investigation.
``I do believe that there are individuals that are feeding information based on little fact intended to discredit the VSDB,'' he said.
The reasons the boys left the school had nothing to do with physical or sexual abuse, Panko said. Neither child was dismissed; their parents were asked to withdraw them, he said.
The Spearhead Committee represents parents of students at the school, Willets said. The students apparently brought the allegations to her group because theythought school officials would not listen to them, she said.
Willets said she received the letter Friday and called the boys' parents immediately afterward. ``The parents of both boys were upset, crying,'' she said. ``That's when I decided to file a complaint with the Board of Education.''
The board ordered an immediate investigation into the allegations.
Similar allegations of sexual abuse among students were made in July. Investigations by the state police, the Board of Education and the school itself turned up no evidence that sexual encounters had taken place. But the allegations prompted concern over staffing levels and safety at the school and another school for deaf and blind children in Hampton.
The board on Monday created a new position to supervise day-to-day operations at both campuses. It also authorized a study of staffing levels and safety measures at the schools and ordered school officials to report any abuse accusations to police.
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