Page 3 - Florida Sentinel 4-22-16 Edition

Feature
Dean Arrested For Not Reporting Alleged Sex Abuse On School Bus
A 72-year-old bus driver was arrested and charged with 10 counts of sexual abuse of a child under the age of 12. The Dean of Students at the school was also arrested for not re- porting the allegations after learning of the allegations from other students.
Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said 34-year-old Court- ney Stanley, Dean of Stu- dents at Horizons Elementary School, in Haines City, was taken into custody and charged with two counts of failure to report suspected child abuse when he failed to notify law enforcement. In his role as a school official, Stan- ley is a mandatory reporter in the State of Florida.
A student told Stanley on Friday, April 8th, that the bus driver was touching the girls and giving them candy.
Stanley said the 10-year-old had been given a referral from Carlos Ojeda, the 72-year- old bus driver, two days before for cursing. Stanley said he did not believe the student and did not report the allegation to law enforcement.
On Tuesday, April 12th, Stanley spoke to another stu-
dent who had been given a re- ferral from bus driver Ojeda. The 11-year-old also reported to Stanley that Ojeda was touching girls on the bus and giving them candy.
Stanley told investigators that he believed the 11-year- old a little more, but neither of the students could provide dates of the alleged incidents or the names of the girls the driver allegedly touched.
Sheriff Judd said the the two boys reported the infor- mation to school Counselor Carol Ross. The students re- portedly told Ross they had told Stanley about it and he was not doing anything about it.
The following day, on April 13th, Ross reported the infor- mation to Assistant Principal Edwards, who immediately contacted the Department of Children and Families and re- ported the incident at 2:25 p.m.
Stanley learned that the in- cident had been reported to DCF and filed his report at 4:05 p.m.
During the investigation into the allegations, police learned that a 4-year-old had
COURTNEY STANLEY ... Charged with failure to report child abuse
CARLOS OJEDA
... Facing sex- ual abuse on a child under the age of 12 charges
been repeatedly sexually bat- tered.
Sheriff Judd said three of the girls were 4-years-old.
Ojeda was taken into cus- tody on Thursday, April 14th, and charged with 10 counts of sexual battery based on the al- legations reported by the stu- dents.
Ms. Jacqueline Byrd, Su- perintendent of the Polk County School District said Stanley has been suspended without pay and recom- mended for termination.
The investigation is contin- uing.
Attorney For Girls Who Drowned In Car Says Documents Missing
DOMINIQUE ASHAUNTI
LANIYA MILLER
BATTLE
BY LEON B. CREWS Sentinel Staff Writer
This week, officials at the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office released documents regarding their investigation into the deaths of Dominique Battle, 16; Ashaunti Butler, 15, and Laniya Miller 15.
They allegedly stole a car on March 30th and drove around Pinellas County before driving into a pond in Royal Palm Cemetery.
The vehicle was allegedly re- ported stolen by Damian Marriott, who told police he offered the girls a ride across town, but needed to stop at a WalMart first. He left the girls in the running vehicle, and when he came back, the car and the girls were gone.
After attempts to stop the ve- hicle, deputies followed it as it turned into the cemetery and went into the pond at 4 a.m. Deputies reportedly went into the pond after the sinking car, but abandoned their efforts be- cause of the muddy water and plant growth. After the vehicle was towed from the pond hours later, investigators determined the girls drowned.
Sheriff’s officials released the crash report and in-car video of the initial fleeing and eluding incident, followed by the sec- ond incident that started at U. S. 19 and Ulmerton Road, and ended at the cemetery. Dive team logs, patrol radio trans- missions, reports from on- scene investigators, and the stolen vehicle incident report
ATTY. MICHELE WHITFIELD
were also released.
The attorney representing
the families of Dominique Battle and Laniya Miller, Michele Whitfield, said her office is still conducting an in- vestigation into what happened with the girls and their position hasn’t changed.
“There are still inconsisten- cies, and it’s obvious the girls were being chased.
“There are also questions about the efforts used to save the girls. We’re trying to figure out everything that happened. There’s still information that hasn’t been released.”
Atty. Whitfield said she’s most interested in the primary officers’ statements, and she hasn’t gotten them yet.
“Our position is the girls had permission to use the car and it wasn’t stolen. There are too many inconsistencies in the statements made by the car’s owner, and some of the state- ments made by the Sheriff’s Of- fice are contradictory.”
BUTLER
FRIDAY, APRIL 8, 2016 FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN PUBLISHED EVERY TUESDAY AND FRIDAY PAGE 3-A