Offender banned from school

 By Michael Tucker, staff writer

District exploring expulsion alternatives; trustees to make final decision Tuesday



Editor's Note: This story supplements a Web story published Wednesday morning following the board meeting Tuesday evening.



Allowing registered sex offender Albert Brown to remain in school will be too risky, the Belgrade School Board decided Tuesday. But finding another way to offer him an education might be possible.

Trustees voted unanimously to bar Brown from attending classes during regular hours, or from being in school buildings, but will attempt to educate the 19-year-old Manhattan resident some other way as long he remains enrolled in a sex offender treatment program.

Belgrade Superintendent Herb Benz recommended that trustees expel Brown based on the student’s potential threat to students and violations of probation terms. The district does not have any obligation to educate Brown because he is an adult and lives outside the school district, he said.

Chairman Lance Voegele called for a motion to expel Brown, but none of the other trustees responded.

“I am the chairman and I can not make a motion,” he said. “I know this is new ground, but we are responsible for the safety of every student in that building... Is anyone prepared to make a motion on behalf of this district?”

Instead, after a two-hour debate involving the Brown family and Brown’s attorney, Mariah Eastman, the board made a motion to seek out an alternative educational program.

Board members based the decision on Brown’s probation terms which does not allow any unsupervised contact with children under the age of 16 or any “developmentally delayed person” under the age of 18.

“I’m not comfortable allowing Mr. Brown in the student population in the day,” Trustee Dennis Bechtold said.

Brown violated parole after he was thrown out of a treatment program in June for not paying the bill, tardiness and failing to finish assignments, according to court documents. However, Eastman said the non-compliance stemmed from a busy fire fighting season to help pay for his counseling and he has since enrolled in another program quashing the violation.

Brown was sentenced Dec. 5, 2005 on one count of sexual intercourse without consent. The victim in the case was a 10-year old boy. Brown was also involved in three other sexual offense cases with children, but the crimes were dismissed as part of a plea bargain.

Eastman said the incident involved Brown’s peer and was a “mutual sexual encounter” and “naive experimenting.” Brown plead under that case and the other incidents were not brought to trial due to “allegation problems.”

But in an interview Thursday night, the victim’s mother said Eastman’s assessment was not true.

“He stood before the judge and pled guilty to sexual intercourse without consent,” she said. “How does that imply mutual consent among experimenting peers?”

The incidents took place in Manhattan and Brown left the district to attend BHS, his mother Betty Brown said. The district wanted to educate Brown in same way “I am the chairman and I cannot make a motion,” he said. “I know this is new ground, but we are responsible for the safety of every student in that building. Is anyone prepared to make a motion on behalf of this district?”

There were no takers, but after a two-hour debate involving the Brown family and Brown’s attorney, Mariah Eastman, the board made a motion to seek out an alternative educational program for Brown.

Board members based the decision on Brown’s probation terms, which do not allow him to have unsupervised contact with children under 16 or any “developmentally delayed person” under 18. The terms also require Brown to attend school and maintain good grades.

“I’m not comfortable allowing Mr. Brown in the student population in the day,” Trustee Dennis Bechtold said.

Brown violated probation after he was thrown out of a treatment program in June for not paying his bill, tardiness and failing to finish assignments, according to court records. But Eastman said the non-compliance stemmed from a busy firefighting season and that Brown has since enrolled in another program.

Brown was sentenced Dec. 5, 2005 on one count of sexual intercourse without consent. The victim in the case was a 10-year old boy. Brown was also involved in three other sexual offense cases involving children, but the charges were later dismissed.

Eastman said the incident Brown pleaded guilty to involved a peer and was a “mutual sexual encounter” and “naive experimenting.”

But in an interview Thursday night, the victim’s mother said that is not true.

“He stood before the judge and pled guilty to sexual intercourse without consent,” she said. “How does that imply mutual consent among experimenting peers?”

Brown had been attending school in Manhattan when the incidents took place and withdrew to attend school in Belgrade, his mother, Betty Brown, said during the board meeting. For the past three years, Brown has been attending night school in the alternative high school program but switched over to regular hours to accumulate enough credits to graduate. He has seven credits left to earn.

During his tenure at Belgrade, he has not caused any discipline problems and has earned A’s and B’s, Assistant Principal Russ McDaniel said.

Rather than earn an GED, Brown said he wants to receive a high school diploma, adding the degree would give him an edge in the future. He plans on attending college to become a mechanic and eventually joining the military.

“I want to get my high school diploma because without it you can’t get a good job,” he said. “I don’t think a GED is (viewed) the same as a diploma.”

Montana School Boards Association Attorney Debra Silk cautioned board members that the case could have ramifications for the district, not to mention statewide effects.

“I think it’s important that the board understands whatever you decide, you could set precedent,” she said.

But board members decided to give Brown a shot.

“I think we all realize it may not work, but we need to try,” Trustee Peter Morgan said. “By all accounts, he has been a good student that hasn’t caused any problems. We’ve made the effort to educate Mr. Brown for the past three years.”

Trustee Peggy Lucas agreed.

“He’s obviously not a problem in school and his grades have been good,” she said. “I think we have an obligation to help him graduate. It’s doable.”

School administrators have until Friday to determine if the plan if feasible, Benz said Wednesday. The board will meet again Tuesday to consider their recommendations.

School officials were surprised when a group of students discovered Brown was listed on the online Montana Sexual and Violent Offender Registry last week and claimed they did not know the student was a convicted sex offender.

But Betty Brown said Tuesday that upon enrolling her son in night school, the family told the instructor the situation.

District officials are skeptical of that claim, Benz said Wednesday.

“When people say ‘I told’, the question always is how much of what’s in the court records (did they tell),” he said. “I rather doubt that our employee was told the terms and conditions of the probation — that (Brown) is not to be around anyone under 16 unsupervised, which shifts the supervision to that employee. I don’t think anyone would want that liability.”