Again? Another Sexual Assault Case Against a Seattle Schools' Student By a SPS Staffer

From the Seattle Times:

Police have arrested a City Year Seattle program manager, who oversaw the initiative’s staff at two Seattle schools, on allegations of rape of a child in the second degree.  

The incident allegedly occurred off-campus in late December. The Seattle Police Department officers arrested program manager Gregory Emmanuel Ward, who worked with students at South Shore PreK-8 and Aki Kurose Middle School, on Tuesday.

King County prosecutors charged Ward, 46, on Monday with second-degree rape of a child and communication with a minor for immoral purposes and a judge set bail at $250,000.

The child is a Seattle Public Schools student, the district confirmed. The district said the program manager had allegedly “communicated with a minor for immoral purposes via text message.”

The Times' story does not explain HOW this all came to light. The manager has been fired by City Year. He also is banned from all SPS schools and has no further access to student info. I hope the police have seized his laptop and phone so it can be checked if Ward tried to communicate with other students in this manner. 

For those who don't know, City Year is a group that has college students come into schools with students of who need tutoring. It is generally a well-thought of group. The district is ending City Year's work for this week at both South Shore and Aki Kurose.

But K5 TV's report has even more detail (it's pretty bad so be warned):

Gregory Emmanuel Ward is accused of coercing a 13-year-old girl into sex inside the bathroom of a South Seattle restaurant. During the alleged rape, Ward took photos and videos of the sexual assault, according to court documents. 

Prosecutors said Ward developed a relationship over a period of months with the student after helping her with math. The victim's sister found text messages between Ward and the student that included messages of a sexual nature and photos of the student that Ward had taken of her, according to court documents.

On Dec. 30, the victim told her family she was going to meet up with a group of friends. In the afternoon, the girl wasn't answering her phone and her sister tracked her to an area of Alaska Street.

The girl's mother eventually found her in an alley, where Ward was "kissing and touching" her, according to court documents. The victim initially said nothing happened, but later told her family that she and Ward were at a restaurant on Martin Luther King Jr. Way, where the two had sex. The victim was taken to the hospital where she was treated and contacted by police.

He told the victim to delete messages between the two, and it was near a park close to the restaurant where the victim's mother saw her and Ward together.

Once contacted by police, Ward said he believed he must be being questioned over what the girl's mother had told police. He said he knew the victim from Aki Kurose and had met with her at Bananas Grill over concerns for her safety.

Ward initially denied being alone with the victim, court documents say, but admitted to sending her explicit messages and "goofing off" with her in the men's bathroom. Ward "stated everything he did that day was wrong and inappropriate" to police but denied ever having sex with the victim.

 

What adult "goofs" off with a child in a restaurant bathroom? He must think police are dumb.

 

My Northwest states that Ward has no prior criminal convictions. He did move to Seattle four years ago from Chicago. They need to check records in that city/state.

His LinkedIn page has this quote:

Change should be looked at with excitement not fear.

 

He appears to have been a director at a group of kid/teen technology camps previous to coming to SPS. In fact, all his previous jobs appear to be working with children including a Christian-based youth organization. 

The usual from SPS:

“SPS is taking these allegations very seriously,” the district said in a statement provided to The Seattle Times. “The safety and well-being of our students is our top priority, and we are committed to taking appropriate steps to ensure their protection.”

But also this (highlighted section by me):

The district said all employees, volunteers, agents and subcontractors of who provide services in schools are required to complete and pass a comprehensive national criminal background check and are required to complete SPS’s adult sexual misconduct prevention training. It is the responsibility of the community partner organization to verify and confirm that these requirements have been met.

Well, that would be another question to ask. Did all those checks happen? 

From the Times' story:

This is at least the second time in recent months that an individual with ties to Seattle Public Schools has been arrested on criminal charges related to a minor.

Renton Police Department revealed last month that it had arrested a former assistant principal at TOPS K-8 School in Eastlake as part of a sex trafficking sting it ran in late September.

The district is also planning community meetings for school staff and families. The principals also shared resources on how to speak to children about sexual misconduct investigations and how staff and students can report sexual assaults or harassment.

In both the TOPS K-8 case and this one, what are the circumstances by which either man would have been working directly with children?  One report says that Ward was helping the victim with math. Do managers in City Year generally work one-on-one with students?