Accuser: Peckham teachers paid for sex
NEWKIRK — Investigators looking into sexual misconduct allegations against a suspended superintendent seized computers, documents and cellphones from Peckham school district offices this week, The Oklahoman has learned.
Longtime Superintendent Gary Young is accused of inappropriate sexual conduct with young children as well as current and former students and staff members, including one staffer who said she received poor evaluations when she rejected his sexual advances.
Young was suspended after the state Board of Education voted Aug. 22 to suspend the teaching and superintendent certificates of Young pending a revocation hearing. The allegations against Young are outlined in the state Department of Education's application for emergency order to suspend and revoke his certification.
“The department has received multiple sexual misconduct complaints against Young,” Brad Clark, the agency' s general counsel, wrote in the application. “These complaints include allegations that Young has sexually assaulted adults and minors, groomed minors for sexual abuse and unfairly compensated teachers in exchange for sexual relationships.”
Young has not been criminal ly charged. Among the staffers he is accused of rewarding for sex is a certified teacher with a master's degree and 18 years of experience, according to an unredacted version of the application obtained by The Oklahoman.
“The department received a complaint that Young has had an inappropriate sexual r el ati onship with one of his staff members for years,” the application stated. “... a teacher with a Master's degree and eighteen years of experience should be provided with a minimum salary of $47,531. Department records show that the individual is compensated $ 87,849 as a Certified Employee, and paid an additional $9,097 as a Support Employee.”
One of Young's accusers told The Oklahoman the superintendent had affairs with two teachers he would pay “outrageous amounts of bonuses.”
“I was told by former teachers he was paying them quite mightily for that,” said the woman, whose identity is not being disclosed by The Oklahoman.
According to the application, which
“The department has received multiple sexual misconduct complaints against Young. These complaints include allegations that Young has sexually assaulted adults and minors, groomed minors for sexual abuse and unfairly compensated teachers in exchange for sexual relationships.” Brad Clark, general counsel
cites a Blackwell police report, a minor accused Young of sexual assault in 2015, claiming that a “heavily intoxicated” Young approached her and started rubbing her shoulders. Heal legedly continued to “rub her, kiss her and then encouraged her to go to the basement with him.”
A former Peck ham staff member claims in the application that Young “started grinding his crotch on me and started moaning” after she told him she was upset about missing her father.
Another former staffer said Young gave her poor evaluations when she rebuffed his sexual advances. A student said she witnessed Young kissing a staff member and later asked the student not to say anything because “it would ruin my life.”
Multiple former Peck ham students re counted situations where Young made them f eel uncomfortable at his home, according to the application. One former student claims t hat Young called her and others into his bedroom where he was lying there naked and that “weirded us out because he deliberately called us in there,” the application states.