Abuse victim testifies in civil trial
Boy said he felt like he was in love, was troubled about ‘messing up her life’
A verdict in a federal civil suit concerning sexual abuse suffered by a 13-year-old boy at the hands of a former Clarksville, Texas, middle school teacher could come today.
Lawyers for the defendants, Clarksville Independent School District, Clarksville Middle School Principal Tonya Nelson and former teacher Randi Savage, rested their cases late Thursday afternoon as did lawyers representing a 16-year-old boy whose mother filed the suit on his behalf.
This morning, a seven-member jury is expected to hear closing arguments from the lawyers and instructions on the law from U.S. District Judge Michael Schneider in a thirdfloor courtroom of Texarkana’s downtown federal building before beginning deliberations.
At issue in the case is whether Principal Tonya Nelson and others in the school district ignored repeated warnings and signs that Savage was sexually abusing the boy. Savage is serving time in a Texas prison for aggravated sexual assault of a child and indecency with a child. She faces the possibility of a damage judgment in the civil case.
Savage’s victim gave emotional testimony Thursday.
“I just avoid getting a girl because I’m embarrassed to tell what happened to me in the eighth grade,” the boy said. “I felt like I was in love at 13. … I didn’t want her (Savage) to get caught. I felt like I was messing up her (Savage’s) life.”
The boy partially covered his face as he answered questions from one of his lawyers, Timothy Craig of Nacogdoches, Texas. The boy said he believed Savage’s protestations of love for him and talk of a future as husband and wife after he reached 18 were “real” because Savage is a “grown-up lady,” the
same age as his mother.
Savage’s victim testified he began lying to his mother, with whom he’d previously most often been truthful, when the abuse began. The boy said Savage accepted a request to be his “friend” on Facebook within a few hours in early March 2011. The two began exchanging messages on Facebook and later via cellphone that became increasingly sexual.
The boy testified his first physical encounter involved kissing Savage in her classroom at school a couple of weeks after the messaging started. After that, the boy said he and Savage kissed and touched daily. The boy said Savage began picking him up from his home on Friday or Saturday nights for sex.
On Wednesday and Thursday, the boy’s mother testified that she didn’t believe Nelson took her concerns about her son and Savage seriously. The mother testified she was not told about an anonymous phone call left on voice mail in Superintendent Pam Bryant’s office in April warning of Savage “messing” with the boy.
Witnesses testified Nelson was first made aware of a possible issue with Savage and the boy when the school counselor, at the request of a teacher whose classroom was directly across the hall from Savage’s, told her the boy was spending a lot of time in Savage’s room. The boy was not a student in any of Savage’s classes.
Nelson testified Tuesday and Wednesday that she investigated by speaking to Savage, who claimed she was informally counseling the boy, and the teacher who voiced concern. Nelson testified she investigated the anonymous phone call by speaking to Savage and teachers with classes nearby.
The boy’s mother said she gave her son’s cellphone to Nelson for review during a meeting in April because she read a text from Savage to her son that said, “I love you.” The mother said Nelson didn’t seem interested in reading other messages on the phone, which were exchanged via Facebook and were inappropriate.
After meeting with the mother regarding the cellphone messages in April 2011, Nelson testified she told Savage in the mother’s presence to have no more contact with the boy. Savage testified Tuesday that she continued abusing the boy after the meeting.
Nelson testified she did see the boy in Savage’s classroom when a group of students was assembled there during a lunch period. Nelson said she reiterated to Savage that she was not to have contact with the boy but did not report the incident to Bryant or make a written report.
The boy testified Nelson instructed him to meet with her after he was caught with the other students in Savage’s classroom.
“She said, ‘Go down to my office now,’” the boy testified. “She said, ‘You’re trying to get this lady locked up. Do you know what could happen if anybody found out about this?’”
Bryant testified Wednesday she was aware Savage had left the Paris, Texas, school district in 2004 after parents caught her swimming at about 2 a.m. with a group of middle school students. Savage was not charged with any wrongdoing in Paris.
Nelson and Bryant both testified they were satisfied with Nelson’s actions. Defense lawyers Wes Tidwell, Dennis Eichelbaum and Meredith Walker questioned the boy’s mother extensively about what she suspected was happening between Savage and her son and why she didn’t go to police sooner than she did.
The boy’s mother testified she withheld some of her suspicions because she feared publicly humiliating her son. The boy’s mother called police Sunday, May 22, 2011, after finding a letter from Savage in her son’s laundry.
The “Baby letter,” as it was called because of how Savage addressed the boy in it, described Savage’s desire to have sex with the boy on her desk and made reference to previous encounters. The boy’s mother said she contacted a Clarksville police officer that night.
The boy’s mother said she went to work the next day, Monday, May 23, and was later contacted by Clarksville police Cpl. Darlena Shimpock, who was assigned to be the school district’s resource officer.
Shimpock testified Thursday she was surprised the boy’s mother didn’t contact her first because the two were longtime acquaintances. Shimpock said she began to become frustrated when the boy’s mother didn’t return her phone calls May 23 and eventually threatened to report the boy’s mother to Child Protective Services as a “nonprotective” parent.
Shimpock said the boy’s mother contacted her mid-afternoon May 23, 2011, and a meeting with school officials, the mother, and Shimpock was arranged for 4 p.m. that afternoon. Shimpock said the boy’s mother was hysterical when she expressed fear of law enforcement and concern that child welfare officials might take custody of her children.
Shimpock testified she took the “Baby letter” into evidence at the meeting. Savage was suspended with pay the following morning.
Schneider reminded the defense Thursday that the boy’s mother is not on trial.
“Let’s remember what’s relevant,” Schneider said. “We need to know what was known when and who knew.”
This morning the jury is expected to hear closing arguments from the boy’s lawyers, Timothy Craig and Curtis Stuckey of Nacogdoches. Meredith Walker of Irving, Texas, is expected to argue for the school district, Dennis Eichelbaum of Plano, Texas, is expected to argue for Nelson, and Paris lawyer Wes Tidwell is expected to argue for Savage.