Girl who accused Miramonte teacher of abuse recants her story

[bemildred]

One of two girls who accused a Miramonte Elementary School teacher of fondling her has recanted her story, according to law enforcement sources.

Martin Bernard Springer, 49, was charged Tuesday with three counts of committing lewd acts. He was arrested Friday after two students at the school accused him of fondling them.

But the charges filed Tuesday only involve one girl. The source, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the case was ongoing, said one of two two alleged victims had changed her story in the last few days.

Springer has pleaded not guilty to the charges.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2012/02/girl-who-accused-miramonte-teacher-of-abuse-recants-her-story.html

[bemildred]

1. Second accused South Los Angeles teacher fired, charged

One of two teachers accused of abusing students at Miramonte Elementary School was charged Tuesday with three felony counts and fired by the Los Angeles Board of Education.

Martin Bernard Springer, 49, was arrested Friday after two students at the school accused him of fondling them.

But the charges filed Tuesday — three counts of committing lewd acts — involve a single girl. A law enforcement source with knowledge of the investigation said the second girl recanted her accusation.

Springer pleaded not guilty.

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me--teacher-20120208,0,2334951.story

[LisaL]

2. Whatever those teachers accused did or didn't do, the idea

to replace all teachers in that school makes no sense to me. How can innocent persons be punished for actions of someone else? I think its ridiculous.

[sharp_stick]

3. Welcome to the world of modern education

where administrators have no idea how to do anything except follow a moronic zero tolerance policy.

It's much easier to run a system or a school if you don't actually have to think before you do something, just get on with the firings, expulsions or whatever the hell is giving your district / school bad press. Then when the inevitable law-suits start up you can claim that you'd love to explain in full but you can't because of pending litigation.

[bemildred]

4. It's annoying.

There appears to have been some real misconduct, but we are well on our way into another of these media-circus/witch-hunts that turn into debacles when these child abuse allegations come up.

[eppur_se_muova]

5. I suspect someone had been wanting to "clean out" this school ...

and this just gave them an excuse to do so.

False accusation? Too late, we've already fired everybody!

[bemildred]

6. Yes, a definite "opportunity knocks" aspect to that. nt