1. Michael Parent Ed. Law Final 1
Innocence Denied: Critique and Action Plan
Constructive Critique and Analysis
In Innocence Denied: A Guide to Preventing Sexual
Misconduct By Teachers and Coaches, Fibkins highlights and
exposes the critical issue of sexual misconduct by
teachers, staff, and coaches in schools. Most importantly,
Fibkins argues that teachers and staff have been asked to
become more than simply instructors and employees;
educational movements over the last twenty years has pushed
the professional to include mentoring and advising students
in matters beyond academics. Yet , they have not received
effective training in how to do this without understanding
the nature of these types of relationships. Fibkins also
notes that school administrators have failed to provide
adequate and proper models for student supervision,
student-teacher relationship monitoring, not have effective
and clear guidelines for intervention for all faculty been
developed and implemented. Thus Fibkins urges schools to
take immediate and proactive measures regarding sexual
misconduct in the school building.
Fibkins establishes the premise that a good many
teachers who find themselves in improper relationships with
students are not sexual predators. Rather, he notes, they
are teachers who wound up in a bad place with a student

2. Michael Parent Ed. Law Final 2
either due to personal emotional or psychological
circumstances or because of the lack of established healthy
boundaries.
In conjunction with Fibkis’ work, May Ann Manos’ book
Rumors, Lies, and Whispers: Classroom ‘Crush’ or Career
Catastrophe examines the role that some students play in
making sexual allegations against teachers. Manos’ book
offers teachers and administrators a glimpse of the other
side of reported sexual misconduct by teachers – the false
allegation. She writes of the “Lolita Complex”; students
who feel needed or wanted by an adult and expresses these
desires through sexual messages and seductive behaviors
(p.13). “Consequently”, she writes, “teachers may serve as
parental substitutes or the object of romantic fantasies by
their students” (p. 13). Her premise is not that students
should share blame in improper student-teacher relations,
but that if teachers are trained to see the signs of the
“Lolita Complex” in students they will be better armed to
deal with these types of students should they indeed
express themselves in a sexual or seductive manner. As a
point of edification, Manos offers readers checklists and
points of observation when dealing with potentially
dangerous students.
Relevant Laws and Policies

3. Michael Parent Ed. Law Final 3
New Jersey State statutes 18A:6-7a entitled “Alleged
child abuse, neglect by school employee; no use if
unfounded” outlines the administrative procedures for all
public school employees regarding alleged abuses. In
short, it states, “When a complaint made against a school
employee alleging child abuse or neglect is investigated by
the Department of Children and Families, the department
shall notify the school district and the employee of its
findings (http://lis.njleg.state.nj.us/cgi-
bin/om_isapi.dll?
clientID=217823525&Depth=2&depth=2&expandheadings=on&headin
gswithhits=on&hitsperheading=on&infobase=statutes.nfo&recor
d={751B}&softpage=Doc_Frame_PG42). Subsequently, each
public school district in New Jersey is required to have a
Board of Education policy that addresses inappropriate
staff conduct as well as regulations and procedures for
reporting perceived and discovered improprieties. The
Dumont school board has annually publishes and provides
training on BOE Policy #3281 which, “…provide[s] guidance
and direction to avoid actual and/or the appearance of
inappropriate staff conduct and conduct unbecoming a school
staff member toward pupils.” Dumont also disseminates and
annually trains the staff and administration the
particulars of BOE Policy #3362 (Sexual Harassment) and

4. Michael Parent Ed. Law Final 4
Policy #5512.01 (Harassment, Intimidation, and Bullying)
which outlines the reporting, investigating, administrative
procedures in the event that a student or staff member
wants to report sexual harassment or intimidation.
However, as Fauske et al. note, “School board policies
on sexual harassment and teacher relations appear to be
insufficient to guide professional educators” (p.9). They
advise administrators to not only more intensly train their
staffs, but to implement a more rigorous interviewing
process that screens teacher candidates more closely. In
short, Fauske et al. believe that the recent studies
exposing the depth of teacher-student sexual misconduct
should give administrators a sense of urgency regarding
sexual misconduct training, teacher supervising, and
adopting more direct district policies that go beyond the
required sexual harassment policy.
Staff Development Plan
Utilizing Fibkins’ and Fauske et al.’s work, I would
work with my board attorney, local prosecutors, and the
NJEA legal defense department to develop a comprehensive
professional code of conduct briefing for all employees.
This type of collective effort will allow all points of
view to be discussed and vetted.
During the “ethics training”, the staff would be able

5. Michael Parent Ed. Law Final 5
to study real cases, ask questions of the representative
bodies, and examine their own relations with students.
Asa result, the district would most likely be better
prepared for the potential dangers they may encounter
should allegations be levied against a teacher or support
staff.
A staff development plan would focus on how to have
appropriate and acceptable relations with classroom
students, how to set limits on the relationships, proper
student mentoring, proper athletic relationships, and how
to recognize and report when colleagues may be involved in
improper relationships with students. Also, the staff would
receive training on how to spot potentially needy students
(“Lolita Complex” candidates). In turn, the schools’
student leadership and targeted parent organizations would
also receive the same training.
With this type of comprehensive and cross-generational
programming, students, staff, and parents would have clear
and healthy boundaries from which to build a positive
school climate.

6. Michael Parent Ed. Law Final 6
References
Fauske, J. R., Mullen, C. A., & Sutton, L. C. (2006,
November). Educator Sexual Misconuct in School:
Implications for Leadership Preparation (University
Council for Educational Administration Convention).
San Antonio: 2006.
Fibkins, William L., Innocence Denied: A Guide to
Preventing Sexual Misconduct By Teachers and Coaches,
Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield Education, 2006.
Manos, Mary A., Rumors, Lies, and Whispers: Classroom
‘Crush’ or Career Catastrophe, Prager Publishers, 2004.