ESD’s Letter to Parents Informing Them (Kinda) of Student-Teacher Affair

Well, the Morning News beat me to it–I searched high and low yesterday and, as far as I can tell, the lawsuit hasn’t actually been filed–but the parents of a former student are suing the school for, according to the article, “failing to protect their 16-year-old daughter from a sexual relationship with a teacher and expelling her ‘for being a victim.’” Former history teacher J. Nathan Campbell, who left the school in the fall, is the teacher accused in the lawsuit, according to DMN (and, if Facebook is to be believed, is the best football announcer in the history of ever).

Campbell’s home phone has been disconnected, so no dice yet talking to him. School officials are referring questions to attorney Donald Godwin, with whom I just left a message. Below, though, is a letter, dated Monday, from headmaster Stephen Swann to parents, informing them (albeit very obliquely) of the allegations against the school. “[P]lease know that ESD stands by its certain knowledge that the school acted in an appropriate, timely, and definitive manner,” he writes. (Major props to Merritt “Queen Miracle Worker” Patterson for digging this up.)

My main question: If the school found out about the alleged affair in the fall, why are parents just being informed now that a lawsuit is being threatened? Updates to come.

By Eric Nicholson May. 19, 2010 | 1:17 pm | 18 Comments | Comments RSS
18 comments to "ESD's Letter to Parents Informing Them (Kinda) of Student-Teacher Affair"
  1. Merritt Patterson @ May 19, 2010 at 4:04 pm
    I’m having trouble with one little word here. You’re not the only one calling this an “affair” though. Other organizations are too, http://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2010/05/19/Parents-sue-private-school/UPI-49221274300643/. But when a high school girl is hooking up with a teacher in his mid thirties, that’s not an affair, that’s a felony. Mostly.

  2. James Tucker @ May 19, 2010 at 4:34 pm
    I think if they want to use the word affair, suggesting a long term relationship, we can assume it was multiple felonies.

  3. whoknew @ May 19, 2010 at 6:03 pm
    I am confused – how is it the teacher was just allowed to quit? I know she gave her consent but she is ONLY SIXTEEN. Isnt this a felony?

  4. tokyo @ May 20, 2010 at 12:40 am
    I don’t think this girl gave her consent. I know someone who knows her and she was victimized. she was raped and she is having a very hard time with it, so to call this an affair is very wrong. poor girl and what an awful teacher. disgusting.

  5. D @ May 20, 2010 at 9:04 am
    Putting the ESD lawsuit aside(and although we don’t know the facts, I can’t imagine that ESD comes out of this mess looking good), how is this scumbag not in jail? Why aren’t the parents pushing the police to arrest this jerk? Is there any outrage from the ESD community (faculty/ parents/ students)? This is statuatory rape, and maybe pure rape. Anyone found trying to cover this up or protect this criminal should be held accountable as well.

  6. grump @ May 20, 2010 at 9:15 am
    Get RU486 to get an RU486 stat.

  7. Junior Boy at HP @ May 20, 2010 at 11:09 am
    @ tokyo, I’m pretty sure that this wasn’t a case of rape. If the event occurred multiple times and in places like a hotel room and a car, it had to be consensual. The girl wouldn’t have gone to the hotel if she didn’t want to.

  8. tinkerbell @ May 20, 2010 at 12:58 pm
    Junior Boy-
    She is sixteen. It doesn’t matter if she wanted to go to the hotel or not. She is not at the age of consent. It’s rape. Period.

  9. dallasgirl @ May 20, 2010 at 2:40 pm
    According to people that I know who go to school there, she knew exactly what she was doing. After they were caught she bragged about it and revealed a lot of intimate details to her fellow students. According to them, she was proud of it and liked the attention. Sounds like both parties are to blame…including the parents, how did they not catch on in 7 months…they have more access to her personal life than the school does.

  10. tokyo @ May 20, 2010 at 3:45 pm
    I know she might have wanted to do it or she might have bragged about it but SHE IS 16. If she is under 18, 1) she is too immature, naive, etc. to make that decision and 2) it is illegal. I feel terrible for this girl, though I think she shouldn’t be proud of this at all. I would be ashamed and mortified! But overall, it is the teacher’s fault. He is an adult. He has a wife and kids. He is her teacher at a Christian school!! She is a young and naive teen and he took advantage of that. why isn’t he in jail?? And even though she may have been willing, it is still rape. and the way ESD is handling this is not good in my opinion, but I don’t know all the details. I do know she is coming to hp as a junior next year…not the best choice since the school is buzzing about this already (in my opinion, she’ll be miserable. no one will give her a chance here. its sad, but i think she should start somewhere new…poor thing.) anyway, I just think this whole thing is awful and that the teacher is a despicable person. you’d think after a few months his conscience would kick in. how awful.

  11. Junior Boy at HP @ May 20, 2010 at 4:41 pm
    I find it pretty amazing how this was uncovered in the fall, and most people have not heard about it until yesterday. The topic was continually brought up in conversations today, and some people have been saying the girl in question will actually be coming to HPHS next year. Students at ESD apparently are not able to talk about it legally, I have tried to see what they know and they said that they aren’t allowed to say anything. Despite the school’s best efforts to keep the event down, I’m pretty sure that just about everybody knows by now.

  12. Michael H. @ May 20, 2010 at 7:01 pm
    That’s just great. I guess for $20,000 you child can get an education and raped. Nice job keeping the kids save ESD. Great Job!!!!

  13. tokyo @ May 20, 2010 at 8:55 pm
    ya I think the school should be taking more responsibility for this and helping the girl instead of casting her away. thats real christian of them. i’m a christian, but it seems like all these high and mighty people (i.e. the vatican, christian camps, esd, etc) have more scandal and sin than normal people. its disgusting. i’m not saying the school is at fault since it was one teacher, but they are handling this terribly and if this went on for 8 months and i’ve heard the girl bragged about it, something should’ve been done. merrit, do you know if this guy is in jail? how awful for the girl and the teacher’s wife, kids, and family. ugh i just hate this.

  14. c.f.j. @ May 22, 2010 at 2:24 am
    ESD is known for putting the best interests of the child first–such as focusing on underlying causes of child’s behavior & requiring FAMILY therapy. Unfortunately, predators are very skilled at deception & appear caring & conscientious. ESD is known to have terminated teachers’ contracts through the years for only suspicion of inappropriate behavior, choosing not to give a teacher “the benefit of the doubt” that might put a student at risk. Very often the “heads-up” can come from school parents whose children had expressed concern. That other students evidently did not seem suspicious may indicate that this child possibly was a loner & perhaps targeted for that reason. Her parents were obviously not very involved with her life at a vulnerable time.

  15. Blah-Blah-Blah @ May 23, 2010 at 11:03 pm
    This post is completely inaccurate Merritt. This information shouldn’t be misinformed. (Girl’s Name) CHOSE to have a sexual relationship with the teacher and it was not on campus.

  16. tweeter @ May 25, 2010 at 11:29 pm
    i don’t know what to say…if it was consensual, ESD should not be sued, and the girl is freaking 16 YEARS OLD! SHE IS OLD ENOUGH TO KNOW BETWEEN RIGHT AND WRONG. SEX WITH A TEACHER=WRONG. If it was rape, poor girl, she should have told her parents, but since she was telling all of her friends about it, doesn’t really sound like she was victimized to me. My real question is, how did the affair start? How can a teacher just..start an affair with a student?!?! Much less a 16 year old girl! It’s disgusting either way.

  17. New camp mom @ August 10, 2010 at 9:27 am
    Any updates here?

  18. Meansumbitch @ September 22, 2011 at 4:58 am
    There’s a reason why someone wins well over 9 MILLION bucks in a lawsuit….

    I can’t believe the idiots supporting this “church” over this. I’ve never been so ashamed of MY state of Texas in my life with the morons that live around me. Republucan dumbasses… go figure.

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