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Who is next to go down? Probably no one. But who should? Any and all who knew what this animal was doing and did nothing.
Remember, a principal, Ronald Zangaro, caught Lellock in a closet (a closet!) with a student back in 1999. Zangaro reported the incident to the PPS central administration.
It took PPS seven weeks to report this incident to the city police. Unbelievable.
The PPS merely suspended Lellock for a pathetic 20 days. Then Lellock was back to school patrol as usual.
Why wasn't Lellock immediately fired?
And don't forget that Lellock served as Roosevelt's personal driver and bodyguard for five years (2005-2010). That's very odd, to say the least.
As the bodyguard, when Roosevelt entered a school, Lellock entered a school. When Roosevelt met with students, Lellock was near students.
Didn't Roosevelt know about the suspension? Or did he know and not care?
If I were Superintendent, and if for some reason I couldn't fire Lellock, I would have put him as far away from students as possible. Make him the evening security guard at the admin building. Make him the police dispatcher. Something like that.
I hope the victims hire some super lawyers and sue the district. And I hope they sue every last central administrator who was present from 1999 to 2010.
And I hope the lawyers take them for every last dime.
Many will object, and say it's the city taxpayers who will ultimately pay for many legal bills to come.
That's only fair. It's what you get when you vote in a willfully blind School Board.
Remember that someone posted that Weiss had 2 lawyers from 2 "out-sourced" firms sitting behind Lellock and his lawyer? What was that all about? Was PPS aiding Lellock in some form hoping to minimize damages?
.....and of course the Chief of School Police knew nothing??? Of course he did and did nothing (e.g. Penn State). Ironic how all of this came out after the Chief of Police was fired from the District
I'm no fan of Fadzen, the Chief at the time, but it seems that he alone tried to do the right thing.
From trib.live.com:
Robert Fadzen, then chief of school police, said in a letter dated June 23, 1999, that he wanted to be on the record recommending Lellock's termination. In his letter, which the Trib also obtained, Fadzen said Jody Spolar, now the district's chief human resources officer, and Vicki Beatty, an attorney with Campbell Durrant Beatty Palombo & Miller, told him that no issues needed to be forwarded to law enforcement and no grounds existed to fire Lellock. He went back to work after a 20-day suspension.
I'm no fan of Robert Fadzen, the chief at the time. But I'll give him credit here. It seems like he, and he alone, tried to do the right thing.
From a triblive.com article:
"Robert Fadzen, then chief of school police, said in a letter dated June 23, 1999, that he wanted to be on the record recommending Lellock's termination. In his letter, which the Trib also obtained, Fadzen said Jody Spolar, now the district's chief human resources officer, and Vicki Beatty, an attorney with Campbell Durrant Beatty Palombo & Miller, told him that no issues needed to be forwarded to law enforcement and no grounds existed to fire Lellock. He went back to work after a 20-day suspension."
Moderator: For some reason, my incomplete comment of 11:17 posted. Please delete that post as it does not have the triblive.com link. My 11:24 post does have the link. Thanks.
anon 8:38 The newely hired chief new what was going on back in 99 and as a police officer and a public servent she turned a blind eye.She said police officers do not rat each other out,this comes from a close source at belfield who just got a promotion.
So according to 11:24am posting, Fazden reported it to Pittsburgh Police and Jody Spolar and a lawyer from Campbell Durrant Beatty Palombo & Miller covered it up and gave Lellock a 20 day suspension. Why aren't the prosecutors going after Spolar and Beatty?
Teachers, Health care workers etc are required by law to report abuse. I know during the Sandusky trial there were questions about coaches and other employees. There is an anonymous hotline for suspected abuse. Does the "mandated reporter" law include security officers?
Before this verdict, the stance taken by PPS lawyers Stacey Vernallis and Ira Weiss was one of disbelief that these young men were victimized at all. Their arrogance and insensitivity oozes from the civil court filings and their interaction with the Lellock defense team during the trial was an inappropriate use of my tax dollars.
For nearly a year we have heard Linda Lane say one thing in public snd then in private at Bellefield suggest that somehow a former police chief recruited these young men to falsely accuse Lellock. Do not forget that Lane once dispatched Lellock to Harrisburg to pickup her misplaced notebook because "he's the only one I can trust."
Who was the superintendent when Lellock was first suspended for 20 days? Obviously, Lellock has a friend/friends in high places since he only received a slap on the wrist when found in the closet with the student.
Imagine all the secrets/deals/cover-ups made through the years by PPS...
I haven't read a transcript or been in the courtroom, but the defense seems to have been less than vigorous from the news reports. It seems reasonable that logs would have been kept by security staff providing a record of an officer's activities. Nobody comes out of this wearing a white hat, not Fadzen or anyone in the admin at the time.
Since an accuser stated that Lellock pulled him out of classes on a regular basis, why hasn't the public heard of any teacher testifying to this accusation? Even though Rooney is closed, I'm sure that the student could identify what teacher(s)class he was in when this occurred. I would also think that if any student was pulled out of class on a regular basis by any adult this type of information would have been shared with Principal Zangaro at the time. So is there any confirmation by any teacher at that time that concurs with the students accusations?
A teacher did testify stating that Lellock used to pull kids from her class. It was in the PG.
"Other witnesses this morning included a teacher at Rooney, who testified that she remembered Mr. Lellock taking students out of her language arts classroom, as well as the school principal who found Mr. Lellock in an audio/visual storage room with a student in May 1999.
Ronald Zangaro testified that he was doing rounds near the end of a school day and heard voices coming from the room.
He pushed the door open and found an eighth-grade student inside, along with Mr. Lellock. They were several feet apart, and both claimed they were wrestling.
So the kids say they were pulled out of class and taken to a janitors closet, a teacher recalls kids being taken by Lellock AND the Principal found Lellock and a kid in the janitors closet "wrestling." What a coincidence.
Board minutes point to having two superintendents within the 98-99 period. Frederick might have been super during the time of Lellock's criminal actions and Dr. Faison, for a short time in 99, was interim.
I can understand Frederick turning a blind eye (or not even being informed of the situation) to matters as he only wanted out of PPS once he got here. He used to go and sit in the bleachers at South/Cupples Stadium during the day to get away from Bellefield. Now Dr. Faison is a different story. I can't imagine she would have tolerated this situation had she been informed.
Lellock will be sentenced in October 2013. He will likely get 20 to 50 years for molesting four children. The four victims fell within the statute of limitations. Another 15 have come forward but were outside the statute. 20 lives ruined and the school district remains in denial. The people who covered up in 1998 and forward should join Lellock for 20 years in a cell.
Like Penn State, to get to the truth, "GRAND JURY."
It is reasonable that Dr. Faison, as interim, was not informed. Her time in the super's office was short and seems to have been after incidents occurred. If members of the admin were tasked with the responsibility already, some may have seen no reason to include anyone more.
Yes 12:10, especially if they were covering it up. She would not have sat by and done nothing.
The question remains, who and why wanted it hushed up and swept under the rug? That is the mystery. 11:58 is right - we need a grand jury investigation.
Is there a way for citizens to encourage Mr. Zappala to pursue this? Over the past 10 years we have trained teachers and especially Developmental; advisers (social workers) in how to deal with this-- what about all the administrators who arrive in PPS without basic teacher training? Corporate world is requiring sexual harassment training (spearheaded by insurance companies) so maybe the next protection for children is saying-- blind eyes cost $$!
No one is going to get an accounting of how much they paid attorneys...you're talking about Weiss and company! The money machine that has been sucking the life out of PPS for years. Go back and check board tabs for past decades for salaries of all the attorneys PPS had and see if the salaries of all of them together don't equal the money PPS has paid Weiss and company for the past one or two years. And then there's WEISS MONEY which can be spent and not accounted for.
30 comments:
who is next to go down
Anon 8:38
Who is next to go down? Probably no one. But who should? Any and all who knew what this animal was doing and did nothing.
Remember, a principal, Ronald Zangaro, caught Lellock in a closet (a closet!) with a student back in 1999. Zangaro reported the incident to the PPS central administration.
It took PPS seven weeks to report this incident to the city police. Unbelievable.
The PPS merely suspended Lellock for a pathetic 20 days. Then Lellock was back to school patrol as usual.
Why wasn't Lellock immediately fired?
And don't forget that Lellock served as Roosevelt's personal driver and bodyguard for five years (2005-2010). That's very odd, to say the least.
As the bodyguard, when Roosevelt entered a school, Lellock entered a school. When Roosevelt met with students, Lellock was near students.
Didn't Roosevelt know about the suspension? Or did he know and not care?
If I were Superintendent, and if for some reason I couldn't fire Lellock, I would have put him as far away from students as possible. Make him the evening security guard at the admin building. Make him the police dispatcher. Something like that.
I hope the victims hire some super lawyers and sue the district. And I hope they sue every last central administrator who was present from 1999 to 2010.
And I hope the lawyers take them for every last dime.
Many will object, and say it's the city taxpayers who will ultimately pay for many legal bills to come.
That's only fair. It's what you get when you vote in a willfully blind School Board.
Remember that someone posted that Weiss had 2 lawyers from 2 "out-sourced" firms sitting behind Lellock and his lawyer? What was that all about? Was PPS aiding Lellock in some form hoping to minimize damages?
.....and of course the Chief of School Police knew nothing??? Of course he did and did nothing (e.g. Penn State). Ironic how all of this came out after the Chief of Police was fired from the District
I'm no fan of Fadzen, the Chief at the time, but it seems that he alone tried to do the right thing.
From trib.live.com:
Robert Fadzen, then chief of school police, said in a letter dated June 23, 1999, that he wanted to be on the record recommending Lellock's termination. In his letter, which the Trib also obtained, Fadzen said Jody Spolar, now the district's chief human resources officer, and Vicki Beatty, an attorney with Campbell Durrant Beatty Palombo & Miller, told him that no issues needed to be forwarded to law enforcement and no grounds existed to fire Lellock. He went back to work after a 20-day suspension.
I'm no fan of Robert Fadzen, the chief at the time. But I'll give him credit here. It seems like he, and he alone, tried to do the right thing.
From a triblive.com article:
"Robert Fadzen, then chief of school police, said in a letter dated June 23, 1999, that he wanted to be on the record recommending Lellock's termination. In his letter, which the Trib also obtained, Fadzen said Jody Spolar, now the district's chief human resources officer, and Vicki Beatty, an attorney with Campbell Durrant Beatty Palombo & Miller, told him that no issues needed to be forwarded to law enforcement and no grounds existed to fire Lellock. He went back to work after a 20-day suspension."
The full article:
http://triblive.com/news/2494540-74/lellock-district-abuse-report-student-1999-child-investigation-law-attorney#axzz2aUa7CBAY
Moderator: For some reason, my incomplete comment of 11:17 posted. Please delete that post as it does not have the triblive.com link. My 11:24 post does have the link. Thanks.
anon 8:38 The newely hired chief new what was going on back in 99 and as a police officer and a public servent she turned a blind eye.She said police officers do not rat each other out,this comes from a close source at belfield who just got a promotion.
So according to 11:24am posting, Fazden reported it to Pittsburgh Police and Jody Spolar and a lawyer from Campbell Durrant Beatty Palombo & Miller covered it up and gave Lellock a 20 day suspension. Why aren't the prosecutors going after Spolar and Beatty?
Teachers, Health care workers etc are required by law to report abuse. I know during the Sandusky trial there were questions about coaches and other employees. There is an anonymous hotline for suspected abuse. Does the "mandated reporter" law include security officers?
Roosevelt wanted Fazden fired for his entire tenure at PPS. Looking back it is very curious.
A mandated reporter includes anyone and everyone that knows of the abuse of a child.
Before this verdict, the stance taken by PPS lawyers Stacey Vernallis and Ira Weiss was one of disbelief that these young men were victimized at all. Their arrogance and insensitivity oozes from the civil court filings and their interaction with the Lellock defense team during the trial was an inappropriate use of my tax dollars.
For nearly a year we have heard Linda Lane say one thing in public snd then in private at Bellefield suggest that somehow a former police chief recruited these young men to falsely accuse Lellock. Do not forget that Lane once dispatched Lellock to Harrisburg to pickup her misplaced notebook because "he's the only one I can trust."
Who was the superintendent when Lellock was first suspended for 20 days? Obviously, Lellock has a friend/friends in high places since he only received a slap on the wrist when found in the closet with the student.
Imagine all the secrets/deals/cover-ups made through the years by PPS...
I haven't read a transcript or been in the courtroom, but the defense seems to have been less than vigorous from the news reports. It seems reasonable that logs would have been kept by security staff providing a record of an officer's activities. Nobody comes out of this wearing a white hat, not Fadzen or anyone in the admin at the time.
The point everyone keeps missing is Lellock's suspension was a paid suspension, 20 days with pay for molesting children. All Spolar.
Since an accuser stated that Lellock pulled him out of classes on a regular basis, why hasn't the public heard of any teacher testifying to this accusation? Even though Rooney is closed, I'm sure that the student could identify what teacher(s)class he was in when this occurred. I would also think that if any student was pulled out of class on a regular basis by any adult this type of information would have been shared with Principal Zangaro at the time. So is there any confirmation by any teacher at that time that concurs with the students accusations?
A teacher did testify stating that Lellock used to pull kids from her class. It was in the PG.
"Other witnesses this morning included a teacher at Rooney, who testified that she remembered Mr. Lellock taking students out of her language arts classroom, as well as the school principal who found Mr. Lellock in an audio/visual storage room with a student in May 1999.
Ronald Zangaro testified that he was doing rounds near the end of a school day and heard voices coming from the room.
He pushed the door open and found an eighth-grade student inside, along with Mr. Lellock. They were several feet apart, and both claimed they were wrestling.
Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/local/neighborhoods-city/2nd-former-student-testifies-against-ex-pittsburgh-public-schools-police-officer-in-sex-abuse-case-696653/#ixzz2axOHdxZ1
So the kids say they were pulled out of class and taken to a janitors closet, a teacher recalls kids being taken by Lellock AND the Principal found Lellock and a kid in the janitors closet "wrestling." What a coincidence.
Board minutes point to having two superintendents within the 98-99 period. Frederick might have been super during the time of Lellock's criminal actions and Dr. Faison, for a short time in 99, was interim.
I can understand Frederick turning a blind eye (or not even being informed of the situation) to matters as he only wanted out of PPS once he got here. He used to go and sit in the bleachers at South/Cupples Stadium during the day to get away from Bellefield. Now Dr. Faison is a different story. I can't imagine she would have tolerated this situation had she been informed.
Lellock will be sentenced in October 2013. He will likely get 20 to 50 years for molesting four children. The four victims fell within the statute of limitations. Another 15 have come forward but were outside the statute. 20 lives ruined and the school district remains in denial. The people who covered up in 1998 and forward should join Lellock for 20 years in a cell.
Like Penn State, to get to the truth, "GRAND JURY."
It is reasonable that Dr. Faison, as interim, was not informed. Her time in the super's office was short and seems to have been after incidents occurred. If members of the admin were tasked with the responsibility already, some may have seen no reason to include anyone more.
Yes 12:10, especially if they were covering it up. She would not have sat by and done nothing.
The question remains, who and why wanted it hushed up and swept under the rug? That is the mystery. 11:58 is right - we need a grand jury investigation.
http://triblive.com/news/allegheny/4447325-74/lellock-abuse-victim#axzz2b5sC3Jck
Is there a way for citizens to encourage Mr. Zappala to pursue this?
Over the past 10 years we have trained teachers and especially Developmental; advisers (social workers) in how to deal with this-- what about all the administrators who arrive in PPS without basic teacher training?
Corporate world is requiring sexual harassment training (spearheaded by insurance companies) so maybe the next protection for children is saying-- blind eyes cost $$!
How do we get an accounting of how much PPS paid two attorneys to sit behind Lellock and counsel for the week, passing notes back and forth?
Didn't someone from PPS staff testify to Lellock's character at his adoption hearing?
No one is going to get an accounting of how much they paid attorneys...you're talking about Weiss and company! The money machine that has been sucking the life out of PPS for years. Go back and check board tabs for past decades for salaries of all the attorneys PPS had and see if the salaries of all of them together don't equal the money PPS has paid Weiss and company for the past one or two years. And then there's WEISS MONEY which can be spent and not accounted for.
Yes, the previous superintendent testified to Lellock's character at his adoption hearing.
Lellock has an adopted child? How old?
He has two boys and a girl.
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