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January 27, 2005

Parents tried to warn school about guard

By Christian M. Wade -- Times Herald-Record

Slate Hill – Three years ago, a group of parents met with Minisink Valley school officials to complain about a middle school security guard who was getting too friendly with teenage girls on campus.
The guard, Bruce J. Etheridge, 30 at the time, was chatting online with girls as young as 12, inviting them to party with friends at his house in Warwick, the parents said.
One of the parents discovered that his daughter was chatting with the security guard the kids called "Bruce," talking about sex on an instant messaging service.
The father said he brought his concerns to Minisink school officials. He showed them copies of the messages Etheridge sent to his daughter.
Nothing happened, the father said.
"They told us it was OK," said the father, whose name has been withheld to protect his daughter's identity. "They said that they encouraged security guards to interact with the kids in order to gain their trust. I was outraged by their response."
Last week, Etheridge, who is now 33, was arrested by state police and charged with having sex with a 14-year-old female student at the middle school. The girl told police the sexual contact between them started when she was 14 and continued for three years.
The investigation, conducted by the Orange County Child Abuse Investigation Unit, began two months ago, after the girl told her therapist about the sexual abuse, according to police.
Etheridge was charged with third-degree rape, third-degree sodomy and third-degree sexual abuse, all felonies, as well as endangering the welfare of child and forcible touching.
None of the contact was forcible, state police said. But the girl was too young to give consent. The age of consent in New York is 17.
Etheridge could not be reached for comment. A woman who answered the telephone yesterday at his parents' home in Warwick hung up.

Several parents said Mary Bonen, the former Minisink superintendent, and Frank DiMarco, the former middle school principal, essentially brushed off their concerns about Etheridge three years ago when they complained about his behavior.
Bonen and DiMarco retired two years ago. Neither could be reached for comment.
Minisink Superintendent Martha Murray said Etheridge was employed by the school district as a security guard for the past nine years. She said he was suspended without pay on Jan. 13, pending a hearing before a civil service board.
She said she could not discuss the allegations against Etheridge, citing state and federal privacy laws that prevent school officials from talking about personnel issues.
Etheridge was arraigned in Village of Warwick Court before Judge Richard Farina and sent to Orange County Jail on $2,000 bail. He was released on bail the next day. Orange County District Attorney Frank Phillips said a grand jury could hear the case within the next two weeks. He would not comment on the investigation.
Several parents complained that they had to learn about Etheridge's arrest from newspaper reports. They said there was no announcement made by school officials.
Some said the school district's handling of the incident raises serious concerns about policies that are supposed to protect children from sexual abuse.
"They (school officials) tried to cover this up, just like other incidents in the district," one parent said. "This used to be such a great school district. Not anymore."

Keeping kids safe

Instant messaging allows two people to communicate in "real time" over the Internet. Cyberpredators can add a child's "UIN" or instant messaging ID, to their notify list (AOL calls it the "buddy list"), allowing them to be notified whenever the child is online.
Most instant messaging programs are free, but you need to download the software and register to use it. When you register, the providers ask for a lot of personal information. Unless you are careful, that information might be publicly posted. If you filled out your information profile with your real information, then stalkers can find you easily.
Under the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act, any site requesting personal information from kids under age 13 requires parental permission with verification.

Safety tips

1. Make sure that you have not placed your personal information anywhere in your instant messaging profile or have not used it in your registration.
2. If you are harassed while you are online, pick a new user name and start a new account.
3. Make sure your children know what to do if they are harassed while they are online.

Posted by Nealus at January 27, 2005 07:44 PM

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