Kenneth Campbell, a public school teacher at Spencer Bibbs Elementary School, was arrested for allegedly inappropriately touching a 10-year-old girl. Campbell is also the music minister at Woodbine Baptist Church, which is why he making an appearance here at Deep Thoughts.
I have a problem with this case. It looks like Campbell was arrested based on the testimony of a single victim. There is no mention of physical evidence connecting him to a crime. He was charged with two counts of lewd and lascivious behavior. The school placed him on administrative leave.
Campbell has other restrictions:
Williams told Campbell that if he is freed on bond, he can't go on the Spencer Bibbs property. He also must wear a tracking monitor and is prohibited from contact with all children, except his 11-year-old daughter.
All from a single allegation. I know the data suggests Campbell will be found guilty, but I still have a problem in a case where it is the victims word against the accuser. Of course, I am jaded by years of experience writing about these types of cases. It begs the question, should I handle these types of cases differently? One thing is certain, I must be less judgmental. It’s way to easy to assume guilt when a child is involved. However, if this guy is innocent, we must consider the damage to his career and reputation.
The victims story is typical:
The girl told her mother the inappropriate contact began a few weeks ago in the music room at Spencer Bibbs Elementary School. She said Campbell rubbed her shoulders in class, and fondled her breasts. The girl also said he threatened to kill her family and hurt her if she told anyone.
When I do the math I get a result that says be very careful. Baptist + pastor + private access to children = big trouble. I’ve followed over a thousand cases so far, two have come back as not guilty. The odds do not look good here.
Woodbine Baptist has nothing on its homepage and it’s staff page is not functioning. It looks like Woodbine Baptist is using the “bury your head” approach to the problem. It’s so typical.
1 comment:
The child recanted her statement saying she made these allegations up. He is very much innocent :)
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