Teacher Molests Three Girls ... Only Gets 90 Days

I have long been saying that our children will rebel against us one day because we have flat out refused to protect them. Why would they take care of us when we are old and decrepit if we didn't take care of them? The biggest failure of society to protect our children is to allow sexual predators to go free with little to no punishment.

I have lost all faith in judges to adequately punish child predators. Many have said that judges refuse to punish these predators because the judges themselves are predators. Perhaps these people are right. Maybe NAMBLA membership is chalk full of judges, and they are looking out for their own. After all, that is what secret societies do.

Nevada is widely recognized as having a horrific judicial system ... especially when it comes to protecting kids. Frankly, it would take too long to explain, but you locals know what I'm talking about.

A couple of days ago Don Smith, a former music teacher at Tate Elementary, was sentenced to 90 days behind bars for touching the breasts of a little girl in his class who was under 14 years old. Now I should preface this by saying that this comes from Channel 13 News' website, and they are notorious for not giving you details.

A former Clark County school teacher will spend 90 days behind bars for touching a student's breasts.

A judge also sentenced Don Smith to up to four years probation and extensive counseling.

The sentence is part of a plea deal Smith agreed to in December.

Smith was teaching music at Tate Elementary School.

His attorney said he was just counseling the girl, but the prosecutors say he touched her inappropriately and on purpose.

Smith was warned several times over the years by the Clark County School District not to hug students.

They also have a video on their website.

You'll notice that the school district had to "warn" Smith several times over the YEARS to not touch the children. Just so you know ... the Clark County School District is one of the worst in the country. No that's not opinion ... it's a proven fact year after year.

If you have to warn a teacher to stop hugging children several times over the years, but he continues to do it, why wasn't he removed from the classroom. Clearly, if you are repeatedly told to not touch children yet you continue to do so ... you have a compulsion. It is blatantly obvious that Smith could not control his actions, but the district and school didn't act to remove him from the classroom. Therefore, I hold them responsible, and I hope the victim's family does as well.

Remember, Channel 13 doesn't give good details on their website. So I went back to the local newspaper to review the case, and found extremely disturbing information. Smith didn't accept a plea for touching one student's breasts ... it was three students he violated.

Review Journal:

A Tate Elementary School music teacher accused of molesting three students told a judge Tuesday that he intends to accept a plea deal in District Court.

Don Kevin Smith is expected to make an Alford plea to one count of attempted lewdness with a minor under 14, which carries a potential prison sentence of two to 20 years.

An Alford plea does not involve an admission of guilt but acknowledges that prosecutors could prove their case if it went to trial.

So the plea deal he received holds a sentence of 2-20 years. Why did he get only 90 days? Even if the charge is probational as expressed by the paper ... the judge has an obligation to give a sexual predator more than 90 days for violating 3 girls.

It gets better:

According to his arrest report, Smith admitted to investigators that he touched the breasts of three students.

He originally was charged with two counts of lewdness with a minor under 14.

Prosecutor Lisa Luzaich said she agreed to drop the other charges in exchange for his plea to attempted lewdness because it keeps open the possibility of Smith receiving as much as two decades in prison and it also would ensure that Smith receives a felony on his record and never teaches again.

"If I can do all that without making three young girls testify than that's a good thing," she said.

This is when I got really pissed talking about this on my show.

The prosecutor did the right thing by guaranteeing a felony charge while not requiring the three victims to relive the assaults. The reason the prosecutor even accepted the plea is because Smith would face a tougher sentence than with the other charges. So the prosecutor positioned herself to get a guaranteed conviction with a stiffer sentence for the child predator than she may have gotten with a trial. That's good lawyering, and she should be commended with her efforts.

Unfortunately, her plan backfired on her when Justice of the Peace Tony Abbatangelo decided that the 2 year minimum for Smith's plea deal was too harsh, and only sentenced him to 90 days behind bars.

To summarize:

• We have a teacher who admitted to molesting not one, not two, but three elementary school girls.
• The prosecutor only accepted the plea deal because the predator would receive a felony with 2-20 years in prison.
• The judge felt two years was too harsh for a child predator who assaulted a minimum of three young girls, and gave him a mere 90 days with probation and counseling.

Now that's justice.