Update; Mr. Hoffman has been totally exonerated and is back in the classroom.
My hunch was right that this was a bogus accusation and that the LVMPD and District wanted a teacher trophy to put on their mantel.
There are plenty of Pervert teachers in CVSD, I know of 1 personally, but Mr. Hoffman is not one of them.
From the Las Vegas Sun: Metro Police said today that detectives have been investigating a Las Vegas teacher since May 2009 for alleged sexual misconduct with a female student.
Ronny Scott Hoffman, 38, a French teacher at the Las Vegas Academy, was arrested Dec. 9. Hoffman faces charges of coercion with force, a felony, and three counts of open and gross lewdness, which are gross misdemeanor charges, police said.
At a news conference Tuesday afternoon, Metro Lt. John Bradshaw said a female student told police in May that Hoffman sexually assaulted her on school grounds at the Las Vegas Academy. http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2009/dec/15/vegas-teacher-accused-sexual-misconduct-student/
Ok, this sounds pretty bad. My first reaction was, here we go again, another school pervert. (as an aside, I am a teacher in the CCSD)
But, the Las Vegas Sun, unlike the LVRJ, made an update to this story.
There are several troubling aspects of this story.
First, why is Metro making the arrest? Why not the CCSD police? Maybe the CCSD police didn't think there was a case?
2nd. The time frame. The date. The alleged date of the attack occurred between October 1 and Nov. 30th. During this time frame, from the end of October until Nov. 30th, there are 3 vacations in CCSD- Nevada Day, Veterans Day and Thanksgiving. You would think, by using the holidays as a guide, the date could have been narrowed down.
3rd. According to Metro, while the "victim" was being attacked, another girl walked in and pretty much stopped the attack by her presence. The cops interviewed 105 girls and no one saw anything.
Another part of the complaint says that the teacher thought the girl's bathroom was a unisex bathroom after the men's bathroom was closed. First, I have never seen, in my 12 years of teaching, a teacher using the student's bathroom. Second, either this teacher is extremely stupid or the student. There are no unisex bathrooms in CCSD, that I know of.
He hugged a student. Well, I am not a hugger, but I know teachers who are. They take a risk, but sometimes a student will go up and hug the teacher. If a female student gives me a hug, well, her breasts will probably touch my body, but, that is physics. Nothing I can do. Another issue was that he got close to her in the classroom. If you have seen foreign language classes in high school in CCSD, there are a lot of kids and not a lot of classroom space.
I am not trying to make excuses for the teacher. If he did it, shame on him and send to prison for a very long time.
But this case seems mighty strange and based on the comments of students and former students, he has a lot of supporters.
We will see.
The district does have a tendency to cover up problems, especially those of sexual perverts. Even for elementary school principals caught in compromising situtations.
ReplyDeleteThis teacher was vindicated years ago. However, your blog post can still be found, along with the Sun article. I humbly ask you to consider removing it. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteIf you read what I wrote, I pretty much defended the teacher, so no, I am not going to remove the article.
ReplyDeleteIf you have an article to prove his innocence, please post the article so I can make a better judgment and provide an update.
Well he's teaching in CCSD , it's his 16th year and is possibly the best teacher my child has ever had. That should be enough evidence you need as he is still in the classroom . I sure hope you're never falsely accused of a crime you never committed , and a blogger wouldn't take your innocent send down . You should blog about the accuser to warn others .
DeleteI see you're a special Ed teacher , bless your heart . I really hope that you never get falsely accused like Mr. Hoffman was. I am reading the other comments and I also knew Mr. Hoffman . He was my favorite teacher and I knew the girl Madaleine Tracey. She was a mentally disturbed girl with no friends who was always "sick" in the hospital. Trust me, this girl made it all up! He was vindicated of all her lies. Mr. Hoffman came back to LVA as a hero! He taught us to fight for justice , and to stand up! We love you Hoff! Thx for being a great teacher! You inspired me to continue French and to travel like I did with you years ago!
DeleteThis teacher was vindicated and the student was found to be mentally ill and made it up for attention. Why do you still have this up? Madeleine Tracy was found to be mentally ill with many illnesses and has accused other teachers in the past .
ReplyDeletehey i go to cram (school in north las vegas) and he is still a french teacher in the school, he teaches 6th grade.
ReplyDeleteHe was falsely accused by a mentally ill student. If anything, you should tell him you're sorry for what he went through. Cram MS is so lucky to have such a wonderful educator.
DeleteMy daughter goes to Cram when he teaches and she is very uncomfortable having him for a teacher.
ReplyDeleteWhy are you uncomfortable? He didn't do a thing. I'm uncomfortable reading your comment without knowing the WHOLE story. He was falsely accused, and all charges were dropped. The student was mentally ill and made the whole thing up for attention. My son goes to Cram and loves Mr. Hoffman. He said he's the best teacher he has ever had. Im surprised this Blog is still up. Time to move on and get rid of this. Cram students love you Mr. Hoffman. I feel really bad for the Madeleine Tracy girl that made this whole thing up. I hope Mr. Hoffman sued her and her family.
DeleteAll charges were dropped and he lied about the whole thing. I went to LVA and I knew Madeleine Tracy. She had mental illness and she lied about the whole thing. I heard she has also accused other teachers as well. I cant believe she put Mr. Hoffman put through this. I heard she checked into a mental institution and is off the streets.
ReplyDelete