Prosecution Rests in 1970's Sex Abuse Case

This from the Herald-Leader, photos by Pablo Alcala.

Fayette school sex-abuse case gets new details

Maner testifies against former science teacher

For the early part of Monday afternoon in Fayette Judge James D. Ishmael Jr.'s courtroom, Carol Lynne Maner didn't look at the man the commonwealth had charged with raping her 30 years ago.

When Maner had to, she called him Mr. Hubbard. She was polite and quiet, wringing her hands.

But she gained some strength as the day wore on.

When special prosecutor Tom Smith asked her to describe the evening of her first sexual encounter with her ninth-grade science teacher, she turned to the defense table and called Jack Russell Hubbard by the name she had always called him, Russ. Then she told how, in the 1970s at Beaumont Junior High School, she'd turned to him for help when she was being molested by Roberta Blackwell, an art teacher, and he, in turn, introduced her to marijuana and heterosexual sex.

"He seemed compassionate," she said when Smith asked why she went to speak to him about her problems. "He said he was available to talk to me."

Maner described how Blackwell drove the 15-year-old girl to Hubbard's home and left her on his porch. She told how he beckoned her into his bedroom, taught her to roll and smoke a joint and how he allegedly said she needed a man to "take her
virginity."

Maner described herself as "in no position to refuse."

And this from H-L:

Woman testifies she, other teacher

had sexual relationships with former student

Roberta Blackwell Walter, long accused by a former student of repeated molestation, took the stand Tuesday in Fayette Judge James D. Ishmael's Jr.'s courtroom and admitted having sex with Carol Lynne Maner who was 15 at the time.

"I realize I was the adult, and she was the child," Walter told jurors. "I should have nipped it in the bud. I knew it was wrong."

The admission came in the trial of Jack Russell Hubbard, who is accused of first-degree rape of Maner and first-degree sodomy of Thomas "Beau" Goodman III while both were students at Beaumont Junior High School in the 1970s. Walter testified for the prosecution against Hubbard as part of a plea agreement that would reduce two felony charges against her, with likely prison time attached, to misdemeanor charges carrying only probation...

The commonwealth closed its case late in the morning. The defense begins its case Tuesday afternoon.

Jack Russell Hubbard pleads not guilty to sex charges

This from the Herald-Leader: KSN&C Backstory:

A former Beaumont Junior High School science teacher pleaded not guilty Friday to sodomy and rape charges stemming from allegations by two students in the late 1970s.

Jack Russell Hubbard, 61, appeared in Fayette Circuit Court for his arraignment on four counts of first-degree sodomy and one count of first-degree rape. Former students Thomas "Beau" Goodman III and Carol Lynne Maner made the accusations.

Hubbard, who now lives in Texas, was arrested in July 2007 in Pennsylvania as Maner testified in a civil trial in Lexington against the Fayette County school board. Maner, who accused the school board of ignoring a pattern of alleged sexual abuse against her by several school board employees, won a $3.9 million verdict. An appeal by the board is pending.

A pretrial conference is scheduled Jan. 29 before Judge James D. Ishmael Jr. the same judge who is hearing Petrilli v Silberman. After hearing motions a trial date could be set.

Science teacher charged with molesting students released on bond

LEXINGTON, Ky. --A high school science teacher accused of molesting two students in the 1970s was released from jail Wednesday after posting a deposit on his $32,500 bond.

A judge agreed to release Jack Russell Hubbard, 60, from Fayette County Detention Center after he surrendered his passport and paid 10 percent of the bond, the Lexington Herald-Leader reported on its Web site.

Hubbard is charged with four counts of first-degree sodomy and one count of third-degree rape in connection with alleged sexual assaults. He and another former teacher, Roberta Walter, were arrested last month.

One of the students, Carol Lynne Maner, recently won $3.7 million in a civil trial against Fayette County's Board of Education after a jury found district officials ignored incidents of sexual abuse. The other student, Thomas "Beau" Goodman III, settled his case.

Goodman claimed Hubbard sodomized him 30 times when he was 14 and 15 years old. The rape charge involves Maner when she was 15.

Hubbard's attorney, Bill M. Butler Jr., said his client was innocent and that the charges were motivated by money.

"He's never had a single complaint lodged against him," Butler said. "In my experience in 20 years as a defense lawyer, I've found that cases with allegations like this generally have more than one instance. And there are generally allegations along the way."

Butler waived a preliminary hearing, allowing the case to go to a grand jury.

This from the Herald-Leader.

Maner case: H-L analysis

None of the jurors spoke to Herald-Leader reporters, so their analysis is difficult to take as definitive. But I sure don't have a better explanation for the jury's finding that Fayette County school district officials knew and failed to respond to the repeated sexual abuse of a student. The jury says that's what happened. It's inexcusable.

I chatted with a Fayette County high school associate principal today who reflected my own feelings. The principal knew one of the accused individuals, was shocked by the allegations and saddened by the outcome - not that it went against the district she cares about - but that it was apparently true. Given the burden the plaintiffs had to carry in the case, the evidence must have been compelling.
~

It came down to the word of a mother

Maner faced big hurdles on way to $3.7 million verdict

After two weeks of exhaustive evidence and testimony, the trial of Carol Lynne Maner's sex-abuse lawsuit came down to the word of a mother who had abused her kids versus that of an educator who was well respected in the community.

The jury sided with the mom, delivering a $3.7 million verdict against the Fayette County Board of Education. It is probably the largest collectable verdict leveled by Lexington jurors since 1989.

A jury of four men and eight women found that the school board ignored alleged sexual abuse of Maner by four teachers, a guidance counselor and an assistant principal at Beaumont Junior High School and Lafayette High School in the late 1970s and early 1980s.

The verdict is remarkable not only for the size of the damages but for the hurdles Maner faced in proving the board's liability. She had to prove nearly 30-year-old allegations that were so extraordinary that some observers thought it unlikely a jury would believe them....

...Maner's first obstacle was proving that her case was not barred by the statute of limitations. That meant convincing jurors that a pillar of the community, former superintendent Guy S. Potts, effectively concealed suspected abuse of Maner by two teachers in 1979 and 1980.

And Maner's lawyers relied, almost entirely, on the word of the mother, Carolyn Maner, who was investigated by state social workers for bruising her daughter's leg after an argument. The mother was also bipolar and had a multiple personality disorder.

"They might believe she is mentally ill, but they didn't think she was lying," said attorney Chris Miller, who also represented Maner...

...There may be another reason why jurors sided with Maner, one that puts the school board in a better light.

Jurors may have been so angry from the sex-abuse allegations that they wanted to take it out on somebody. That somebody happened to be the only defendant in the suit: the school board....

...Another key factor in the trial is that the school board did not directly challenge much of Maner's sex abuse allegations...

...[Attorney Chris] Miller, [who also represented Maner] pounced on the fact that Walter, Hubbard and Kazee did not testify.

"That really did hurt them because those people are still alive," Arnold said. "There was never a good explanation for (their absence).

That may have changed the whole complexion of the case."

...Maner thinks the testimony of Dr. Robert Granacher, an experienced Lexington psychiatrist, backfired and angered jurors.

For starters, his testimony opened the door for Maner's attorneys to tell jurors about the affidavit of a man who says he witnessed Maner being raped in the Lafayette auditorium. Judge Thomas Clark had previously ruled that Maner's attorneys could not introduce that evidence since the man had died and the defense couldn't question him.

But Granacher mentioned it in his testimony.

"He let that cat out of the box," Maner said.

The psychiatrist said that Maner might have benefited from her relationship with Walter and was depressed, in part, because of hormonal problems. Granacher also said that sexual abuse cannot cause post-traumatic stress disorder, causing a juror to roll his eyes, Maner said.

This from the Herald-Leader.

Fayette County sexual abuse case moves toward conclusion

Yesterday's Herald-Leader followed up on the on-going sexual abuse trial in Fayette County. (I was busy doing some work at my church yesterday and am just now catching up.)

"Anybody who knows me knows that would not happen," said former Lafayette High School drama teacher and retired Tates Creek High School principal Robert Gardner.

I know Bob Gardner. We were professional associates for a number of years as fellow principals in Fayette County and my impressions of his work were of the highest order. When discussions took place on issues of concern to all school principals, Bob was typically in the room.

So when his name was tossed in with others in the Carol Lynne Maner case I was shocked. Bob seemed to be living every school teacher's worst fear - a claim of sexual abuse. How do you defend such a claim? "It's been four years of embarrassment and humiliation," he told the court.

I can't imagine.

That said, I don't really know the truth. Like other citizens, I'm relying on the jury to sort all that out.

A colleague of mine who was at Beaumont Middle School in the 1970s, has said the suggestion that Guy Potts would have turned a deaf ear to the claims made in this case is unimaginable. That's my impression too. When I arrived in 1986, immediately after Potts retired, I found a district that was very much "by the book."

Closing arguments are due to be made this morning, and then it will go to the jury for deliberation. I wish Bob good luck; Fran Edwards good luck; the district good luck...

I wish I felt better about a couple of other characters in the case.

This from yesterday's Herald-Leader:

Former educators deny sexual activity with Maner

The Fayette County Board of Education directly challenged some of Carol Lynne Maner's sex abuse allegations yesterday, calling a retired principal who vehemently denied having sexual relations with her while she was a student at Lafayette High School in the early 1980s.

"Anybody who knows me knows that would not happen," said former Lafayette High School drama teacher and retired Tates Creek High School principal Robert Gardner, who called Maner's allegations against him preposterous.

Maner has alleged in her lawsuit against the school board that it ignored allegations of sexual abuse of her by Gardner, three teachers, a guidance counselor and assistant principal at Beaumont Junior High School and Lafayette in the late 1970s and early 1980s.

She alleges she was coerced into having sex with Gardner in Lafayette's auditorium. She also says she had sex with Gardner elsewhere in the school and at his home, and with another former Lafayette teacher, Rick Kazee.

Gardner's cross-examination by attorney Charles Arnold, who represents Maner, was combative.

"It's been four years of embarrassment and humiliation, Mr. Arnold," Gardner said.

Maner's lawsuit was filed in August 2003.

Arnold questioned Gardner on what the lawyer saw as inconsistencies between his testimony and what he said in a deposition.

Arnold showed Gardner love letters allegedly written to him by a high school student in the early 1970s. Gardner said he'd never seen them and denied testimony last week by his ex-wife, Cecelia Correll, that she divorced him because she suspected he had an affair with a student. Correll says she found the letters in a briefcase.

"I'm not sure I like discussing my marriage from 30 years ago," Gardner said.

Gardner said he and Correll had a rocky marriage, which he says was never the same after he answered a phone call from a man wanting to come to see her. Gardner had been away for training in the Marine Corps Reserve.

Arnold also presented a letter that he says Gardner wrote to Maner. The letter was addressed to the "phantom," and Gardner acknowledged that the handwriting looked like his own. (Maner says Gardner called her the "phantom painter.")

Gardner said it was no different than thousands of other harmless letters he'd written to students.

A former associate principal at Lafayette High School also denied attempting to abuse Maner.
Maner has claimed that Fran Edwards attempted to sexually abuse her during a trip to see an art exhibit in Nashville. She said Edwards bought her expensive clothes and telephoned her at home.

Edwards said she never took Maner to Nashville or bought her clothes. She said it was not uncommon for her to call students' homes if they were absent excessively.

That was the extent of her relationship with Maner, Edwards said.

Attorney Chris Miller, who also represents Maner, showed jurors a letter that Edwards allegedly wrote Maner. Edwards told jurors she did not recall writing it, but she acknowledged in a deposition that it was her handwriting, Miller said.

"My wish for you is the very best that life can offer," the letter said.

A former state social worker testified that Maner told him that her mother had kicked her, thrown a cheese knife at her and threatened to hit her with a chair. She said nothing about a sexual relationship with two teachers, former state social worker R. Thad Parker testified.

Board attorney Larry C. Deener asked Parker, who was aided by his nearly 30-year-old notes, to recall all of his interviews in an investigation of the Maner household in 1978 and 1979. Deener repeatedly asked Parker whether he was told of alleged sexual abuse.

A complaint against Carolyn Maner, Carol Lynne Maner's mother, was filed in December 1978 by Beaumont science teacher Jack Russell Hubbard, whom Maner is now accusing of sexual abuse.

Maner's attorneys say Hubbard and art teacher Roberta Blackwell, now known as Roberta Walter, conspired to retaliate against Carolyn Maner for allegedly telling superintendent Guy S. Potts that she suspected the teachers were having sex with her daughter.

Walter and Hubbard were arrested last week on rape and sodomy charges stemming from Maner's allegations.

Parker closed his investigation after Carolyn Maner, who was diagnosed as bipolar and having multiple personalities, was briefly hospitalized and the family went through months of family counseling.

Parker said he noticed that Carol Lynne Maner was withdrawing from the family, taking a separate vacation with Walter and becoming increasingly attached emotionally to her. He wrote in his notes that it led him to be concerned about the girl's sexual preferences.

"I'm not sure if this is an issue I should be concerned with, though," Parker wrote.

And from today's Herald-Leader:

Psychiatrist doubts Maner claim

A psychiatrist attempted to cast doubt yesterday on Carol Lynne Maner's claim that she was raped by a drama teacher in Lafayette High School's auditorium in the early 1980s.

When Maner filed her sex-abuse lawsuit against the Fayette County Board of Education in 2003, she said in an interview that she had "a friendship, an emotional relationship" with Robert Gardner, a former Lafayette teacher and retired Tates Creek High School principal.

But a year into the lawsuit, Maner filed an affidavit by former student Tom Wayman, who claimed that he witnessed Gardner rape Maner in the Beeler Auditorium. Wayman has since died.

Maner said that she had forgotten about the alleged incident and that Wayman's affidavit brought back vivid memories.

"Here's the problem with that for a psychiatrist," said Dr. Robert Granacher, an expert witness for the school board. "This isn't how the human memory works. The human memory is very explicit in that the more emotional an event is, the more likely you are to remember it."

Throughout the trial, Maner's attorneys have said she is not claiming that the alleged memories were repressed. Maner said in a recent interview she had not thought of the alleged incident as being a rape until Wayman described it that way.

Gardner has denied all accusations against him.

Granacher testified that Maner does not have post-traumatic stress disorder as she and a psychologist have claimed. He said the disorder occurs only in people who have experienced a life-threatening event.

Maner claims that the school district ignored allegations that Gardner, three teachers and two administrators at Lafayette and Beaumont Junior High School sexually abused her in the late 1970s and early 1980s.

Closing arguments are scheduled for this morning.