2014
- Maryland Department of Public Safety & Correctional Services (01/13/2014)
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Ex-Psychologist Arrested
From news services and staff reports
The Washington Post (DC) - August 22, 1985
A psychologist who used to work for the Fairfax County school system has been arrested and charged with aggravated sexual battery involving a school-aged boy, according to county police.
Arthur S. Pomerantz, 46, was arrested last week when police searched his home at 2300 Pimmitt Dr. in Falls Church, police said.
They said they seized sexually explicit magazines, photographs and videotapes, mostly depicting school-age boys.
Police spokesman Warren Carmichael said Pomerantz is now listed as unemployed, but that he once worked as a psychologist for Fairfax County schools.
School officials would not disclose the dates of Pomerantz's employment or what job he held.
Carmichael said police were seeking to identify other boys who may have been Pomerantz' victims, based on photographs and other evidence found in his two-bedroom condominium.
Carmichael said Pomerantz' arrest grew out of another child pornography investigation.
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Sex Abuse Suspicions Voiced in 1981
by Lee Hockstader, Washington Post Staff Writer
The Washington Post (DC) - August 25, 1985
Fairfax County officials retained a veteran school psychologist despite their knowledge of a 1981 police investigation into allegations that he was sexually involved with a young boy.
The psychologist, Arthur S. Pomerantz, was placed on administrative leave twice before he was forced to resign in July 1984. Last week, Fairfax County police charged him with aggravated sexual battery of a school-age boy in an incident unrelated to the 1981 allegation. His lawyer said Pomerantz will plead not guilty.
Prince William County police, who first investigated Pomerantz when he lived in Woodbridge, said yesterday that in 1981 they had shown Fairfax school officials photographs showing a man they had identified as Pomerantz in a sex act with a boy. Police said they had insufficent evidence at that time to bring charges against Pomerantz.
Fairfax School Superintendent Robert R. Spillane, who said that school officials knew about the police investigation in 1981, Friday ordered school lawyers to recommend ways to tighten screening of school employes.
Spillane, who has been superintendent of Fairfax schools since July 1, said Pomerantz was not fired in 1981 because no criminal charges were filed against him. The psychologist was placed on administrative leave shortly after investigators approached Fairfax school officials and Pomerantz remained on leave until the start of the 1981-82 school year, according to Prince William police and coworkers.
"You can't dismiss someone . . . just because there's an investigation," Spillane said. "He was never arrested or charged. Everyone's entitled to due process."
Pomerantz, 46, who worked as a psychologist in many of the public schools in his 19 years with the schools, could not be reached for comment at his Falls Church home. His attorney, Mark E. Sharp, said Friday his client "denies the charges vehemently. He believes there is no question that his name will be cleared." Sharp said that Pomerantz intends to plead not guilty to the battery charge in Fairfax Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court.
The Journal newspapers Friday disclosed that Fairfax officials knew of the Prince William investigation of Pomerantz in 1981. The police inquiry began when officers received four photographs that had been found in a parking lot and train station near New York City, according to investigator W.P. Metheny.
Two coworkers, who requested that their names not be used, said they had told their supervisors as early as 1974 that they had noticed Pomerantz frequently was in the company of young boys and had requested that he be investigated. They said they were told by their supervisors that the matter would be investigated.
Prince William County police said they had insufficient evidence to bring charges against Pomerantz and the investigation was turned over to Fairfax police after he moved to Falls Church in 1981.
Fairfax police said they renewed the investigation in late 1983 and again approached school officials and Pomerantz's coworkers with the same photographs. In the spring of 1984, Pomerantz was again placed on administrative leave, coworkers said.
R. Warren Eisenhower, personnel director for the county schools, Friday refused to comment on the case, saying that Pomerantz had resigned for "personal reasons."
Complaints about school employes are common, Eisenhower said, and "most of them [are] without grounds. I don't know what we can do other than having some agency do a full criminal check on every employe," he said. "We're a human organization."
The case has stirred discord between two of the county's largest institutions -- its police force and its public schools.
Although county public safety officials have not criticized the school system publicly for its handling of the Pomerantz case, privately they contend that school officials did not cooperate fully in their 1984 investigation of Pomerantz. School officials maintain that they did cooperate.
Police sources say that school personnel officials gave the impression that their main concern was to avoid being sued by the psychologist.
Pomerantz could not be reached for comment, but his attorney, Mark E. Sharp, said that Pomerantz planned to plead not guilty to the charge.
The investigation of how the Pomerantz case was handled is being administered by county and school officials. Spillane, who left a comparable post in Boston to take the Fairfax job just two months ago, said he intends to issue a statement when the investigation is concluded.
Among the questions posed by the case:
*If there was enough suspicion of Pomerantz's activities for school officials to put him on paid leave for several months in 1981, as police and coworkers have reported, why was he allowed back into the system the following September?
*When he returned to work after the leave, why was he placed in an intermediate school rather than reassigned to a job that involved less contact with children?
*Were any agreements between school officials and Pomerantz reached when he resigned in 1984? If Pomerantz had applied for another job working with children, would Fairfax officials have given him a good reference?
Fairfax County school officials will not comment on the substance of the case while it is being investigated, but some have said that they take accusations against employes seriously.
Ordinarily, Fairfax school officials conduct their own investigation of charges, bringing in police if a crime is alleged and social services workers if abuse is alleged. Employes are put on leave with pay if the charge involves child abuse, Eisenhower said.
School officials contend that standards of proof are lower for a school investigation than for a police probe. If the school investigation turns up wrongdoing, officials ask the School Board to dismiss the employe, Eisenhower said. "If there's any suggestion they've been involved in something, we'll go for the dismissal," he said.
But police sources have said there was such evidence in the Pomerantz case. Prince William County investigators say that in 1981 they gave Fairfax school officials sexually explicit photos of a man they said was Pomerantz posing with a young boy.
In fact, said Prince William County police investigator W.P. Metheny, criminal charges were not filed only because police could not determine when the photographs were taken -- a requirement in criminal cases.
School officials say suspicions of criminal behavior are rare. No more than a half-dozen investigations of school employes for potential criminal charges have been conducted in the past five years, according to James Shinn, director of employment services for the Fairfax schools. Some of those employes have been fired without criminal charges being brought, he said.
Among the grounds for firing Fairfax employes are their bringing disrepute upon the schools, unprofessional conduct and drinking on the job.
Civil libertarians say the school system should not be allowed to fire an employe based only on an internal investigation of a criminal complaint. They cite employes' rights to a presumption of innocence and due process of law.
"Standards [in a school probe] are less protective of civil liberties than a full trial," said Barry W. Lynn, legislative counsel for the American Civil Liberties Union.
"It's always possible that when one's constitutional rights are fully protected, it's not as easy to prosecute people," Lynn said. "But we do presume people's rights of privacy and protection against unreasonable search and seizure will be upheld."
Pomerantz was hired by the county in 1965 after a fingerprint check turned up no history of a criminal record.
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Former School Official Subject of 1981 Probe
The Associated Press
Richmond Times-Dispatch - August 26, 1985
A former Fairfax County school psychologist charged with aggravated sexual battery of a boy was investigated on similar allegations four years ago but was not fired, school officials say.
"You can't dismiss someone . . . just because there's an investigation," Superintendent Robert R. Spillane said Friday. "He was never arrested or charged. Everyone's entitled to due process."
The psychologist, Arthur S. Pomerantz, was charged last week with aggravated sexual battery. Fairfax police said the charge was not related to the Prince William County investigation of Pomerantz in 1981.
Pomerantz' attorney, Mark E. Sharp, said his client would plead innocent in the Fairfax case and "denies the charges vehemently. He believes there is no question that his name will be cleared."
Pomerantz, 46, resigned his school position in July 1984. R. Warren Eisenhower, personnel director for county schools, refused to comment on the resignation, saying Pomerantz quit for personal reasons.
Spillane acknowledged that school officials knew about the 1981 Prince William investigation of Pomerantz, who then lived in Woodbridge but is now a Falls Church resident.
Prince William police said they had insufficient evidence to bring charges against Pomerantz in 1981, and the investigation was turned over to Fairfax police after he moved to Falls Church later that year.
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School Chief Shifts Opinion
by D'Vera Cohn and Lee Hockstader, Washington Post Staff Writers
The Washington Post (DC) - August 27, 1985
Fairfax County School Superintendent Robert R. Spillane yesterday backed off his statement of last week that school officials correctly handled the case of a veteran school psychologist who was allowed to continue in his position in 1981 while he was being investigated on allegations of child sex abuse.
"I shouldn't have come to that conclusion," Spillane said, referring to his statement that school officials did not have enough evidence to dismiss the man. Spillane announced yesterday that county officials will conduct an investigation into the handling of the case.
School officials have said they knew in 1981 that police were investigating allegations that psychologist Arthur S. Pomerantz, 46, was sexually involved with a young boy. His coworkers said they first voiced suspicions about him to superiors in 1974. Pomerantz was twice placed on administrative leave, but returned to a job counseling troubled youths in 1981-82. He was forced to resign in July 1984.
No formal charges were brought against Pomerantz until Aug. 16, when Fairfax County police charged him with aggravated sexual battery of a school-age boy in an incident unrelated to the 1981 allegation. His lawyer, Mark E. Sharp, said he will plead not guilty.
Yesterday, John F. Herrity, chairman of the county Board of Supervisors, said the psychologist could have been fired, and the president of one of the county's two teacher associations said he should have been removed from direct contact with children.
Spillane said his earlier expressions of strong support for the school system's actions were based on incomplete information. He said he wants to review the evidence school officials had before deciding whether they should have taken stronger action.
"If in fact we had something . . . then I can make some decisions," said Spillane, who became Fairfax County superintendent July 1.
Spillane said over the weekend that the schools could not have dismissed Pomerantz without a formal charge by police.
Herrity disagreed yesterday. "You don't have to be convicted before you're bagged as an employe," he said. "I don't believe what the school system is doing now is adequate or makes sense.
Spillane and County Executive J. Hamilton Lambert said they are launching a joint investigation of the Pomerantz case, which Lambert said probably will involve the police.
"We're going to look at all aspects of it," Lambert said. He would not say how long the investigation might take.
The investigation's scope is expected to include whether the schools could have taken stronger action against Pomerantz, whether personnel policies should be changed, and how new employes can be screened.
R. Warren Eisenhower, assistant school superintendent for personnel, said the county ran FBI fingerprint and criminal records checks in 1965, when Pomerantz was hired, but "that wouldn't have helped us in this case" since the man had no criminal record. The FBI has since discontinued the service, he said, and Virginia law permits checks only of state police records.
Rick Nelson, president of the Fairfax County Federation of Teachers, criticized the school system for putting Pomerantz back in contact with students. Nelson said he knows of cases in which teachers were fired for lesser offenses than Pomerantz is alleged to have committed. "The fact is, they had the power to [fire him]," he said.
Kevin P. Dwyer, a Montgomery County school psychologist who leads the state's delegation to the National Association of School Psychologists, said Fairfax officials could have asked his group to investigate Pomerantz for violating its ethics code. If wrongdoing had been found, school officials would have been notified, he said.
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Sex Abuse Case Puts Spotlight On Fairfax School Policies
by D'Vera Cohn and Lee Hockstader, Washington Post Staff Writers
The Washington Post (DC) - September 1, 1985
The case of a former Fairfax County school psychologist who was charged two weeks ago with the sexual battery of a school-age boy has turned a spotlight on the sometimes conflicting issues of the rights of employes and the need to protect students. It also calls into question the options available to school officials who must deal with an employe who is suspected of criminal activity but has not been charged.
Fairfax County school policy, according to personnel chief R. Warren Eisenhower, is that any employe found by a school investigation to have abused children sexually will be dismissed. And the evidence needed is less than what a jury needs to convict in a criminal case, he added.
Yet, as early as 1981, Fairfax and Prince William County police say, they presented photos to school officials showing a man they identified as the psychologist in explicit sexual poses with a young boy.
The psychologist, Arthur S. Pomerantz, was not dismissed at the time; rather, he was placed on adminstrative leave twice and forced to resign in 1984.
Eisenhower has declined to talk about that case, but school officials announced last week that in the face of growing controversy over their handling of Pomerantz, they are conducting an investigation into why the psychologist was not fired earlier.
"I'm reviewing the process of how the school system handles these types of things so in the future everyone is assured they are handled in a proper way," school Superintendent Robert R. Spillane said. "I'm not saying it wasn't. It certainly looks bad publicly. We're on the defensive."
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Montgomery Police Arrest Psychologist
by D'Vera Cohn, Washington Post Staff Writer; Staff writer Lee Hockstader contributed to this report
The Washington Post (DC) - September 4, 1985
Former Fairfax County school psychologist Arthur S. Pomerantz was arrested by Montgomery County police yesterday on a fugitive charge after he failed to surrender to Fairfax police on a second charge of child sexual abuse.
The 46-year-old Pomerantz has become the center of a controversy in Fairfax since he was arrested Aug. 16 on a charge of sexual battery involving a school-aged boy. County school officials have said they are troubled over why he was allowed to return to the county schools after being suspended in 1981 when police from Prince William County raised questions about whether he was involved in a sex act with a minor there.
Pomerantz has said he is innocent of that charge and yesterday he failed to surrender to Fairfax police on the second warrant, which Montgomery police spokesman Sgt. Harry E. Geehreng said charges him with committing sodomy with a juvenile under 13. Pomerantz was arrested without resistance at 3:20 p.m. at his brother's home in Potomac, Geehreng said.
Pomerantz's Falls Church roommate, Edward C. Buss, 42, also was arrested yesterday on a Fairfax charge of committing sodomy with another juvenile under 13, Fairfax police said. That charge stemmed from an alleged incident on May 7, 1983.
Buss, who was held on $25,000 bond at the Fairfax County jail, was arrested at the Arlington firm where he worked as a computer technician.
Fairfax County police said the new charge against Pomerantz stemmed from an incident on April 30, 1983, when he worked for the county schools. The youth involved in that charge, now 15, called police after reading newspaper accounts of Pomerantz's arrest, according to Police Lt. David R. Franklin, who heads the department's child services section.
After a hearing before a Montgomery District Court commissioner, Pomerantz was held without bond in the Montgomery County Detention Center pending an extradition hearing today. A woman who identified herself as Phyllis Pomerantz said the family has no comment on the arrest.
Pomerantz was arrested Aug. 16 on a sexual battery charge stemming from an alleged incident on July 15. Police said three youths are involved in the three separate charges pending against Pomerantz and Buss.
Pomerantz was a psychologist with the Fairfax schools from 1965 until last year, when he was forced to resign after twice being placed on administrative leave after allegations that he had committed sexual acts with young boys.
Police said the two boys involved in yesterday's arrests were Fairfax students who met Pomerantz because they also lived in the Falls Church area. Although Pomerantz did not know the youths through school, "he did use the fact of his position and what he did to gain the confidence of the victims," police spokesman Warren Carmichael said.
Fairfax School Superintendent Robert R. Spillane has said he has ordered his staff to conduct an investigation into why Pomerantz was allowed to remain a school employe and how to assure that an employe accused of misconduct can be disciplined in the absence of criminal charges.
Police sources have said they were mystified about how Pomerantz remained a school employe after the investigators provided photographs they said showed Pomerantz engaged in a sex act with a youth. Prince William police said they did not press charges against Pomerantz in 1981 because they could not state when the alleged act occurred.
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Psychologist Faces Second Sex Charge
Richmond Times-Dispatch - September 4, 1985
The Associated Press
Former Fairfax County school psychologist Arthur S. Pomerantz has been arrested on a second charge of child sexual abuse, police in Montgomery County, Md., reported.
Pomerantz, 46, was arrested on a fugitive charge at the Potomac, Md., home of his brother yesterday after he failed to surrender to Fairfax police.
After a hearing before a Montgomery District Court commissioner, Pomerantz was held without bond in the Montgomery County Detention Center pending an extradition hearing today.
Pomerantz was arrested Aug. 16 on a charge of sexual battery involving a school-age boy.
He has said he is innocent of the charge. He failed to surrender to Fairfax police yesterday on the second warrant, which Mongomery police spokesman Sgt. Harry E. Geehreng said charges him with committing sodomy with a juvenile under 13.
Pomerantz' Falls Church roommate, Edward C. Buss, 42, was also arrested yesterday on a Fairfax charge of committing sodomy with another juvenile under 13, Fairfax police said.
Buss was arrested at the Arlington County firm where he works as a computer technician and is being held on $25,000 bond, police said.
Police said the new charge against Pomerantz stemmed from an incident on April 30, 1983, when he worked for the county schools. The youth allegedly involved in the charge, now 15, called police after reading newspaper accounts of Pomerantz' earlier arrest, said Fairfax Police Lt. David R. Franklin.
The Aug. 16 charge stemmed from an alleged incident last July 15.
Pomerantz was a psychologist with the Fairfax schools from 1965 until last year, when he was forced to resign after twice being placed on administrative leave after allegations that he had committed sexual acts with young boys.
Fairfax School Superintendent Robert R. Spillane said he has ordered his staff to conduct an investigation into why Pomerantz was allowed to remain at the school until last year despite the reports.
Fairfax police have said that investigators in 1981 showed school officials photographs that showed Pomerantz engaged in a sex act with a youth.
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School Psychologsit Extradited
United Press International
Richmond Times-Dispatch - September 5, 1985
A former school psychologist charged for a second time with sexually abusing young boys in his neighborhood was returned yesterday to Virginia from Maryland.
Arthur Pomerantz, 46, was arrested Tuesday at a Montgomery County home of some relatives on a fugitive warrant, and he wavied extradition proceedings.
He and his Falls Church roommate, Edward Buss, 42, were charged with one count each of committing oral sodomy on two boys under the age of 13 at their apartment in 1983.
Buss was in the Fairfax County jail in lieu of $25,000 bond.
Pomerantz was employed by Fairfax County as a school psychologist at the time of the alleged offenses, a factor that helped win the boys' trust, police said.
He said the boys lived in the same neighborhood as Pomerantz.
Pomerantz also was charged Aug. 16 with aggravated sexual battery of a young boy in July.
Fairfax County school officials began an investigation last week into why Pomerantz was allowed to keep his counseling job after Prince William County police disclosed allegations in 1981 that he had engaged in sex acts with juveniles.
Prince William County police ended their investigation of Pomerantz without bringing charges against him.
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School Aide on Leave In Pornography Probe
by Anndee Hochman and D'Vera Cohn, Washington Post Staff Writers
The Washington Post (DC) -September 6, 1985
An aide at Wakefield High School in Arlington has been placed on leave without pay after a search of his apartment in which investigators seized allegedly pornographic materials depicting children, according to Fairfax County police and Arlington school officials.
Henry Gardner, assistant Arlington school superintendent for personnel, said last night that the man had worked for several years as a resource assistant, a position that includes such duties as helping teachers and monitoring the halls and cafeteria.
Fairfax County police spokesman Warren Carmichael said Fairfax police and federal investigators searched the man's apartment several weeks ago on a warrant.
Investigators said no charges have been placed against the aide. Carmichael said Fairfax and Arlington police have been working together to try to identify children in the seized photographs.
Arlington School Board Chairman Gail H. Nuckols said it is standard procedure to place an employe on leave without pay when the person is the subject of a police investigation or has been charged.
In Fairfax County yesterday, Arthur S. Pomerantz, a former psychologist in that county's schools, was released on $10,000 bond after being arraigned on a second charge of child sexual abuse.
Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court Judge Charles C. Dunn reduced Pomerantz's bond from $25,000 and set a preliminary hearing for Oct. 23 on a sodomy charge stemming from an alleged incident with a 13-year-old boy in 1983.
Pomerantz was charged last month with aggravated sexual battery against a minor in another alleged incident July 15.
Pomerantz, a school psychologist in Fairfax since 1965, was forced to resign in 1984 after twice going on leave during school investigations of complaints about him. Officials are investigating the schools' handling of those complaints.
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Psychologist's Arrest Prompts Fairfax Shift
United Press International
Richmond Times-Dispatch - September 10, 1985
A week after a former Fairfax County school psychologist was charged with sexually abusing two boys, the superintendent of county schools yesterday announced new personnel procedures.
Dr. Robert Spillane said the policies are aimed at identifying employee problems with children more quickly and efficiently.
Last Tuesday, Arthur Pomerantz, 46, was charged with one count each of committing oral sodomy on two boys under the age of 13 at his apartment in 1983.
Pomerantz was a Fairfax school psychologist at the time of the alleged offenses, a factor that helped win the boys' trust, police said.
Under the new plan, Dr. Spillane said the school system and the county police will establish a single contact with which to share information. He also said the school system will prosecute any employee who risks the welfare of any child.
The county will have extensive background checks on potential employees, although Dr. Spillane said a check on Pomerantz would have shown nothing because he did not have an arrest record.
The superintendent added that school employees would be encouraged to look for potential problems with fellow employees.
He also said requests for references would be answered fully, so any employee fired by the county would not be able to get another job involving children.
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Probe in Sex Abuse Case Hit
by D'Vera Cohn, Washington Post Staff Writer
The Washington Post (DC) - September 10, 1985
Fairfax County education officials should have been more aggressive in investigating 1981 allegations of child sexual abuse against a school psychologist who later resigned and was arrested on similar charges, Superintendent Robert R. Spillane said yesterday.
Spillane also disclosed that the psychologist, Arthur S. Pomerantz, left the system last year under an agreement with his lawyers that deleted mention of the police investigation from his personnel file. Spillane said he will bar such agreements in the future and insist that any referral given Pomerantz mention his two arrests by Fairfax police.
Spillane said his office will handle future investigations of school employes suspected of criminal conduct. The personnel office previously had responsibility for such investigations. He said if he finds there is any evidence supporting the allegations, the suspected employes will be put on leave or removed from contact with children during the investigation.
As another safeguard, Spillane said, he hopes to have criminal record checks conducted on the Fairfax schools' 13,000 employes and on all job applicants.
Spillane and county officials have been investigating school officials' actions in the Pomerantz case after criticism that surfaced following Pomerantz' arrest on two child sexual battery charges this summer by Fairfax police. Pomerantz intends to plead not guilty to the charges, according to his lawyer, Mark E. Sharp.
Spillane, who took over the superintendency of the Washington area's largest school system July 1, told a news conference yesterday that he was not happy with the way officials had handled allegations against Pomerantz. "We need to handle those situations differently," he said. "We have to be more aggressive."
Coworkers have said they began telling superiors of their suspicions about Pomerantz as early as 1974. In 1981 police in Prince William County, where Pomerantz then lived, told Fairfax school officials they were investigating him on child sexual abuse charges based on an incriminating photograph. Police said they showed the photograph to Fairfax officials and that, while Pomerantz clearly was shown, they were unable to determine when the photograph was taken and thus unable to bring changes.
Pomerantz then went on sick leave while Fairfax officials looked into the matter, but he returned to his job after the investigation failed to turn up enough evidence to fire him, Spillane said.
Spillane said Prince William County police showed the photograph only to R. Warren Eisenhower, assistant superintendent for personnel, who did not know Pomerantz and could not identify him.
That statement was disputed by Prince William investigator W.P. Metheny, who said two other school employes who knew Pomerantz viewed the photograph and identified him as its subject. Spillane said Prince William police would not let Eisenhower have the photograph. They allowed him to photocopy it, but the reproduction was poor, Spillane said.
It was not until March 26, 1984 that other school employes were shown the photograph by Fairfax police and identified Pomerantz, Spillane said. Pomerantz was put on leave the next day, and resigned four months later.
Spillane said Fairfax school officials should have insisted on a copy of the photograph in 1981, and should have pursued their own investigation rather than waiting for the police to act. He conceded coordination between the police and the schools in 1981 "left something to be desired."
From now on, Spillane said, school employes will be urged to report evidence of child abuse to their superiors or to him. "We're not going out on witchhunts," he said. "We're not going to abrogate people's rights. But we have to assuage people's fears."
He said requests for job references on employes who quit under suspicion of child abuse "will be answered fully to ensure that such persons cannot go to another area or another system and work with children."
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Fairfax Said Remiss On '81 Teacher Probe
The Associated Press
Richmond Times-Dispatch - September 10, 1985
Fairfax County education officials should have been more persistent in investigating 1981 allegations of sexual abuse against a school psychologist who later resigned and was arrested on similar charges, Superintendent Robert R. Spillane says.
Spillane told a news conference yesterday that he's not happy with the way officials handled the probe of Arthur S. Pomerantz.
"We need to handle those situations differently," Spillane said. "We have to be more aggressive."
In 1981, police in Prince William County, where Pomerantz lived, told Fairfax school officials they were investigating the psychologist on child sexual abuse charges.
Pomerantz then went on sick leave while Fairfax officials looked into the matter, but he returned to his job after the investigation failed to turn up enough evidence to fire him, Spillane said.
Spillane said coordination between the police and the schools in 1981 "left something to be desired."
Pomerantz resigned his position in mid-1984. He was arrested this summer on two child sexual battery charges. He intends to plead innocent to the charges, said his lawyer, Mark E. Sharp.
Spillane said his office will handle future investigations of school employees suspected of criminal conduct. The personnel office previously had responsibility for such investigations.
Spillane also said he hopes to have criminal record checks conducted on the Fairfax schools' 13,000 employees and on all job applicants.
"We're not going out on witch hunts," he said. "We're not going to abrogate people's rights. But we have to assuage people's fears."
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Schools Face Obstacles in Background-Check Plan
by Lee Hockstader, Washington Post Staff Writer
The Washington Post (DC) -September 11, 1985
Fairfax County school officials who want to implement criminal records checks on thousands of job seekers and current employes may face legal, logistical and financial impediments to their plan, school and law enforcement officials said yesterday.
School Superintendent Robert R. Spillane said in a news conference Monday that he wanted to perform the criminal records checks on the system's applicants and 13,000 full-time employes.
Spillane's announcement came after a former county school psychologist was charged with two counts of sexual battery involving young boys. The psychologist, Arthur S. Pomerantz, 46, resigned from his job in 1984, three years after police began to investigate his alleged activities with the youngsters.
Pomerantz's attorney, Mark E. Sharp, has said his client denies the charges and intends to plead not guilty in proceedings in Fairfax County Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court.
Spillane could not be reached yesterday for further comment on his proposed measures.
But school personnel director R. Warren Eisenhower acknowledged that school officials do not know who would conduct the records checks, what the cost of such checks would be and what information they could legally retrieve.
"These are all questions we're trying to find the answers to," said Eisenhower.
Monday's announcement on the records checks seemed aimed at allaying the fears of parents and school officials that some school employes might have criminal records that school officials are not aware of.
But school officials conceded yesterday that even if checks of criminal records had been in place, Pomerantz, who had no criminal history, would not have been screened from the school system's payroll.
Moreover, law enforcement officials said yesterday, the school system probably would have access only to records of criminal convictions -- and perhaps only those within Virginia. Police records of investigations or arrests without convictions, as well as criminal records from other states, are not readily available, the officials said.
"I would not categorize it as an easy thing to do," said David Hathcock, a spokesman for the state attorney general's office, referring to Spillane's wish to conduct thorough criminal records checks on school employes.
School personnel director Eisenhower said that because many employes are not Virginia natives, Fairfax would have to perform the records checks on a nationwide basis.
Eisenhower said he had not computed the cost to the school system of such a national check, and that school officials had not done a cost-benefit analysis on the plan. He did say, however, that spot checks state police perform for the county school system cost $5 each.
Under any program the school system might adopt, applicants as well as current employes would have to give their consent for the checks to be performed, officials said.
Until about 10 years ago, the county schools took fingerprints of all job applicants and submitted the prints to the FBI for a criminal record check. The FBI ended the service in the mid-1970s, according to Eisenhower.
Eisenhower said he does not know how many applicants the state police check at the request of the school system.
Civil liberties groups have raised objections to any kind of background checks that go beyond information concerning criminal convictions.
Barry W. Linn, legal counsel for the American Civil Liberties Union, said his organization would oppose any checks that included information on arrests and investigations.
"For that undistilled information to be passed on to everyone that might be considering hiring such a person is a very serious abridgment of due process of law," said Linn.
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D.C. School Files Fail To List Convicted Child Molester
by Margaret Engel, Washington Post Staff Writer
The Washington Post (DC) - September 15, 1985
The D.C. school system has no record in its personnel files that a former social worker at the Bundy school for emotionally disturbed children was convicted in June after having sex with students and paying them $10 to $20 to pose for nude photographs.
"I wish we would have known about the conviction," school system counsel George Margolies said of social worker Robert M. Rhymes, 47, who worked at Bundy from 1978 to 1981 and is now on a three-year probation following his guilty plea to two felony counts of indecent liberties with a minor.
"There should be no chance that he could get rehired," Margolies said. "There should be a red flag for the future."
Across the country, school systems, day care centers and other child care agencies are grappling with the problem of how to avoid hiring child abusers and molesters as well as discovering whether their current employes have such problems.
In Fairfax County, school officials may begin background checks on all 13,000 current school employes as well as job applicants in the wake of a case involving psychologist Arthur S. Pomerantz, 46, who was charged last month with aggravated sexual battery of a school-age boy. Coworkers said they first voiced suspicions to superiors about Pomerantz 10 years ago. He was put on administrative leave twice but returned to the school system in 1981 to counsel troubled youths before being forced to resign last year.
The District does not routinely run background checks on school employes other than security aides, according to school spokeswoman Janice Cromer.
According to court records in the Rhymes case, detectives from the D.C. sex squad showed photographs of nude youths found in Rhymes' apartment to Marline Arline, then principal of Bundy school, in 1983.
Arline said she did not follow the case after the detectives left because Rhymes was no longer working there. He had resigned in October 1981, according to school records, because federal cutbacks had eliminated his job.
"I was very shocked," Arline said of the photographs, which she said included "about four or five" boys, all but one Bundy students. "I wasn't contacted as a witness . . . . No one got back to me."
Arline did ask Margolies if she should cooperate with the detectives, but Margolies said he was not given details of the case. "I don't recall that Marline told me that it involved a teacher," he said. "If I had been told there was a teacher involved, I would have told someone else."
Police officials said they do not have the time to notify interested parties about the outcome of cases.
The lack of follow-up meant that the school system's personnel, security and legal files have no record of Rhymes' arrest or conviction. School spokeswoman Cromer said this could present problems if he sought another job with the District or listed the District as a reference for other jobs.
At the time of his arrest, Rhymes said he was unemployed. After he left the Bundy school, he worked as a consultant for six months at a Washington firm that serves mentally retarded adults, according to court records.
In addition to one-to-three-year jail sentences on each count, which were suspended, Rhymes was sentenced to perform 250 hours of community service in the past year. Jim Lynch, deputy executive officer of the D.C. courts, said all probation records are closed, and the courts would not reveal the type of work he performed and whether the conditions of probation -- which prohibit him from professional contact with males under 18 -- are being met.
Rhymes could not be reached for comment. Retna Pullings, his court-appointed attorney, said she would have no comment. According to court documents, the D.C. police have no record of any prior arrest of Rhymes. A presentence report noted that he was in a treatment program.
As a result of concerns about the school system's record-keeping, Superintendent Floretta McKenzie asked last week that a committee be formed to study ways to improve personnel record keeping, as well as to research the need for a bill pending before the City Council that would require background checks for teachers, other school staff and employes of day care centers, foster care homes, recreation programs, camps and detention centers.
"We are putting together representatives from the personnel, legal counsel and security office to look into this," Cromer said.
The proposed bill, the Child Abuse and Protection Act of 1985, introduced by City Council member John Wilson, is pending before the Committee on the Judiciary.
Harold Fisher Jr., president of the 5,000-member Washington Teachers Union, said his union plans to examine the bill "closely in terms of the privacy of the individual."
A 1977 District law and a 1980 directive to all school employes require those who know about child abuse to report it. School employes must notify their principal or face a $100 fine or 30 days in jail.
A statement released by the D.C. chapter of the National Association of Social Workers, which dropped Rhymes from membership recently after a hearing, noted that "other" people had asked Rhymes to discontinue his sexual activities before his arrest, but they were unsuccessful. The charges brought by the U.S. attorney cover Rhymes' activities with minors in 1979, 1980 and 1981.
Arline said no one reported these requests to her.
The committee, whose members have not yet been chosen, will advise the superintendent on how to track possible convictions of D.C. school personnel, as well as determine the need for more comprehensive background checks before people are hired, Cromer said.
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Fairfax Schools Investigate Hiring of Former Redskin
by D'vera Cohn; Special correspondent James Ledet contributed to this report.
The Washington Post (DC) - September 19, 1985
Fairfax County school officials said yesterday they were investigating how former Redskin Clarence Harmon, who pleaded guilty to drug charges in Texas in 1983, was hired as a coach and aide at Langley High School this fall.
Harmon told school officials on his job application he had never been convicted of a crime, Warren Eisenhower, assistant superintendent for personnel, said yesterday.
The schools do not prohibit someone with a drug record from being hired, but "we probably would not hire him" if officials had known about the guilty plea, given how recent it was, Eisenhower said.
Harmon said yesterday the drug plea did not make him unfit to work with children. "It happened two years ago and it's over," he said. "Why refresh people's memories on something bad that happened in my life that I regret?"
Harmon, 29, a veteran running back, pleaded guilty in a well-publicized 1983 case to possession of a controlled substance in a Texarkana, Tex., district court. He was fined $5,000 and put on probation for two to 10 years. As of now, he can petition the court to be released from probation.
Under Texas law, he is not considered to have a criminal record, and prosecutor Louis Raffaelli said he could answer "no" when asked whether Harmon had ever been convicted of a crime.
Harmon, released by the Redskins two weeks before his guilty plea, played for the New Jersey Generals of the USFL for two seasons.
Langley Principal James E. Manning said he had not known about the guilty plea, but Harmon is doing a "marvelous job" and "I still think he's a good prospect."
Harmon was recommended to the Langley football coaches by Dan Henning, a former Redskins coach who now is head coach of the Atlanta Falcons. Among Harmon's references was Redskins Coach Joe Gibbs, Manning said.
Manning said if he had known about Harmon's drug plea, he would have mentioned it to personnel officials, or not referred him at all.
But Manning also said, "If he made a mistake once . . . will it follow him to his grave, or what?" Harmon's job includes being an assistant football coach and supervising bus arrivals and departures, Manning said. He said the job pays about $9,000.
The issue of background checks of new employes has become a major issue facing the Fairfax School Board after the arrest of former school psychologist Arthur S. Pomerantz on child sex abuse charges. Superintendent Robert R. Spillane has said he wants to institute criminal record checks of all new employes and current ones too, if possible.
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Psychologist Faces 6 More Abuse Counts
by D'Vera Cohn, Washington Post Staff Writer
The Washington Post (DC) - September 19, 1985
Fairfax County police charged former Fairfax County school psychologist Arthur S. Pomerantz yesterday with six additional counts of child sexual abuse, including one allegedly involving a youth he had counseled.
Pomerantz's roommate, Edward Buss, 42, was charged with five counts of child sexual abuse stemming from incidents involving the same children, police said.
The new charges against Pomerantz, 46, and Buss result from alleged crimes that took place from 1982 to 1985 involving three Fairfax County youths aged 13 and 14 at the time, Officer Connie J. Curran said. One youth was a student Pomerantz counseled while he was a school psychologist, she said. Pomerantz resigned in 1984.
Pomerantz's first arrest Aug. 16 -- four years after Prince William police investigated him on similar charges -- prompted a broad investigation by school and county officials of school personnel procedures. Superintendent Robert R. Spillane announced new policies Sept. 9 to encourage more aggressive investigations of child sexual abuse allegations and said he hoped to have annual criminal record checks of all school employes.
Pomerantz, already free on $20,000 bond on earlier charges, was freed on $6,000 bond yesterday. Buss was freed on personal recognizance. Both are to be arraigned today.
The new charges against Pomerantz include one of indecent liberties, three of sodomy, one of aggravated sexual battery and one of sexual abuse. Buss was charged with two counts of sodomy, two of sexual abuse and one of indecent liberties. Pomerantz turned himself into police; Buss was arrested at their Falls Church home.
Pomerantz was arrested Aug. 16 on a charge of sexual battery involving a school-aged boy, and arrested again this month on a sodomy charge allegedly involving another youth. Buss also was arrested this month on a similar charge.
The new charges stem from a continuing police investigation that includes identifying youths in photographs found in Pomerantz's home, Curran said. Prince William County police told Fairfax County school officials in 1981 they were investigating Pomerantz on suspicion of child sexual abuse. They eventually did not charge him because, they said, they could not put a precise date on a photograph of Pomerantz allegedly committing an illegal sex act.
But Spillane told a news conference this month that even though police did not charge Pomerantz, school officials should have been more aggressive in their own investigation and not waited for police to act.
Spillane said Pomerantz resigned last year under an agreement with his lawyers not to mention the police investigation in his personnel file, but the superintendent said that file would be amended to include his arrest record.
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Ex-Redskin Quits Job
by D'Vera Cohn, Washington Post Staff Writer
The Washington Post (DC) - September 20, 1985
Former Redskin Clarence Harmon resigned yesterday as a coach and aide at Fairfax County's Langley High School after school officials discovered he had pleaded guilty to a drug charge in Texas two years ago.
Harmon, who was hired this fall, told R. Warren Eisenhower, assistant superintendent for personnel, that "he did not want to go back through that unfortunate incident, and rather than do that, he resigned," said Dolores Bohen, county school spokeswoman.
Bohen said Harmon's resignation would end the school system's plans to investigate the veteran running back's involvement in the well-publicized drug case.
"You're not going to investigate him now that he's resigned," Bohen said.
Harmon could not be reached for comment yesterday.
Bohen said she did not think school officials planned to look into hiring procedures to determine why they did not know about Harmon's guilty plea to a charge of possession of a controlled substance, for which he was fined $5,000 and given two to 10 years probation.
Under Texas law, Harmon, 29, does not have a criminal record.
"Right now we're very conscious of this business of background checks, but how would we have known about Harmon ?" Bohen said.
Fairfax County officials now have access only to Virginia criminal records.
The issue of background checks on employes is now a top priority with school officials, prompted by the recent arrest of a former school psychologist, Arthur S. Pomerantz, on child sexual abuse charges.
Both Eisenhower and Langley High School Principal James E. Manning said they did not know about Harmon's guilty plea before they hired him, despite extensive press coverage at the time. Harmon was paid about $9,000 a year.
But several Langley students and parents said Harmon's past was common knowledge around the McLean school. "We all knew of his background . . . and we pretty much assumed the administration did, too," senior David Abner, 16, said yesterday.
Beth Scott, 16, a junior and football team manager, said the football team was organizing a telephone campaign to get Harmon rehired.
A letter asking Harmon not to resign was signed by 85 members of the football team and coaching staff and mailed yesterday to him, to school officials and to School Board members.
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Fairfax Psychologist Is Charged In More Child Abuse Cases
Associated Press
Richmond Times-Dispatch - September 20, 1985
A former Fairfax County school psychologist has been charged with six more counts of child sexual abuse, including one allegedly involving a youth he had counseled.
Arthur S. Pomerantz, 46, was charged Wednesday with alleged crimes that took place from 1982 to 1985 involving three Fairfax County youths who were 13 and 14 at the time.
Pomerantz's roommate, Edward Buss, 42, was charged with five counts of child sexual abuse stemming from incidents involving the same children.
Buss was freed on personal recognizance. Pomerantz, already free on $20,000 bond on earlier charges, was freed on $6,000 bond after his arrest yesterday.
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Psychologist Faces More Hearings
From news services and staff reports
The Washington Post (DC) - September 22, 1985
Former Fairfax County school psychologist Arthur S. Pomerantz has been ordered to appear at preliminary hearings Nov. 6, 13 and 25 on additional charges of child sexual abuse.
Pomerantz, 46, of Falls Church, is free on $6,000 bond. He faces two other juvenile court hearings next month on earlier arrests on similar charges. Pomerantz started work for the county schools in 1965 and resigned last year.
Pomerantz's roommate, Edward C. Buss, 42, was ordered to appear for a preliminary hearing Oct. 28 on three child sexual abuse charges lodged against him. Buss faces an Oct. 7 hearing on an earlier charge.
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Harmon Asks for Job Back As Va. High School Coach
by Patricia Davis, Washington Post Staff Writer
The Washington Post (DC) - September 25, 1985
Former Redskin Clarence Harmon, a coach and aide at Fairfax County's Langley High School who resigned when school officials learned that he had pleaded guilty to a drug charge two years ago, asked yesterday to have his job back.
He made the request after receiving a flood of encouragement from supporters.
"The kids, the parents, the teachers, the administrators are all in favor of his returning, hopefully tomorrow morning," said Reed Saunders, president of the Langley High School Boosters Club. "I can't see any reason why he shouldn't."
Harmon, 29, sent a letter to R. Warren Eisenhower, assistant superintendent for personnel, asking that his resignation of Sept. 19 be withdrawn, according to a spokeswoman for the county schools.
But, the spokewoman added, a decision on reinstating Harmon will not be made until Eisenhower completes an investigation.
Harmon, a former running back for the Redskins, pleaded guilty to possession of a controlled substance in a widely publicized case in a Texas courtroom two years ago.
He was fined $5,000 and placed on probation for two to 10 years. Under Texas law, he is not considered to have a criminal record.
Harmon, who had been hired this fall, submitted his resignation after officials at Langley High School learned of the drug charge and planned to investigate his involvement.
School officials said Harmon told them that he did not want "to go back through that unfortunate incident."
But Saunders, members of the school's football team and other students, along with a number of parents, joined in asking Harmon not to leave.
Principal James E. Manning has said that everyone connected with the school was saddened by Harmon's resignation.
Kim Willoughby, the student representative to the School Board, yesterday called Harmon a "victim of circumstance."
She said that school officials' learning of Harmon's guilty plea came on the heels of a separate incident in which a former school psychologist, Arthur S. Pomerantz, had been arrested on child-abuse charges.
School officials promised tougher background checks of new employes after Pomerantz's arrest.
Willoughby said that Harmon "deserves a second chance."
She said the students believe that Harmon, who was well liked, was a good role model because he was an example of rehabilitation.
Harmon could not be reached for comment yesterday.
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8 School Employes Face Ouster
by D'Vera Cohn, Washington Post Staff Writer
The Washington Post (DC) - October 8, 1985
Eight Fairfax County school employes will be fired or allowed to resign as a result of investigations prompted by the arrest of a former school psychologist on child sex abuse charges, School Superintendent Robert R. Spillane said yesterday.
In one case, in which a female teacher was accused of having sexual relations with a male student, Spillane said he would ask the School Board to dismiss the teacher. School officials would not divulge the names of the employes involved in that or any of the other cases, citing the state privacy law.
The actions are the first results of the school system's new policy of more aggressive investigations of complaints against its employes. Spillane's office has taken over investigations of sensitive cases from personnel officials.
Spillane, who took office July 1, announced the policy after the August arrest of former school psychologist Arthur S. Pomerantz, 46, on child sex abuse charges. Pomerantz, a school employe since 1965, was allowed to resign last year while under investigation. The schools have been criticized for not forcing him out sooner, and for agreeing not to mention the investigation in his personnel file.
In an interview with Washington Post editors and reporters, Spillane said all eight cases are less serious than the accusations against Pomerantz. Some, according to school officials, do not involve sexual misconduct.
Spillane said his announcement of a more aggressive policy Sept. 9 "opened a floodgate of other issues," bringing forth numerous tips, some useful and some unfounded. Three, he said, were from Fairfax County police.
"I don't think the cases are increasing," Spillane said. "I suspect that we're finding out more about them and more people are coming out with them."
Spillane said some of the alleged offenders will be allowed to resign, but he will ask the School Board to fire the teacher accused of sexual involvement with a student because "I don't want that person . . . going to some other place in the country."
The school employes who are allowed to resign will have notations in their files that they left while under investigation, he said. But many school systems -- including New York and Boston -- do only a cursory check of dates of employment, he said, and firing someone is the only way to make sure a red flag is raised.
Spillane said two county personnel officials obtained written testimony about the teacher accused of dating a student. "When the person was confronted with it, it was an easy situation," he said.
The teacher probably cannot be arrested because the student was of consenting age, Spillane said. The charge against her before the School Board will be professional misconduct.
Spillane said he will ask the Virginia General Assembly for legislation allowing Fairfax County to use quasi-judicial hearing officers to consider firings of school employes. All such firings must now go before the School Board. Spillane said that sometimes it is easier to let an employe resign quietly than to bring a time-consuming firing case before the busy School Board.
Pomerantz had been scheduled for a preliminary hearing in Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court yesterday, but it was postponed until Oct. 23, according to court officials.
After a preliminary hearing on a sodomy charge against Pomerantz's roommate, Edward C. Buss, 42, Judge Michael J. Valentine ruled that there was enough evidence for the Buss case to go to a Circuit Court grand jury. A grand jury hearing will be held Nov. 18, according to Vincent Picciano, the director of juvenile court services.
Yesterday's preliminary hearing and the grand jury session will be closed to the public because juveniles are involved.
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Fairfax Schools Seek Resignations of 8
From wire dispatches
Richmond Times-Dispatch - October 9, 1985
A female teacher accused of having sexual relations with a male student is among eight county school employees whose firings or resignations are being sought, Superintendent Robert R. Spillane says.
The eight, whose names were not released, were identified in an investigation prompted by the arrest of a former school psychologist on child sex abuse charges.
Assistant Superintendent Delores Bohen said the eight cases are less serious than the accusations against Arthur S. Pomerantz, 46, the former school psychologist arrested in August.
"They are not all cases of sexual abuse, by any means," she said. "It can be anything to do with drinking, language, slapping a child."
The actions against the eight are the first results of a policy, announced in September, of more aggressive investigation of complaints against employees. Spillane's office has taken over investigations of sensitive cases from personnel officials.
Spillane said his office has received a flood of tips, including some from county police.
"I don't think the cases are increasing," he said. "I suspect that we're finding out more about them and more people are coming out with them."
After Pomerantz's arrest, Spillane, in his first year as superintendent, announced he would tightly monitor complaints against faculty and staff members.
But Spillane also said that "he is not into a witchhunt and is not into anonymous letters and anonymous tips," Ms. Bohen said.
Employees who face accusations "have all due process, can confront evidence and have the right to refute evidence," she added. "They have every possible opportunity to vindicate themselves."
Pomerantz, a school employee since 1965, was allowed to resign last year while he was under investigation. The school system has been criticized for not forcing him out sooner and for agreeing not to mention the investigation in his personnel file.
Spillane said some of the eight alleged offenders uncovered since the Pomerantz case also will be allowed to resign, but he told the Washington Post that he will ask the School Board to fire the teacher accused of sexual involvement with a student because it would keep her from being rehired in another part of the country.
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Tighter Employe Checkes Cited in Harmon Case
by D'Vera Cohn, Washington Post Staff Writer
The Washington Post (DC) - October 12, 1985
Fairfax County school personnel officials should have checked former Redskins running back Clarence Harmon's background more thoroughly before hiring him as an aide at Langley High School, School Board Chairman Mary E. Collier said yesterday.
Harmon, who resigned his job Sept. 19 and later asked to retract his resignation, will not be allowed to come back, School Superintendent Robert R. Spillane announced late Thursday night.
"From my perspective, his best interest and the school's best interest are mutually served by him not returning," Spillane said after briefing the School Board in a closed session about his decision.
Harmon, 29, resigned his $9,000-a-year job after it was disclosed that officials did not know of his involvement in a well-publicized drug case in Texas. Harmon also was a volunteer football coach at the school.
After Langley students and the parent-run Booster Club voiced their support, saying the drug case was common knowledge at the school when he was hired, Harmon sought to withdraw his resignation. Spillane since has received a report on Harmon's background and met with him Wednesday, officials said.
The Harmon case, coming on the heels of the arrest of former school psychologist Arthur S. Pomerantz on child sex abuse charges, raised anew the issue of background checks of school employes. Spillane has promised more thorough checks of school system employes and more aggressive investigations of complaints.
Harmon pleaded guilty to a drug possession charge in Texas in 1983, was fined $5,000 and put on probation for two to 10 years. Under Texas law, he is not considered to have a criminal record.
Harmon had no comment on the decision not to rehire him, but when the circumstances of his hiring were disclosed, he and his supporters said the drug plea did not make him unfit to work with children.
Spillane said Thursday the Texas case was a factor in his decision not to rehire Harmon, but said other reasons, which he would not disclose, also played a part. "We knew enough to know there are risks and wanted to be cautious," Collier said.
Collier, although not sharply critical of personnel officials for their conduct in the case, said, "I wish maybe a closer look had been made before he was hired . . . . It's a question of being a little more thorough."
Asked whether the schools learned any lessons from the case, she said the message had gone out to scrutinize all employes who could be "role models for children," not just teachers.
"Perhaps the lesson is . . . that the philosophy of this system will apply to every category," Collier said. "Every person who works with children will be and should be closely scrutinized."
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Fairfax Schools Beef Up Personnel Checks
by D'Vera Cohn, Washington Post Staff Writer
The Washington Post (DC) - October 28, 1985
Fairfax County School Superintendent Robert R. Spillane, reacting to several embarrassing cases involving school employes during the past several months, has established an investigative unit in the school personnel department to perform better background checks on prospective employes.
The new personnel unit will help with background checks and investigations, "so that we'll professionalize this part of our function," Spillane said. The school system has not yet hired anyone to head the unit, he said.
Creating the unit is the latest change in the school system's personnel procedures since the case of former school psychologist Arthur S. Pomerantz came to light. Pomerantz was charged during the summer with several counts of child sexual abuse. Spillane also has promised more aggressive investigations of complaints against employes in the school system.
Pomerantz resigned from the school system last year after coworkers said they repeatedly complained about him, and Prince William County police said they showed Fairfax school officials incriminating photographs of Pomerantz.
Fairfax school officials have been criticized additionally for not providing better background checks in two other recent cases. In one, Clarence Harmon, a former Redskins running back, resigned his job as an aide at Langley High School after it was disclosed that school officials were unaware of his involvement in a well-publicized Texas drug case.
In the other incident, Edward D. Hall, a county school bus driver, was found to have a suspended D.C. driver's license after he was charged with reckless driving in a school bus accident last Tuesday.
Spillane obtained permission from the School Board Thursday night to create the investigative unit using existing job slots.
The board tentatively approved Spillane's proposal for what he called a "moderate reorganization" of the top-level school system bureacracy.
The reorganization will add a third deputy superintendent's job and realign responsibilities of the other two deputy superintendents. The third job will entail handling finances and probably will be filled by John P. Hess, now assistant superintendent for financial services.
Doris Torrice, a current deputy superintendent, will be in charge of school operations, to include matters such as personnel, area offices, special education, support services and facilities. The reorganization will make it easier for principals to deal with the central bureaucracy and will foster more decision making at the school level instead of at the main office, Spillane said.
The other deputy, Herman Howard, will remain in charge of curriculum and instruction.
Spillane said he believes that the reorganization will save money because some jobs can be combined. No one will be laid off in the reorganization, he said.
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Child Sex Abuse Charged
From news services and staff reports
The Washington Post(DC) - October 29, 1985
A Fairfax County Juvenile Court judge ordered yesterday that Edward C. Buss stand trial in Circuit Court on four charges of child sexual abuse stemming from his arrest last month in cases also involving his roommate, former Fairfax County school psychologist Arthur S. Pomerantz.
Judge Arnold Kassabian bound over Buss for trial on two counts of indecent liberties and two counts of consensual sodomy with a minor, according to Buss' lawyer, Peter Greenspun. Kassabian dismissed a charge against Buss of aggravated sexual battery.
The preliminary hearing was closed to the public. Buss, 42, who lives in Falls Church, is free on bond awaiting trial.
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Virginia Man Pleads Guilty In Sex Case; Buss Was Roommate Of Psychologist
By John F. Harris, Washington Post Staff Writer
The Washington Post - January 4, 1986
Edward C. Buss, who figured in a controversy last summer that focused on his then-roommate, former Fairfax County school psychologist Arthur S. Pomerantz, pleaded guilty in Fairfax County Circuit Court yesterday to engaging in sexual acts with two teen-aged boys.
Buss, 42, who could be sentenced to up to 10 years in prison, pleaded guilty to two counts of statutory sodomy with the boys, ages 13 and 14, during incidents last June 12 and July 11, according to Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney Corinne J. Magee. Both incidents occurred at the Falls Church apartment where Buss and Pomerantz, 46, lived until last year.
Buss is a computer technician for an Arlington firm.
Pomerantz, who resigned his position with the Fairfax schools in 1984 after allegations of sexual misconduct, also has been charged in incidents with the two boys, although he was not present at the time of Buss' offenses, Magee said.
A charge of forcible sodomy against Buss stemming from an alleged sex act with a 12-year-old boy on May 7, 1983, which came to light during the investigation of the incidents last spring, has been continued to Feb. 10, Magee said.
Pomerantz's case generated controversy last year because he was allowed to remain a counselor in Fairfax schools after being implicated, although never charged, in sexual acts with boys in 1981 in Prince William County.
Buss' attorney, Peter D. Greenspun, said yesterday that publicity has unfairly linked his client with Pomerantz. "They each had their own relationship with these fellows," he said. "Buss is getting charged with being Pomerantz's roommate, and it's unfair to tie the two cases together."
"This was not a [sex] ring or a conspiratorial thing, or they would have been charged as codefendants."
Buss and Pomerantz came to the attention of Fairfax County authorities because a neighbor reported that she saw unusual numbers of adolescent boys coming and going from their apartment, Magee said.
While executing a search warrant, Fairfax police found quantities of pornographic books and movies, most of it heterosexual in nature.
Magee said that Buss befriended youths, and sought to serve as a father figure. "He was the 'neighborhood friend' of the boys," Magee said. "They'd come over and use the pool and play games."
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Psychologist Pleads Guilty In Sex Cases
By D'Vera Cohn, Washington Post Staff Writer
The Washington Post - January 11, 1986
Former Northern Virginia school psychologist Arthur S. Pomerantz pleaded guilty in Fairfax County Circuit Court yesterday to four counts of engaging in sex with teen-age boys and was found guilty of a fifth charge.
Pomerantz, 47, whose case forced a tightening of the county's school personnel practices, was ordered jailed by a judge who said he is likely to be sent to prison.
"They're very serious charges," Judge Johanna L. Fitzpatrick told Pomerantz. "I know you have no prior record but the chances are you will be incarcerated . . . so you might as well start now."
The psychologist faces up to five years in Virginia prison on each of the five counts. In return for his plea, prosecutors agreed not to press any other similar charges against him.
His arrest Aug. 16 prompted an outcry when it was learned that his school coworkers had complained about his interest in young boys several years earlier after Prince William County police investigated him on similar charges. Pomerantz, who previously lived in Woodbridge, worked for the Fairfax County schools from 1965 until 1984, when he resigned under pressure.
Fairfax School Superintendent Robert R. Spillane conceded the schools should have been quicker to act against Pomerantz and promised to personally check into police complaints against school employes and to make more detailed background checks of prospective workers.
All five of the boys involved with Pomerantz were students in the county schools, but lawyers said none met him in the schools.
Pomerantz' lawyer, Mark E. Sharp, said yesterday his client is attempting to be admitted to a Johns Hopkins University clinic in Baltimore that treats pedophilia and other sexual abnormalities, but has been unable to gain admission because of its waiting list.
Fitzpatrick scheduled his next court appearance for Friday. Pomerantz has been free on bond, living with his mother at a Maryland retirement community, since last fall.
Pomerantz -- balding, wearing a gray suit, his hands clasped in front of him -- told the judge he wanted to be treated at Johns Hopkins for "the difficulties that I'm having . . . . I'm looking forward to participating in the program."
Commonwealth's Attorney Corinne J. Magee did not oppose Sharp's motion to involve the Hopkins clinic in evaluating Pomerantz, but said after the hearing, "He has had counseling before. I want to see penitentiary time."
Pomerantz pleaded guilty in a barely audible voice to four counts of sodomy, and, on a fifth charge of indecent liberties, agreed that the evidence was so overwhelming against him that he would likely be found guilty even though he did not admit to the charge. Fitzpatrick found him guilty on that charge as well.
The incidents took place on March 1, 1982; April 30, 1983; June 5, 1985, and June 11, 1985, and involved three 13-year-old boys and one 14-year-old. The June 11 incident involved one of the same youths with whom Pomerantz's Falls Church roommate, Edward Buss, pleaded guilty last week to having sex with a day later. Buss pleaded guilty last week to a second sexual assault charge.
According to testimony by police investigator Daniel Golehart, Pomerantz met two of the youths through Buss, a third youth through one of his earlier victims, and a fourth youth at a county recreation center. One boy was the son of a friend of Buss' who allowed her son to stay with him.
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Pomerantz to Be Tested
From news services and staff reports
The Washington Post - January 18, 1986
Former Northern Virginia school psychologist Arthur S. Pomerantz will be allowed to undergo an evaluation at a Johns Hopkins University clinic before his sentencing March 14 for engaging in sex with teen-age boys, a Fairfax County judge said yesterday.
Pomerantz, 47, pleaded guilty in Fairfax County Circuit Court last week to four counts and was found guilty on a fifth. He could receive up to five years in prison on each count.
Judge Johanna L. Fitzpatrick said yesterday that Pomerantz has been accepted for an evaluation at the Baltimore clinic, which treats pedophilia and other sexual abnormalities and has a waiting list, and that he would be allowed to leave the county jail for the duration of the examination.
"I think they can give a specialized picture of what Mr. Pomerantz's problem is," said Fitzpatrick. But she added: "I have some real concerns about what they're going to come up with."
Fitzpatrick said Pomerantz, who was present at yesterday's hearing, would also undergo evaluations by local and state experts. The Pomerantz case prompted a tightening of the county's school personnel practices.
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Va. Man Is Sentenced
From news services and staff reports
The Washington Post - March 9, 1986
Edward C. Buss, the former roommate of convicted sex offender and former Fairfax County school psychologist Arthur S. Pomerantz, has been sentenced to prison for sodomy incidents involving three boys.
Fairfax County Circuit Judge Barnard F. Jennings sentenced Buss, 42, to five years, the maximum on the three sodomy charges, but suspended all but two years, said Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney Corinne J. Magee.
The incidents involved three boys, ages 14, 13, and 12, who Buss lured last year to the Falls Church apartment that he shared with Pomerantz. Pomerantz resigned from the Fairfax schools after allegations of sexual misconduct with boys.
Buss, a computer technician for an Arlington firm, "is a good man who did an indecent thing," his attorney, Peter D. Greenspun, told the judge.
Buss, who had pleaded guilty to the charges, will be eligible for parole in about five months, but he faces three years of probation and mandatory psychiatric care after his prison sentence, Magee said.
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Pomerantz Gets 20 Years In Sex Case
by D'Vera Cohn, Washington Post Staff Writer
The Washington Post - March 15, 1986
Former Fairfax County school psychologist Arthur S. Pomerantz was sentenced yesterday to 20 years in prison -- the maximum penalty -- on four counts of engaging in sex with teen-age boys.
With Pomerantz's mother and the family of one of his victims watching, Fairfax County Circuit Court Judge Johanna L. Fitzpatrick also imposed a suspended five-year term on a fifth, related charge. The judge ordered Pomerantz, 47, to undergo treatment for pedophilia while in prison and added a 10-year term of probation after his release.
"You took advantage of these boys as clearly as anyone I've ever seen," Fitzpatrick told Pomerantz, who has been in the county jail since he pleaded guilty on Jan. 10. She said she did not believe his claims that the boys had initiated the sexual contact.
Pomerantz's arrest on Aug. 16 -- and the subsequent disclosure that coworkers in the Fairfax County schools had voiced suspicions about him for years -- prompted Superintendent Robert R. Spillane to promise quicker and more thorough reaction to future complaints, as well as better background checks of prospective employes.
Pomerantz worked for the county schools from 1965 until 1984, when he resigned under pressure. Three years before he quit, when he lived in Woodbridge, Prince William County police investigated him on similar allegations but did not file charges.
The boys involved with Pomerantz were Fairfax students, but lawyers said none had met him in the schools. The incidents took place on March 1, 1982, April 30, 1983, June 5, 1985, and June 11, 1985, and involved three 13-year-old boys and one 14-year-old.
"From the bottom of my heart, I regret the anguish and pain I have caused these boys and their families," Pomerantz told the judge in a shaky voice before he was sentenced. "I would like the opportunity to show you I can lead a productive life, and be a good person."
Pomerantz probably will be eligible for parole in about four years, according to Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney Corinne J. Magee, who prosecuted the case and said she was "delighted" with the sentence. The victim's family attending the court session declined to speak at length with reporters. "We're just glad it's over," said one relative.
Pomerantz's lawyer, Mark E. Sharp, who asked the judge to suspend a substantial portion of the prison term, brought Pomerantz's 78-year-old mother Helen to the witness stand to promise that her son could live with her in a Maryland retirement community that does not allow children.
The Navy investigated Pomerantz on suspicions of deviant sexual behavior in the 1960s, but did not charge him, according to court testimony. Pomerantz was given an honorable discharge in 1965.
Pomerantz's former roommate, Edward Buss, was sentenced to 15 years in prison, with all but two years suspended, on three similar counts earlier this month.
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Va. Teacher Arrested on Sex Photo Charge
By John F. Harris, Washington Post Staff Writer
The Washington Post - July 26, 1986
A Fairfax County elementary school band instructor was arrested after he allegedly showed sexually explicit photographs of boys to an undercover investigator, Fairfax County police reported yesterday.
John P. Knapp, 41, who taught band at five elementary schools in the West Springfield area, was charged Thursday afternoon with possession with intent to distribute sexually explicit items involving children, officials said.
Knapp, of 10674 Myrtle Oak Ct. in the Burke area, has been with the schools for seven years, and will be placed on administrative leave until the charges are resolved, school spokeswoman Dolores Bohen said.
He was a band instructor at Keene Mill, Cardinal Forest, Hunt Valley, Rolling Valley and West Springfield elementary schools, and had taught at Fairfax and Jefferson high schools, Bohen said.
Police said Knapp was arrested at a Fairfax shopping mall. They said they seized more than a dozen items at Knapp's town house, including magazines and films, as well as various devices.
Last summer, the school system came under fire when Arthur S. Pomerantz, a former school psychologist, was charged with sexually assaulting boys.
It was revealed that school officials had been informed that Prince William County police had investigated Pomerantz years earlier but had taken no action.
Knapp, who could not be reached for comment, was released on $10,000 bond. If convicted, he could face up to 10 years in prison.
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Fairfax Educator Suspened Over 1982 Morals Conviction
by D'Vera Cohn; Washington Post Staff Writer
Washington Post - June 20, 1987
The assistant principal of a Reston elementary school has been suspended after officials learned that he was convicted five years ago on a morals charge involving a 15-year-old boy in Prince William County, a school spokesman said yesterday.
The conviction of Mark Arbeit, 33, came to light during a Fairfax County police investigation of charges by children at Terraset Elementary School that Arbeit made obscene phone calls to them, school spokesman Dolores Bohen said.
Bohen said school officials will seek to fire Arbeit, and are waiting for his reply to their letter notifying him of their intentions. Arbeit, who lives in Springfield, has an unlisted telephone number and could not be reached for comment yesterday.
The action against Arbeit, who has been assistant principal at Terraset nine years, raises anew questions about the school system's ability to screen its employes. School officials promised two years ago after a similar case that security would be improved, and hired a former police officer to lead the effort.
In that earlier case, school psychologist Arthur Pomerantz was convicted in Fairfax County Circuit Court of five counts of engaging in sex with teen-age boys. Pomerantz had been investigated on morals charges in 1981 by Prince William County police, who said they voiced their suspicions to Fairfax school officials. Fellow employes also complained that they had voiced suspicions about Pomerantz.
Arbeit was suspended from his job in late April after several children said he made obscene telephone calls to them, Bohen said.
Warren Carmichael, police spokesman, said Arbeit was charged with one count of making an obscene telephone call, but the charge was dropped after police and prosecutors agreed that the case would be better handled by the schools.
Bohen said police never notified the schools that they had decided to drop the charge. Carmichael said he was unaware of that.
Carmichael said Arbeit allegedly phoned the youths and offered them $25 to participate in a survey. Many of the questions were sexually oriented, according to the youths, he said.
The police investigation into the allegedly obscene calls did bring out that Arbeit had been convicted of a morals charge in Prince William County in 1982, Bohen said.
Arbeit pleaded guilty in Prince William General District Court to a charge of attempted production of obscene materials involving a minor, paid $35 in court costs and fines, was placed on probation and was ordered to undergo psychotherapy, according to court records.
The court records said Arbeit approached a 15-year-old boy on May 17, 1982, and offered him money to pose nude with a woman
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Principal's Morals Conviction Pushes Fairfax to Review Screening
by D'Vera Cohn; Washington Post Staff Writer
Washington Post - June 25, 1987
Two years ago, the arrest of a Fairfax County school psychologist on child sexual abuse charges prompted officials to promise more aggressive efforts to ensure that school employes have clean records
But the recent discovery that a Reston elementary school assistant principal was convicted on a morals charge in 1982 in Prince William County indicates that, despite changes to tighten procedures, some problems remain.
Mark Arbeit, 33, was suspended from his job at Terraset Elementary School in late April after several students had alleged that he made obscene phone calls to them.
While investigating those charges, school officials learned that he had been convicted in Prince William County General District Court of soliciting a 15-year-old boy to pose for an obscene photograph.
The incident raises new questions about the school system's ability to screen its employes for criminal convictions in an era when national concern about child sexual abuse has heightened and the number of reported cases has soared.
Fairfax County has increased its investigation of complaints against current employes since that 1985 case, but its background checks of job applicants are no tougher than they were then, school officials acknowledge.
In the meantime, because of enactment of a tougher screening law in Maryland last year, the schools' investigator is concerned that applicants with cloudy records would apply in Virginia where screening is less strict.
In the 1985 case, psychologist Arthur Pomerantz was convicted in Fairfax County Circuit Court of five counts of engaging in sex with teen-age boys. Prince William police said they had investigated but not arrested him on similar charges in 1981, and told Fairfax school officials of their suspicions. Several colleagues also said they had voiced suspicions of Pomerantz.
Superintendent Robert R. Spillane, saying school officials should have pursued the case earlier, promised more aggressive investigation of future complaints. He established an investigative unit in the personnel department to perform better background checks, and pledged closer liaison with police departments.
Some Terraset parents fault the school system for not discovering Arbeit's conviction earlier. "I don't think there's any excuse for that," said Barbara Banks, a member of the Parent-Teacher Organization.
"I would like to know why they aren't more on the ball," said another mother, who requested that her name not be used.
Arbeit joined the school system nine years ago, before new security procedures were implemented. But Spillane said the Arbeit case offers proof of "something we already knew -- we were not getting information from surrounding jurisdictions until we asked for it a year and a half ago . . . . There's nothing we could have done."
Prince William police never notified the Fairfax school system of Arbeit's 1982 conviction, and it was only investigative work by Fairfax officials that turned it up five years later, Spillane said.
Many parents agreed. "The school system did exactly what it should have done," said Terraset PTO President Ruth Toxopeus. "If you want somebody to be upset with, Prince William County police have something to answer for."
One result of Spillane's 1985 pledge of tougher background checks and more aggressive pursuit of complaints was the hiring in February 1986 of Alan Barbee, a retired Fairfax deputy police chief.
Barbee said his main function is to investigate complaints against school system employes, ranging from alleged theft to alleged child sexual abuse. In 1986, he looked into 63 cases; 25 of the employes involved were fired or forced to resign as a result, he said. In the remaining cases, the allegations were unfounded or the evidence inconclusive, he said.
Nine of the 63 cases involved child sexual abuse, he said. In two cases, both teachers, the employes were fired, Barbee said. The other cases were unfounded or inconclusive, he said.
So far this year, Barbee said, there appear to be fewer cases, although he has not added up the numbers. Three were sex-related: A bus driver arrested in Fairfax on allegations of having sex with a minor, and two employes arrested in another jurisdiction for sex offenses not involving minors, he said. All three employes were fired.
Barbee said some of his tips have come from police departments in other jurisdictions, and overall, "We're better able to address problems than we were two years ago."
Despite Spillane's promise of better cooperation with other area police agencies, Barbee said, "There are a lot of potential fallout points. I can't say I'm confident that we receive reports of everything."
The county has failed to implement stricter background checks of job applicants, Barbee said, mainly because the Virginia General Assembly turned down its request for the necessary permission to run FBI fingerprint checks. Fairfax can check only on Virginia criminal records -- not very helpful in a transient area such as Washington.
In Maryland, job applicants in the schools and in a wide range of child-related activities must be fingerprinted and have their records checked. In the District, legislation has been proposed but not passed. Virginia has no such legislation, although the state makes it a misdemeanor for school employes to lie about convictions on job applications.
Barbee said some officials wonder whether the strict Maryland law could be hurting Virginia. "There's always a concern," he said. "How many people are applying here and not applying there because we cannot do that" fingerprinting.
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Fairfax Schools Cited 8 Over Sexual Improperiety
by D'Vera Cohn; Washington Post Staff Writer
Washington Post - February 9, 1988
Eight Fairfax County school employees were fired, reassigned or allowed to resign their jobs in the last year following allegations of impropriety involving students, including five cases of attempted or actual sexual contact, county school officials said yesterday
School spokeswoman Dolores Bohen said Del. Alan Mayer (D-Fairfax) "slightly misrepresented a couple of things" last week when he said the school system had eight instances of detected sexual abuse of children for which employees had been fired in the past year.
Mayer is sponsoring a bill that would require fingerprints and criminal records checks of Fairfax County school job applicants. "Pedophiles are not appropriate people to be working in our public schools," he said last week. "If they caught eight in one year and that's just the tip of the iceberg, that's a significant problem."
Citing privacy restrictions on school personnel information, Bohen and school system investigator Alan Barbee would not release detailed information yesterday on the eight impropriety cases Barbee investigated from January 1987 through January of this year. Bohen said the allegations ranged from "inappropriate notes" to sexual abuse.
Three of the accused were teachers, one was an assistant principal, one a substitute teacher and one a bus driver, Barbee said.
There was "some physical contact or attempted" contact in five cases, four of them involving children the employee met on the job, he said.
Seven of the eight employees were fired or allowed to resign, he said.
The eighth, who was accused of an impropriety not involving physical contact, was given another job in the school system, he said.
Barbee said that the school system supports stricter screening of prospective employees, but that it probably would not have prevented the eight situations.
"Should it have been anticipated or was there some prior warning? The answer to that is 'no,' " he said. "None of the situations were those in which people came to us as new employees with any official record of criminal conduct."
One of the incidents Barbee investigated was the widely publicized case of Mark Arbeit, who was suspended from his job as assistant principal at Terraset Elementary School in Reston last April after several students alleged he made obscene phone calls to them. While investigating those charges, school officials learned that Arbeit had been convicted on a morals charge in Prince William County in 1982. Arbeit later resigned and agreed to have his teaching credentials revoked.
Fairfax County School Superintendent Robert R. Spillane promised stricter screening of school employees in 1985 after former school psychologist Arthur Pomerantz was arrested, and later convicted, on charges of child sexual abuse.
Coworkers said they repeatedly had complained about Pomerantz, and Prince William County police said they had presented damaging evidence about him to Fairfax school officials.
Barbee, a retired deputy police chief, was hired the following February to investigate complaints of all kinds against school system employees.
He looked into nine allegations of child sexual abuse in 1986 and said that two teachers were fired as a result
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Maryland Department of Public Safety & Vorrectional Services
Sex Offender Registry
http://www.dpscs.state.md.us/sorSearch/
Name: POMERANTZ, ARTHUR S.
Address: 15003 CANDOVER CT SILVER SPRING, MD 20906
Charge: SODOMY
Category: Child Sexual Offenders
Information Contact: MONT CO
Date of Birth: 11/07/1939
Age: 66
Status: COMPLIANT
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Maryland Department of Public Safety & Correctional Services
January 13, 2014
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