AURORA | An Arapahoe County judge ruled on Tuesday to dismiss charges against two Cherry Creek School District educators indicted for failing to report claims a 14-year-old girl was sexually abused by an Aurora middle school teacher.
Senior Arapahoe County District Court Judge Stephen Schapanski overturned a previous court ruling, citing the statute of limitations for the offenses had expired before a grand jury indicted the Cherry Creek administrators last year, according to Arapahoe County district attorney officials.
The indictment from last January claimed three Cherry Creek officials — Adrienne MacIntosh, David Gonzalez and Cheryl Somers-Wegienka — did not properly handle claims a student had been sexually abused by a Prairie Middle School teacher in 2013.
The statute of limitations for prosecuting a misdemeanor charge of failing to report information concerning the abuse of a child is 18 months, according to the district attorney’s office.
George Brauchler, district attorney for the 18th Judicial District, called for changes in the law that he says prevents justice.
“This ruling highlights the tremendous risk of danger to our children created by an extremely weak law,” Brauchler said in a statement. “This ruling and the inadequacy of the mandatory reporter law means that a teacher, a therapist, a member of the clergy, or many others who know about the abuse of our children — and is required by law to report such abuse to the authorities — could escape responsibility for choosing to protect the abuser, instead of our children, if they just keep a secret for as little as 18 months.”
Schapanski ruled to dismiss the charges against MacIntosh and Gonzales. Prosecutors dropped the charges against Somers-Wegienka for an unknown reason last spring.
Cherry Creek schools agreed last year to pay $11.5 million to the girl and other students sexually assaulted by former Prairie Middle School teacher Brian Vasquez.
The settlement was split evenly five ways, said Abbe Smith, a spokeswoman for the Cherry Creek School District. Each victim was awarded $2.3 million.
Brauchler said the state should continue to press the matter regardless of legislation.
“I urge the Attorney General to appeal this decision, and I urge the legislature to address this issue going forward,” he said.
Aurora Sen. Rhonda Fields told the Sentinel she’s bringing back a bill from last legislative session that would extend the statute of limitations of not reporting child abuse. Stakeholders couldn’t reach a compromise last session, the Catholic Church being one party that didn’t want to see the statute of limitations increased.
Instead of the 18 months that’s currently written into law, Fields wants to see the statute of limitations at 10 years.
“Last year, it was at the point of discovery, we moved it back to 10 years,” she said. “Opposition wants to make it double the (current) amount. That’s still not long enough in my view, but we are making progress.”
The charges are part of a lurid story of child sex abuse in Cherry Creek schools that turned the district upside down last year.
Instead of telling local police about the accusations against Vasquez, now convicted, as required by state law, Arapahoe County prosecutors say administrators launched their own investigation.
That school-led investigation included questioning the student with Vasquez, a former social studies teacher, present and repeatedly telling her that her accusations could ruin Vasquez’s family and career. They also told the girl Vasquez was a “valued teacher.”
After all that, prosecutors say the girl retracted her claims — despite the fact that investigators now say Vasquez had sexually abused that girl and several others over a four-year stretch.
School administrators eventually suspended the girl for what they deemed were false allegations. First, however, they made her apologize to Vasquez. And give him a hug.
That’s all according to an indictment filed against Prairie Principal Gonzales, Assistant Principal MacIntosh and Counselor Somers-Wegienka.
Vasquez, 34, was convicted of a years-long string of sexual assaults on students as young as 14. According to testimony at a hearing late last year, he confessed multiple sex crimes to Aurora police.