Veteran Special Ed Aide Arrested At Springhill School
Police quietly arrested a veteran instructional aide at Springhill Elementary School on a sexual assault warrant Friday.
UPDATE: Dec. 13, 2:38 p.m. With statement from county sheriff's spokesman.
A veteran instructional aide who works with special education children at Springhill Elementary School in Lafayette was arrested on campus Friday and booked into the Martinez Detention Facility on felony charges of oral copulation and sexual penetration, according to Sheriff's spokesman Jimmy Lee.
Lee said an arrest warrant for Stephanie Elliott, 39, of Brentwood was served at the school at around 10:30 a.m. Parents on the school playground at the time said they first noticed a Lafayette police car park in the fire lane at the front of the school and a police woman approach Elliot and take her into custody. Elliott did not resist.
The special ed aide, who has worked at Springhill Elementary for the last three years and who parents said was highly regarded as a person with a deep commitment to the care of special needs children, was taken to Martinez for booking on the felony charges. Her bail was set at $100,000.
"She has since made bail," Lee said Tuesday. "The case is unrelated to the school and did not involve any of the students."
Elliott was arraigned in Contra Costa County Superior Court on Monday afternoon on charges of oral copulation of an unconscious person and attempted sexual penetration, Deputy District Attorney Nancy Georgiou said Wednesday.
Georgiou told Bay City News Service the charges stem from an alleged sexual assault on an adult victim that occurred in July 2010.
Elliott was placed on administrative leave at the school after her arrest. She is due to return to court Dec. 22 to enter a plea.
Chris F.
7:02 am on Tuesday, December 13, 2011
Unrelated to school and children, I hope she keeps her job..
Jessica A.
9:55 am on Tuesday, December 13, 2011
You might want to hear the charges before you decide you want her to keep her job! Both charges were felony sexual assault charges. You can call the county jail to confirm gor yourself.
Lee daniels
11:42 am on Tuesday, December 13, 2011
Smell a news story SD?? Thought so. Keep pressing. The initial school district line was deliberately misleading. I wondered if you'd sniff it out.
carrera
1:53 pm on Tuesday, December 13, 2011
Re: the timeline...there is an item on the Lafayette PD police log at 10:21 a.m. on Friday for the "3300 Block of Springhill Rd" for an incident labeled "Beat Information". Note that the inclusion of the address of the incident was contrary to the stated policy of excluding addresses for sex offenses and crimes against children.
Sara
3:54 pm on Tuesday, December 13, 2011
More facts please.
DC / Lafayette
10:34 am on Wednesday, December 14, 2011
More of the story in today's CC Times, "Local News" Section, front page, bottom right.
lamorinda mom
12:18 pm on Wednesday, December 14, 2011
CC Times "Superintendent Fred Brill said Elliott was arrested in the school parking lot, and he did not believe many students witnessed the incident." I heard that the entire 4th and 5th grade witnessed her arrest as they were on morning break. Couldn't the police have just quietly pulled her out of class before the morning break (unless she was suspected to be dangerous???) Yes, more details/facts please.
Kenny
12:41 pm on Wednesday, December 14, 2011
I'm not understanding why people/parents are upset or concerned about whether or not 4th & 5th graders witnessed the arrest. Seems that's an age group that's bordering on being ready (or s ready) for parents to discuss that innocent people are arrested & people are innocent until proven guilty. We want kids to say the Pledge & be patriotic. The principles of our criminal justice system (innocent until proven guilty, trial by jury, etc.) separate us from much of the world. It's something children should learn about, take pride in, & is encompassed in the last few words, "...liberty & justice for all" of the Pledge.
Amy Chu
3:36 pm on Wednesday, December 14, 2011
I would imagine that seeing your teacher led away in handcuffs by police would be unsettling for some children....
Kenny
4:27 pm on Wednesday, December 14, 2011
Amy - Agreed. But parents often overestimate the effect of witnessing a rare event such as this and underestimate the detrimental effects of what kids see on a daily basis on TV or the internet.
Eileen McPeake
4:31 pm on Wednesday, December 14, 2011
Agreed, Amy. While I appreciate the potential civics lesson, Kenny, I think what some parents would find upsetting is that school is, in many ways a home away from home, where kids spend so much time and where they need to feel safe and in the trustworthy hands of the teaching and admin staff. Seeing a trusted figure led away in handcuffs could do some harm to that feeling of safety for some kids.
Kenny
7:18 pm on Wednesday, December 14, 2011
Eileen - I totally agree. I just wish parents were as concerned about the effects that the everyday things have on their children. Whenever something like this happens, people start the whole "think of the kids" line. It's been trotted out so often that I find it somewhat suspect and sometimes have a tendency to dismiss it when I probably should take it a bit more seriously.
On the bright side, from this report it doesn't sound like this was a police style Occupy takedown arrest. It sounds like they tried to be as sensitive as possible to the surroundings.
Chris Nicholson
4:49 pm on Wednesday, December 14, 2011
Civics lessons need not be counterfactual or delusional. "Innocent until proven guilty" is shorthand for the burden that the State must meet before punishing its citizens. THAT is what makes us different-- not that we are willfully blind to the reality of the situation. In general, cops only arrest people who have broken the law. If the DA charges the accused, it is highly likely that the accused engaged in illegal conduct. I hope people don't teach their kids otherwise. If they do, how can that be helpful?
I agree that there appears to be no need to arrest this woman in front of the kids. But I also assume that it is more likely than not that she broke the law.
Although I suspect "Whoride" will pop up and call me names, I do wonder whether the alleged victim here was a 17 year old consenting male (or the like). For me, that is relevant to assessing the magnitude of the moral wrong here and her general danger to society. In my (narrow, misogynistic) mind, Mary Kay Latourneau is not the same as the Night Stalker.
Eileen McPeake
5:00 pm on Wednesday, December 14, 2011
The CC Times news story says the victim was a sleeping woman.
Chris Nicholson
5:09 pm on Wednesday, December 14, 2011
Thanks. Wow. Unique situation. My prurient curiosity is piqued. I wonder if they knew each other / had history. If a stranger thing, I wonder why it took so long to arrest....
Eileen McPeake
5:12 pm on Wednesday, December 14, 2011
Here's the link: http://www.contracostatimes.com/news/ci_19541182?source=most_viewed
Says it happened in July 2010 but had insufficient evidence to move forward at the time. Wonder what changed, investigation-wise, since then?
Kenny
7:00 pm on Wednesday, December 14, 2011
"In general, cops only arrest people who have broken the law." - - I hope you don't work in employment law and I certainly hope you don't serve on a jury.
Chris Nicholson
9:23 pm on Wednesday, December 14, 2011
You can't possibly believe that my assertion is not factually inaccurate. Most of the time cops arrest people, it is because they have broken the law. BTW, despite popular rumors, I am NOT a (practicing) attorney.
Also, employment law is generally not a topic for cops and the criminal court system.
If I were on a jury, I would neutrally and dispassionately evaluate whether the State had carried its burden, but I would find it impossible to ignore the statistical realities of the real world.
Do you honestly believe that people are "innocent" until proven guilty, as factual matter? If so, should we stop requiring bail for accused criminals? Even alleged serial killers?