Stamford HS Admins Plead Not Guilty To Failing To Report Student-Teacher Relationship
STAMFORD, Conn. (CBSNewYork) - The Stamford High School principal and vice principal both appeared in court Wednesday on charges they failed to report to a sexual relationship between a teacher and a student to authorities.
Both Principal Donna Valentine and Vice Principal Roth Nordin pleaded not guilty in court, WCBS 880's Connecticu Bureau Chief Fran Schneidau reported.
Failure to report the sexual relationship that allegedly occurred in this case between an English teacher at the high school and a student is a class A misdemeanor; it carries a maximum penalty of one year in prison.
Stamford State's Attorney David Cohen said he himself will be prosecuting the case.
"We thought it was a serious enough situation that, since I've been personally involved with it from the beginning, I'm going to be handling the prosecution," he said.
The case against the teacher involved, Danielle Watkins, has not yet gone to court.
Watkins, of Norwalk, turned herself in to police in July to face sexual assault and other charges.
Police say Watkins not only had a sexual relationship with an 18-year-old student, but supplied him and a friend with marijuana. The second victim, a 15-year-old and another one of Watkins' students, admitted to police that he had also smoked marijuana with Watkins.
Stamford Police Captain Richard Conklin told Schneidau that when police arrested Watkins at her home in July, they discovered evidence of the sexual relationship on her cell phone.
"On her phone and on the victim's phone, we found text messages and photos that were sent of her naked, that she sent to the victim," Conklin told Schneidau.
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