My High School is Famous
I debated blogging about this since I have mixed feelings about this.
http://www.buffalonews.com/cityregion/northernsuburbs/story/193316.html
A 42-year-old man who taught social studies at Buffalo Academy of the Sacred Heart in Eggertsville was arrested Friday night on charges of raping a student of the all-girls school.
James D. Van Valkinburgh of Byron Avenue, Town of Tonawanda, who was employed until recently at the school, faces seven counts of third-degree rape — commonly known as “statutory rape” — as well as one count of endangering the welfare of a child and one count of third-degree sexual abuse, according to Amherst Detective Capt. Enzio G. Villalta.
Villalta said the arrest followed a lengthy investigation.
“The investigation is continuing in other municipalities,” said Villalta, who declined to say whether there are other victims. “We are contacting law enforcement agencies.”
Villalta would not divulge the age or grade of the victim.
Investigators also declined to say how they learned of the incidents. Van Valkinburgh is being held in the Amherst Police lockup. He will be arraigned today in Amherst Town Court.
Officials of Sacred Heart, including the head of the school, Barbara Eckert Ochterski, and Josephine Greco, the attorney for the school, declined to discuss the case when contacted late Friday.
“My only comment is we will be having a press conference tomorrow at Sacred Heart Academy at 3 p.m.,” Ochterski said. “You are welcome to attend. We have nothing else at this time.” Van Valkinburgh, who was listed in the school’s 2007-08 Student Handbook and still has an accessible voice mailbox at the school’s telephone system, left the school recently. The circumstances of his departure remained unclear late Friday.
Van Valkinburgh taught at Sacred Heart, at 3860 Main St., for about nine years. He is a graduate of North Tonawanda High School and Westminster College in New Wilmington, Pa. He is married with two children, according to Erie County records.
And:
http://www.buffalonews.com/cityregion/story/193922.html
James D. Van Valkinburgh carried on a sexual relationship for months with a 16-year-old student he met while teaching history at the Buffalo Academy of the Sacred Heart before authorities say they found out.
Van Valkinburgh, who was fired Thursday from the private, all-girls school in Eggertsville, stood silently in handcuffs Saturday as Amherst Town Justice Geoffrey K. Klein read aloud the charges against him.
The 42-year-old Town of Tonawanda father of two young boys began having inappropriate contact with the girl in early August, police said.
In total, he is alleged to have committed seven acts of third-degree statutory rape, including twice at the victim’s home during a school day. The first such encounter occurred in mid-September, police said.
Van Valkinburgh told the judge he was married to a college professor but was uncertain of his current marital situation or whether he could afford a lawyer.
Klein said that Van Valkinburgh’s wife was responsible for him and that he would have to work out arrangements for hiring a lawyer on his own, rather than having the court appoint one.
The judge ordered him to be held in jail in lieu of $100,000 bail and issued orders of protection requiring him to stay away from the teenage girl and the Sacred Heart campus, in the 3800 block of Main Street.
Klein also warned Van Valkinburgh, a teacher at the Catholic high school for 12 years, not to have any contact with the staff or students.
During a news conference later Saturday, school Principal Barbara Ochterski said she was shocked — not so much because Van Valkinburgh was accused of these criminal acts with one student, but because it could happen at an institution that makes it a top priority to train the adult staff to respect boundaries and behave responsibly.
Van Valkinburgh, she said, was a “popular teacher among many popular
teachers” at the academy and there was nothing in his records to show
he was a threat to students.
He had passed a Catholic Diocese of Buffalo criminal background check
in 2004 and as recently as last May had received training with other
staff on school policies that made it “crystal clear what the
boundaries are between human beings,” the principal said.
“There’s shock when you know someone and all of a sudden, it’s not the
person you knew . . . a respected member of the faculty,” Ochterski
said.
The first inkling that there was a problem came to the school
administration’s attention Oct. 5 at the conclusion of the school day,
when another teacher reported to the principal that there appeared to
be “too much togetherness” between Van Valkinburgh and the student.
The same day, Van Valkinburgh and the student had relations in her family’s residence at 11:45 a.m. and 2 p.m., according to the felony charges.
Oct. 9, following the long Columbus Day weekend, Ochterski said, school officials began monitoring Van Valkinburgh’s activities. Two days later, he was warned that his behavior was potentially inappropriate and against school policy.
Monitoring continued until Tuesday when “a person involved in the [school’s] investigation” spotted Van Valkin- burgh off school grounds alone with a student. The student was told to go home, and Van Valkinburgh was immediately suspended from his job, the principal said.
“We continued our investigation, and as soon as we learned actionable information, turned it over to Amherst police in accordance with state law,” Ochterski said. “We want to be very sure that you understand that as soon as we had actionable information, we acted in the student’s best interest and notified police.”
The principal said this is a “sad time” in the academy’s 130- year history.
“We want to assure our students, parents . . . and many friends in the community that our school is and will continue to be a safe and excellent place for the education of young women,” said Ochterski, adding that teams of counselors will be at the school Monday for its 385 students.
Also shocked were Van Valkinburgh’s neighbors on Byron Avenue in the Town of Tonawanda. They described him as a helpful neighbor who, during last October’s surprise storm, was part of a group removing fallen tree limbs for neighbors.
It was also not uncommon to see Van Valkinburgh and his family attending Mass on Saturday afternoons in St. John the Baptist Catholic Church.
“They’re a good, religious family. He never bothered anyone,” said neighbor Eileen Oddo.
Van Valkinburgh is scheduled to return to Amherst Town Court at 2:30 p.m. Thursday.
While those of us on the outside will never know the “true” story- it is interesting to see how the school “really” responds to this. They are talking the talk to the outside world but what happens next week. They have counselors available today… but what about later. C’mon my class had a suicide for god sakes and we had counselors available for ONE day. The administrations feelings was “she’s going to hell”. I tried to talk to various people (guidance counselor, Father Gary and basically got platitudes). The thing that is scaring me is how Sr. Mara is back at Sacred Heart. She was useless as principal and played favorites to our faces. She is the person who did nothing when informed that a MALE teacher told a class that the only way they will ever get ahead is to sleep their way to the top.
The other thing that I find interesting is I get junk mail about stuff like the Sports Hall of Fame dinner (hi, I didn’t give a shit about sports or the teams while I was there… why would I care now… now if it was to support the arts then maybe) but yet will they send out any mailings about this to the alumni.
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