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Former Fleming teacher appears in court
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By CARRIE CARLSON Staff Writer
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FRANKFORT -- A former Fleming County teacher appeared in a Jefferson County courtroom Monday after being charged with soliciting sexual favors from minors, said Kentucky Attorney General Greg Stumbo.
Steven Duncil, 24, of Grandview Circle in Flemingsburg, was arrested in October. He was one of seven men caught in a sting operation to catch Internet predators. The investigation was a combined effort between the attorney general's office and a watchdog group dubbed, "Perverted Justice." The watchdog group consists of adult volunteers who are trained to pose as minors in Internet chat rooms and wait to be solicited for sex.
Stumbo said all seven men have faced, or will soon face, judgment.
Duncil's Monday pretrial conference resulted in the scheduling of another conference on March 27 at 9:30 a.m., said officials. Both the prosecution and defense are awaiting a forensic report on Duncil's home computer, said assistant Commonwealth's Attorney John Heck, the prosecutor in the case.
According to Fleming County Schools Superintendent Kelly Crain, Duncil worked as a full-time fourth grade teacher in 2005, but Duncil's contract was not renewed in 2006 due to a drop in school attendance. However, Duncil was hired at the end of August, 2006 to substitute teach within the county.
School officials confirmed that Duncil was substitute teaching in the district up until the time of his arrest.
Fortunately, Crain said there were no reports of "inappropriate behavior" from Fleming County students, parents or staff.
"I commend the people who worked during this investigation and I am thankful, if these allegations are true, that he is out of the classroom," said Crain.
According to Stumbo, Duncil used an Internet chat room to entice a 13-year-old girl to have sex. Duncil then made a 130-mile trek from Flemingsburg to Louisville to meet the girl. However, he, along with the six other men, was met by law enforcement officials when the men showed up at the "homes" of the fictitious victims.
Officials said several of the predators even sent explicit photos and showed indecent videos of themselves to the person they thought was an underage female.
When arrested, some of the alleged perpetrators were carrying condoms, alcohol and Viagra, an impotency drug, said authorities.
The attorney general said the arrested men came from various backgrounds, one man is the father of four children, and another is a Louisville businessman.
Each man was charged with use of an electronic device to entice a minor into a sexual act, a Class D felony, and all but one was charged with attempted unlawful transaction with a minor, a Class C felony.
Jeffrey Wayne Barnes of Lexington and Leslie Peek of Owensboro recently pled guilty to the charges. Peek was sentenced to five years of supervised probation and dealt a $1,000 fine. Duncil and Anthony Vincent Ross of Louisville had pretrial conferences Monday. Four other men have pretrial conferences during the months of February and March, including: Charles Martin Clark, Todd Edward Noble of Louisville, Damon Baete of New Albany, Ind. and Bryan J. Prow of Morganfield.
Since the sting operation, Stumbo has formed an i-Shield Task Force to distribute "cybersafety" information to schools and communities. The task force is composed of specially trained law enforcement officers from across the state who help teach children and others how to avoid Internet predators and dangers. Stumbo has also added a Cybersafety section to the Office of the Attorney General Web site at www.ag.ky.gov/cybersafety.
The attorney general also partners with the Kentucky Center for School Safety to sponsor an i-SAFE Program in schools. The Fleming County School District is involved with the i-SAFE Program, said Crain.
"It (the program) teaches Internet safety. For instance, we tell students not to give out their names or any information online," said the superintendent.
According to the Kentucky Educational Professional Standards Board Web site, Duncil still has his teaching credentials. However, an investigation is "still pending," said Alicia Sneed, director of legal services.
Crain said in a previous interview that she had filed a report with the professional standards board and was told the board would launch its own investigation regarding the allegations against Duncil. If enough evidence is found, the board may terminate his teaching certificate.
Contact Carrie Carlson at 606-564-9091, ext. 272. |
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Reader Comments
Comments are limited to 200 words or less.
Jes wrote on Jun 13, 2007 8:07 PM: " I knew Baete. This is shocking to say the least. Shocking because of the age of the "child" not the internet use "
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