Education

Accused pedophile teacher case highlights problem of school enablers

July 18, 2024

Ray Carter

In October 2023, police officers met with Miami Public Schools officials regarding allegations that teacher/coach Kanyen Derris Cole had engaged in inappropriate conduct or relationships with female students.

That investigation, which included interviews with three former student-victims, resulted in charges being filed against Cole, who had moved on from Miami to the Salina school district.

But the investigation also highlighted an even worse reality.

Cole was accused of similar wrongdoing when he worked in the Sand Springs school district prior to his employment in Miami. And not only did Sand Springs officials not notify Miami administrators of the allegations, one Sand Springs administrator provided a letter of recommendation supporting Cole’s hiring in the Miami school system.

“By giving that letter of recommendation, that principal deliberately endangered the students that that teacher was able to access at his next employment site,” said Terri Miller, president of Stop Educator Sexual Abuse Misconduct & Exploitation (SESAME), a national organization that focuses on teacher predators and offers resources to parents and victims. “In my opinion, that letter of recommendation is evidence that the principal endangered his (Cole’s) subsequent victims, and the police should look strongly at bringing charges against that principal for child endangerment.”

Cole has been charged with three counts of soliciting sexual conduct or communication with a minor by use of technology, and one count of sexual battery. His case is ongoing.

But as the legal system determines Cole’s fate, the investigation that led to his arrest suggests other school officials may have played a significant role in enabling an accused predator to remain employed in Oklahoma schools.

At least three alleged victims in the Miami school system, all teenage girls younger than 18 at the time of the reported incidents, were identified by police.

In an affidavit for an arrest warrant, filed on May 6, Police Detective Andrew Hanson wrote that he and another investigator interviewed three of Cole’s former Miami students.

One student told officers she first encountered Cole when she was a 15-year-old sophomore and that over time Cole began making sexual comments to her. Among other things, she told officers that Cole “requested her socks and panties after she worked out due to him wanting to smell them.”

A second student said Cole sent her sexual messages when she was a senior younger than 18, including requests for nude pictures. She also said Cole sent her nude pictures of himself. At one point, she said Cole “put his hands down her pants” during his planning period at school, according to Hanson’s affidavit.

Both girls said Cole instructed them to delete conversations and pictures.

A third student provided a similar story and said Cole “attempted to get her to come to a ball game in Salina and tried to get her to come to a hotel to hang out.” The girl said she did not meet Cole outside of school.

Notably, Hanson wrote in his affidavit that “it was discovered that Cole was also asked to resign from his position at a former school district due to engaging in social media and texting with female students.” A police department report and Department of Human Services referral was completed by Sand Springs school officials at that time.

Hanson’s affidavit states that police obtained additional documents from the Sand Springs Police Department showing Cole had “multiple past issues while employed with the Sand Springs Public Schools System,” including “multiple reports where Cole was investigated/questioned about his contact with female students,” and that “multiple people within the Administration of the Sand Springs Public School System were aware of the allegations as well.”

However, the Department of Human Services referral completed by Sand Springs school officials indicated “that nothing of a sexual nature was transmitted or received” between Cole and his female students, Hanson wrote.

But, Hanson noted, “It was evident with the allegations and documentation that the school system provided in its police report that there was the possibility of sexual content (Pictures and or texts/messages) regarding sexual content between Cole and female students had been shared.”

In addition, when Hanson obtained Cole’s employment file from Miami Public Schools, Cole’s application included several links sent to multiple employees from Sand Springs Public Schools for reference.

“Only one of those subjects provided a reference,” Hanson wrote. “The reference was completed by Principal J.J. Smith. Smith did not provide any knowledge of Cole’s past issues in Sand Springs to the Miami Public Schools and even stated that he would re-hire Cole.”

Hanson noted that reference was provided even though Cole “was forced to resign from his position at Sand Springs Public Schools.”

Hanson wrote that he “contacted Sand Springs Public Schools multiple times as well as provided my contact information to the school employees that answered the phone. I requested to speak to an administrator/supervisor each time and each time I was informed that they would leave my information for the administration. I have yet to be contacted by any person from the Sand Springs Public School System.”

Cole was employed in the Miami district from August 2022 to May 2023. He was employed by Salina Public Schools at the time when the investigation began last year.

‘Passing the Trash’

The Cole case appears to be the latest example of what’s known as “passing the trash” in education circles. Whenever a pedophile is identified in school, the perpetrator is often allowed to quietly resign and even given support to find another job in another school district.

Advocates for child victims say lawmakers and law enforcement need to crack down not only on teacher pedophiles, but also on the school officials who make it possible for pedophiles to access additional victims by providing them letters of recommendation for additional school jobs and declining to take appropriate action regarding current allegations.

“That’s how we’re going to stop this ‘passing the trash’ is holding the enablers of pedophiles and child molesters seriously accountable,” Miller said.

Research indicates as many as 95 percent of cases involving child abuse by a school employee are handled “in house” without a report to law enforcement, Miller said.

Attorney General Gentner Drummond indicated he supports Miller’s call for law enforcement officials to prosecute school officials who provide letters of recommendation for accused pedophile teachers.

“It is outrageous and unacceptable if a school administrator knowingly allows a child predator to remain in the classroom,” Drummond said. “Ensuring our children are safe and protected is non-negotiable. I am confident that local prosecutors in impacted jurisdictions will act accordingly if there is evidence that a child predator has been allowed to jump from school district to school district.”

The Oklahoma State Department of Education (OSDE) has also attempted to use administrative rules and regulations to better address the problem of pedophiles in schools.

One proposed OSDE rule would allow a teacher to be fired “after a finding that such person has, either in the presence of a minor or in a manner available to a minor online, engaged in sexual acts, acts that appeal to the prurient interest in sex as found by the average person applying contemporary community standards, or acts that excessively promote sexuality in light of the educational value of the material and in light of the youngest age of any student with access to said material.”

An associated rule impact statement says that “teachers who participate in certain sexualized conduct in the presence of minors or in a manner accessible to minors online are also likely to behave inappropriately in the presence of minors in a classroom. The proposed amendment removes that risk.”

In a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, State Superintendent of Public Instruction Ryan Walters discussed the proposed regulation, writing, “Teachers that have behaved inappropriately should not spend one additional second in the classroom. This rule enables districts to more easily remove predators.”

If a school continues to employ a teacher facing the loss of his or her state teacher certificate for infractions that may include child abuse, and the individual’s certificate is ultimately revoked, another proposed Oklahoma State Department of Education rule would allow the district’s accreditation to be impacted.

An accompanying rule impact statement says the regulation will “impose costs” on school districts that “have inadequate investigation processes and incorrectly find no wrong done by a staff member who is ultimately found guilty of a felony or ineligible for certification,” and that the regulation “seeks to prevent felons and other ineligible staff from continuing to work in public schools, where they could potentially endanger students, other staff, or the district.”

Sand Springs May Face Other Consequences

If an employee of the Sand Springs school district knowingly helped a pedophile obtain further employment, the potential ramifications extend beyond potential arrest for the Sand Springs school employee.

“The victims in the current school that were offended can not only sue their own district and administrators,” Miller said, “but they can also sue the previous district and administrators as well.”

In addition, federal law allows schools to lose federal funding if employees cover up child abuse committed by other school employees. Section 8546 of the federal Every Student Succeeds Act requires states to have laws prohibiting settlement agreements that allow teachers to resign to avoid police investigations and move on to other districts.

In 2018, the U.S. Department of Education sent a letter to state departments of education regarding that requirement. The letter stated, “For too long, and too often, teachers or other school staff who have engaged in sexual misconduct with a student or minor at one school have been able to obtain employment at another school, without that other school ever learning of the prior misconduct. This sometimes occurs because someone from the employee’s prior school provides a recommendation that helps the employee obtain new employment. Section 8546 of the ESEA seeks to end this abhorrent practice.”

The letter noted that schools could lose federal funding if it is determined that school officials have provided “a recommendation of employment for an employee, contractor, or agent” that a school official “knows, or has probable cause to believe, has engaged in sexual misconduct with a student or minor in violation of the law.”

The federal law exempts situations where a report has been made to law enforcement. It is not clear if Sands Springs would qualify for that exemption based on filing a report about Cole with local police, since the school was not as forthcoming in its report to the Department of Human Services, according to the affidavit filed by police.

When contacted for comment, a spokesperson for the Sand Springs school district issued a brief statement.

“Kanyen Cole worked in the district from August 2018 to May 2022. Because this is a legal investigation and personnel issue, we cannot provide more details at this time,” the Sand Springs School District statement said. “There is nothing more important than the safety and wellbeing of our students. Each district employee undergoes a comprehensive background check when they are hired. In the event of any misconduct allegation against an employee, school leaders immediately secure the safety of students and a thorough investigation is conducted. The district reports to the Sand Springs Police Department, Department of Human Services, and the State Department of Education any employee misconduct found during the investigation. The district has and will always comply with requests from authorities regarding any issues.”

One in 10 K-12 students suffers some form of educator sexual misconduct between kindergarten and 12th grade, according to researchers. That translates into 5 million children currently enrolled in school today.

Miller said one important tool to reducing that level of student abuse is to raise the penalties for enablers.

“This needs to stop,” Miller said. “As long as they’re allowing enablers to get away with endangering children and not stopping a child molester in their tracks when the first allegation comes to light, they are a huge part of the problem. This is why one perpetrator can have as many as 73 victims in their lifetime, because they are passed to a minimum of three school-employment settings before they’re ever reported and stopped.”

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