A Chronicle of teachers behaving badly, teacher sex scandals, and other indiscretions

Alberto Vicuna

32 year old Alberto Gomez Vicuna, a math teacher at Gilroy High School in Gilroy, California was arrested and charged with the sexual assault of a 14 year old girl with whom he allegedly had sex with, though police will not comment on whether or not it was consensual.

Vicuna was a member of an online Social Networking site, Tagged.com, where he is said to have over 100 online friends ranging in age between 13 and 17 years old, and female. The alleged victim was not a student at Gilroy High School, it is believed they met through the social networking website. Vicuna also tutored students on and off campus.

Police arrested Vicuna after the girls parents told police that Vicuna was involved in sexual activity with their daughter.

Authorities believe there could be more victims, and ask that anybody with information on Vicuna call Detective Kendra Nunes or Detective Sgt. Randy Schriefer of the San Jose Police Dept’s Child Exploitation Detail at (408) 277-4102. If you would like to remain anonymous in your report, please call Crime Stoppers at (408) 947-STOP.

Update — 03/03/09

Vicuna has been arraigned on 9 charges involving sex with the alleged 14 year old victim. His bail was set at a staggering $2,000,000. Alberto Vicuna could face up to 10 years in prison if convicted. He will be back in court March 5th for a plea hearing.

Michael Thomas Correll II

26 year old former teacher and coach at Pine Forest High School in Fayetteville, North Carolina, Michael Thomas Correll II (face it guy, you’re a Jr.), has been arrested on allegations of having a sexual relationship with a female student.

The alleged relationship is said to have occurred between January 2009 and February 2009. Correll was arrested on a charge of sexual activity with a student and released on $2,000 bond.

This story is still ongoing and we will continue to update it as more details come to light.

Jason Gray

Jason Gray, 31 year old former coach and science teacher at Blanchester High School, in Blanchester, Ohio has been indicted 2 counts of sexual battery and 1 count of importuning. It is alleged that Gray had sex multiple times with a female student, who’s age is not known.

Gray was arrested after the police were notified by the school of criminal conduct on Gray’s part. The alleged sexual relationship is said to have occurred between November 2008 and December 2008, and it is reported that Gray also called the girl to solicit sex from her.

Gray was being held on a $50,000 bond after being arraigned and is currently staying in the County Jail. Gray has pleaded not guilty and resigned from the school district, after being placed on administrative leave in December 2008.

Karen Binder

Karen Binder, 44 year old former teacher at Colonia High School in Woodbridge Township, New Jersey has been denied entry to a pretrial intervention program, after being admitted. She will now return to the normal course of prosecution through the courts.

Binder was originally arrested in February of 2007 after sending more than 100 text messages to a couple of male students, who were 16 and 17 at the time. One of the students parents notified the school after finding the text messages, who then notified the local law enforcement.

One of the boy who received the alleged text messages from Binder said that she sent over 100 messages within a two day period, and they included propositioning sex with her, as well as the boys brother and father.

She was denied entry partly because she was arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol on the day her pretrial intervention  application was submitted. She also refused to submit to a urinalysis, required for entry into the pretrial intervention program.

John Pertuit

35 year old John Francis Pertuit, a teacher at Coconino High School in Flagstaff, Arizona as well as a martial arts business owner has been arrested and charged with 6 counts of misconduct with a minor.

It is alleged that Pertuit had sexual relationships with numerous students whom he taught either through the school or through his martial arts business, or both. Ages and sexes of the minors are not available at this time.

Pertuit was arrested at Coconino High School and has been placed on administrative leave by the school. Pertuit is being held on $75,000 bond.

Bryan Pettibone

Bryan Pettibone, a teacher and coach at Central Baldwin Middle School near Robertsdale, Alabama has been indicted on 3 counts of 2nd degree sexual abuse, four counts of enticing a child, four counts of enticing a child, four counts of harrassment, and one final count of attempted 2nd degree sexual abuse.

Pettibone is accused of sending inappropriate text messages and placing sexually explicit phone calls to as many as 4 female students, 3 of which are reported to be 14 years old. The age of the 4th student is unknown.

When the text messages and phone calls were not stimulating enough, Pettibone allegedly moved on to physical contact with at least 3 of the female students, some of which is reported to have happened on school grounds.

There are not many details available about this case. We will break the news as it becomes available. Hopefully we wll be able to stifle the jokes about Bryan’s last name.

Lisa Lavoie

Lisa Lavoie, a 24 year old 8th grade teacher at Maurice Donahue Elementary School in Holyoke, Massachusetts has been arrested after being tracked down to a Super 8 Motel in Morgantown, West Virginia, where she was staying with a 15 year old male student.

Lavoie and the boy ran away together at the start of a the school’s mid-winter break in the middle of February, when the boys parents reported him missing.  The boys parents also notified the authorities of their suspicion that their son and Lavoie were involved in a sexual relationship.

Police and investigators tracked the pair down using credit card transactions and cell phone usage, when they were finally found by the West Virginia state police.

Kidnapping in the state of West Virginia carries a possible life sentence. It is however being reported that Lavoie will probably return to Massachusetts to face charges although the possiblity of additional charges in West Virginia is nearly certain.

Lavoie is being held without bond as of this writing in West Virginia on charges of child endangerment and statutory rape.

We anticipate this to be a long, drawn-out case, and as always, we will keep you updated with the latest news as it develops.

Update — 03/09/2009

Lavoie has been arraigned in Holyoke District Court in Holyoke Maryland on charges of enticing a minor. Lavoie’s bail was set at $25,000 and she was ordered by the judge to stay with her mother throughout the duration of the court proceedings, as a condition of her bond. Lavoie’s attorney reported that he believed she would be released on bond that same day.

William Rehnstrand

William Rehnstrand, a 65 year old retired History teacher and school board member in Superior, Wisconsin has pleaded guilty to one count of criminal sexual conduct in the third degree. Rehnstrand was originally arrested and accused of performing oral sex on a 17 year old male student during a school trip to Minnesota.

Rehnstrand reportedly admitted to the oral sex and told investigators that he was aware the boy was under the age of 18 at the time, after he was arrested by way of tip to the school principal, who then called police. Rehnstrand was a 28 year veteran of Superior High School, having been an educator for a total of 31 years.

In 2000, Rehnstrand was elected to the school board. He resigned from the board before his arrest. Rehnstrand is currently free pending sentencing on March 3rd, 2009.

Update — 03/05/2009
William Rehnstrand was sentenced to 3 years in prison, however the judge stayed his sentence and he will only serve 180 days in the county workhouse. Rehnstrand may apply for house arrest after 60 days of his sentence. After his jail time has been served, Rehnstrand will be on probation for 15 years.

Rehnstrand will be required to register as a predatory offender, offer a DNA sample for record, and will not be allowed to be in contact with minors under age 18.

Vincent Greco

Vincent Greco, 63 year old founder of “The Jazz Ensemble” and volunteer music teacher at the San Diego School of Creative and Performing Arts was arrested and held on a $500,000 bond for failing to notify the school district of his sex offender status.

Greco was arrested just before a rehearsal at Mesa College in San Diego, where the jazz ensemble holds their rehearsals. It came to the attention of the authorities that Greco may have been involved in inappropriate sexual contact with a student at the school of Creative and Performing arts, which is when police found out that Greco had not notified the school district of his sex offender status.

It is not clear why the school district would not have checked that publically available information before allowing Greco, even as a volunteer, around school-aged children. Perhaps somebody in the school district should be arrested as well?

Greco is no longer a volunteer at the school, and has been released on bond.

Linda Pithyou

Linda Pithyou, a 29 year old teacher at Lawrence Hall Youth Services in Chicago, Illinois has been arrested and charged with sexual assault after allegations that she had sex with a 15 year old male student.

It is alleged that on more than one occasion, Pithyou and the boy had sex. According to police reports, on more than one occasion, the two had a sexual encounter in her car, with Pithyou’s 16 month old baby present.

More allegations have come about that say that Pithyou also drank alcohol and smoked marijuana with the boy during their sexual encounters.

According to a school spokesman, Pithyou is no longer an employee of the school. It is to be believed that Pithyou has been released on a $110,000 bond, as she was not in custody at her court hearing.