BETHESDA, Md. (WUSA9) — More than 20 Montgomery County Public Schools employees or contract workers have been investigated for child sex abuse or exploitation since 2011.
Parents are extremely upset, not just by the alleged crimes but the fact that in many cases, complaints and warning signs were either ignored or disregarded by the school system.
WUSA9 counted 21 MCPS employees or contract workers who have been investigated for child sex abuse or exploitation in just the last four years. Many have been prosecuted.
“It’s heart-wrenching, it’s horrifying, it’s appalling. It’s absolutely unacceptable. And every parent watching this segment should be filled with outrage,” said Jennifer Alvaro, a parent and child sex abuse expert.
Music teacher Lawrence Joynes was arrested in 2013 and charged with sexually abusing 15 children at New Hampshire Estates Elementary School. Records show he repeatedly videotaped little girls sucking on large peppermint sticks. Police say he later photoshopped their faces onto pornographic images.
Records reveal that in 2011, because of previous complaints, the school’s principal ordered him not to touch or be alone with children, yet the alleged abuse continued. He’s also facing rape charges for an alleged assault on a student decades ago. Joynes now faces two trials this spring.
Read an excerpt from the statement of charges for Joynes:
“Lawrence Joynes advised that he has had several students in his class room during lunch time. The students are female students which he invites into his class room. Lawrence Joynes described how he has played games with his students, having the student suck on a peppermint stick. Lawrence Joynes also described how he had a student…suck on his finger. Lawrence Joynes demonstrated how he would move his finger in and out of the student’s mouth. Lawrence Joynes further advised that he would video tape himself sticking his finger in the student’s mouth. Lawrence Joynes stated that he would watch the videos of himself sticking his finger in the student’s mouth then masturbate while visualizing the student performing oral sex on him. Lawrence Joynes advised that [the student] was 7 or 8 years old at the time.”
2013 Joynes Rape Charges
“Why are we not stopping the presses, as they did at Penn State, as they did in the Catholic Church…we have a problem here,” said Susan Burkinshaw, a parent and child safety advocate.
John Epps Junior was a contract employee for MCPS who did work in 58 schools. Ironically, the security camera technician was caught on surveillance video grabbing the behind of a 12 year-old Baker Middle School student. He’s alleged to have done the same to a Damascus High School student. Court documents show Epps had a criminal history of groping women in public, of which the school system was unaware. He will go to trial in March for those school groping incidents.
“Nobody is listening. Nobody seems to want to make the right decisions and hard choices to fix this problem and protect our kids,” Burkinshaw said.
MCPS wouldn’t tell WUSA9 who is on it, but we’ve learned the school system keeps a “confidential database” of personnel who demonstrate “inappropriate or suspicious behavior” toward children – a watch list of suspected abusers who are working in area schools.
“It’s one of the most ludicrous, offensive things I’ve ever heard of being done. And I’ve worked in the field of child sexual abuse for 22 years,” Alvaro said.
“If we’re that worried about these individuals, they need to be removed from the classroom,” said Janis Sartucci of the Parents’ Coalition of Montgomery County.
Elementary school teacher Daniel Picca was terminated by MCPS but never criminally charged. His alleged abuse of children spanned 17 years, dating back to 1993. According to State Board of Education records, Picca had little boys take off their shirts, flex their muscles and slide back and forth on his lap, often photographing them. Yet, as his “punishment” he was moved from one elementary school to another again and again and again – from Rachel Carson to Luxmanor to Kemp Mill.
“If you’re banned at one school, that should be enough to get you banned from every school,” Sartucci said.
Picca still works with children and has a license to teach in Maryland.
MCPS declined our request for an on-camera interview, but a spokesman said the county has already begun the process of overhauling its system of recognizing and reporting child abuse and neglect. In a January memo to the school board from former Superintendent Joshua Starr, he noted “the need for redesign has become apparent during the past several years.”
NOT IN MY WORLD!!!! 
More “good old boys” gone bad!
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Alan, I hope you know how much you and Allen mean to me, the word “Friend” doesn’t begin to describe what those feelings are. It would be easier to describe if we were sitting around a fire 130 years ago; then I could look you both in the eyes, and tell you how much I appreciate you being here with me. I’m proud to have known you both, and what IS in your hearts.
I don’t know what tomorrow will bring, all I know is, it’s time for that ride I told you about Alan, or I have to take it as such, since what I am about to do can do nothing less than bring a whole lot more eyes on us.
acta non verba, carpe diem
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Shocking beyond belief!!! How can the powers that be, be so indifferent?? How can this not bring a tear?
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Bunny, because they have had 7,000 years of taking the futures of Our Children.
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Considering that many investigations of child sex abuse are determined to be unfounded (many are outright false allegations), if 21 have been investigated in this state, and out of those only some have been prosecuted, how many have been convicted, and out of those convictions how many were really guilty?
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I believe if you check the national stats, and I would suggest the CDC website for this, since there is now a disclaimer up that says in effect An independant reporting agency’s stats are now used since the CPS stats aren’t reported correctly.
But if you will look closely, or ChildHelp, or Ark of Hope for Children, or even Our Website on the Welcome To Our Home Menu Option, you will see Our Worlds Mission, THEN: Child Abuse Facts, Recognizing, You will see Child Abuse Facts, select this, then go down to Child Sexual Abuse, you will see what the NATION WIDE NUMBERS ACTUALLY ARE, and only 2% of the reports are found to be unfounded by the Police Department.
NOW, since you are here, let me put that in a perspective everyone will benefit from:
It is estimated that only 1/4 of all actual cases are reported, 686,000 cases are reported in 2012 I believe, you multiply that times 4 = 2,744,000actual Children whose lives have been severely altered.
IF you add the 100,000 to 300,000 Children who will be forced into Child Sexual Slavery, that is between 2,844,000 and 3,044,000 Children whose lives are severely altered, with 100,000 to 300,000 of those Children with their futures stolen. Their life expectancy drops to about 5 years through STDs, perverted GOOD-OLD-BOYS raping them, and since so many States like Maryland has CORRUPT CRONYIES as many of their Lawmakers who CARE NOTHING FOR OUR CHILDREN, many will be in and out of prison, addicted to drugs, and kill their livers as well as other drivers while under the influence of alcohol. While WE THE PEOPLE ARE STUCK WITH THE BILL OF MANY,MANY MILLIONS OF DOLLARS IN THE FORM OF keeping them, treating them, prosecuting them, doctoring them, housing them, and schooling them on differing things such as when to take their psychotrophic drugs so they can at least forget who they really are for even a little while after the GOOD OLD BOYS HAVE WHAT PEOPLE LIKE US HAVE NOT PUT AN END TO, AND THAT IS WARPED PSYCHOS WHO LIKE TO HAVE SEX WITH LITTLE CHILDREN!!!!
But now you want to talk false allegations, while so many “GOOD” people are HELL BENT in their agenda to discredit The Church, far less than only 1,000 cases have been prosecuted, with about 65% of all reports never prosecuted for 1 simple reason: They are investigated by the same Police around America that find only 2% of other reports to be unfounded, and as I say 65% are unfounded against the Church.
NOW, would you like to hear about the 20,000 already prosecuted in public schools(GOOD OLD BOYS).
OR we can talk about a form of Child Sexual Abuse with undeniable numbers…. 54,000,000 Children MURDERED THROUGH ABORTION.
You might should close your mouth, it appears that you finally woke up.
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You’re right that child sex abuse is a tragedy, when it is truly abuse. But if government agencies define “abuse” as anything they disapprove of, then we are dealing with a vast majority of unfounded allegations.
An example is the parent who snaps a photo of his kids nude in the bath, and he is then arrested for having produced “child pornography.” Or kids who photograph themselves partially undressed, send the image to a same-age peer, and are then prosecuted and put on a sex offender registry for life.
Granted that government employees are out of control. We now live in a police state, but like most police states the cronies themselves are above the law. Just as never having been arrested doesn’t necessariy mean you’re innocent, likewise being arrested, prosecuted and convicted do not necessarily mean you’re actually guilty.
You offer the perfect example: how many parents have murdered their own children instead of giving them up for adoption when that was available? They are “innocent” in the eyes of the law.
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I believed you just might be someone I knew, sadly as I read your page, the hope built on certain words, left slowly with each tear.
I appreciate your reply, and you allowing me to see and know, what so many could never guess, lies vailed and hidden behind posts woven with illusion.
YOU KNOW, and you know that I know….
I can’t and won’t waste this chance to help Our Children, and I know we are helping, because my eyes see and my ears hear.
But never doubt, if things had been different in many more than 1 way, I would have searched the world over to locate the one smith able to konstruk the Lance I would take into battle against such a windmill as WE KNOW….
Robert
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