ACQUITtED!
http://www.yakima-herald.com/stories/20 ... -classroom
YAKIMA, Wash. -- Michele Taylor went into teaching because she enjoys working with kids.
She now hopes to return to East Valley High School to resume her career in the classroom after being acquitted Tuesday of sexual misconduct and immoral communication charges involving allegations made by two of her high school students.
"I want to go back. I wish I could go back in the fall," Taylor said Wednesday in an interview at her Terrace Heights home.
Taylor said she remains committed to teaching despite an ordeal that her mother described as "pure hell" in the minutes after jurors returned their verdict in Yakima County Superior Court.
"I see the goodness in all the other kids. I don't want these two kids to ruin my outlook on kids and how things work," Taylor said as the couple's triplets played in the other room of the house.
She and her husband, Kevin, also an East Valley teacher, conducted interviews with the Yakima Herald-Republic and local television stations Wednesday, trying to personally share their side of the story for the first time.
The investigation by Yakima County Sheriff's detectives started in June 2009. Taylor was placed on administrative leave the same day authorities were notified of the initial report by the younger of the two students.
Both Kevin and Michele Taylor attended and graduated from the school district where they are teachers.
The high school sweethearts said the past year has been difficult, but Kevin Taylor cited family and church support for helping to maintain their strength.
"Our faith definitely kept us going," he said.
He said community response has been more positive than negative. Some passing cars honked while the family held a barbecue at their Terrace Heights home after the verdict.
Despite the criminal acquittal, Taylor's job status remains in question. She has disputed the school's effort to fire her and now faces a September termination hearing. The hearing officer will decide whether her actions violated any school policies that would qualify for dismissal.
Taylor maintains that she did nothing inappropriate in trying to help the boys with personal and academic issues during conversations primarily held by cell phone text message.
Taylor and school officials disagree on whether a policy discouraging texting with students was mentioned during staff training before the 2008-09 school year.
Also looming is the prospect of a civil lawsuit by the boys' parents against the school district and Taylor.
Despite a suggestion by Taylor's defense attorney that a better investigation would have disproven the charges against her, county Prosecuting Attorney Jim Hagarty said the evidence merited proceeding.
"We stand by our decision to go to trial on this one," he said, adding that the relatively short deliberation time by the jury should not be seen as significant. Juries can return both guilty verdicts and acquittals in longer and shorter times, he said.
"There is no fixed formula," he said.
And a sheriff's spokesman described the lead investigator, Brian Jackson, as an "excellent detective." Sgt. George Town said he did not believe that Jackson's lack of training as a sexual assault specialist was a "make or break" factor in the case, given that the specially trained investigators are more typically used for cases involving young children.
Taylor said she never got a good sense of how the jury was reacting to the testimony, though she said she hoped they could see how "ridiculous" some of the claims against her were.
The few jurors who could be reached by the Herald-Republic have declined to comment on the case.
Taylor said that even though she did nothing inappropriate in texting or talking with the students, she would suggest that other teachers avoid the practice because it's too easy for questions to be raised about intent.
Taylor and her husband said they hope to continue to find ways to help others, which is what they say they were trying to do for the younger boy, who was struggling in part with the death of a family member.
Michele Taylor said she knows some people -- including some parents in the school district -- will always question whether she was guilty of a crime.
"The best thing they can do is trust in the process and know that if there was something inappropriate, I would have been found guilty," she said.