Third teacher sex scandal rocks Brighton charter school
Police arrest man hours after boy claims assault
Chris Barge and Ivan Moreno
Published December 7, 2007 at 12:30 a.m.
Updated December 7, 2007 at 6:14 a.m.
Photo by Evan Semon © The Rocky
President of the Brighton Charter School board, Ken Mitchell, left, gets advice from Brighton Charter school attorney, Barry Arrington, right, during a already scheduled board meeting. The Board released a statement addressing the arrest of Ralph Kelly a Brighton Collegiate High School german and Social Studies teacher. Kelly was arrested by Brighton Police on the charges of sexual assault on a child.
Photo by Evan Semon © The Rocky
President of the Brighton Charter School board, Ken Mitchell, left, gets advice from Brighton Charter school attorney, Barry Arrington, right, during a already scheduled board meeting. The Board released a statement addressing the arrest of Ralph Kelly a Brighton Collegiate High School german and Social Studies teacher. Kelly was arrested by Brighton Police on the charges of sexual assault on a child.
A year after two teacher-student sex scandals rocked its tiny campus, Brighton Collegiate High School is dealing with a third.
Brighton Police arrested Ralph Kelly after midnight Thursday - hours after a male student told police Kelly sexually assaulted him during school.
Kelly, 34, is the third teacher at the 15-teacher school to be accused of having sexual contact with a student in the past 18 months.
Police said the latest student, who is in his second year at the school, waited a day to come forward with his allegations. "He kind of had to obviously mull it over a little bit and decide if that's really what he wanted to go through," said Brighton Police Detective Leann Lopez.
Appearing upset but stable, the student told police Kelly sexually assaulted him during school on Tuesday when the two were alone in a classroom.
The student, who is openly gay, told police that he and Kelly exchanged suggestive words in the days leading up to the assault, Lopez said.
Police arrested Kelly at his Denver home at 12:40 a.m. Thursday and transported him to the Adams County jail in Brighton.
Teacher is from Ireland
The school put Kelly on leave with pay upon learning of the arrest Thursday morning.
Administrators said it was the first they'd heard of any problems with Kelly, who teaches German and social studies at the school.
Kelly, who is from Ireland, posted bond Thursday, but he remained in jail on a hold by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, pending a case review, said Adams County Sheriff's spokeswoman Sgt. Candi Baker.
Kelly declined a request for a jailhouse interview.
His arrest comes a year after the former principal's wife was arrested and fired after having a sexual liaison with one of her students during a camping trip she chaperoned.
Carrie McCandless, 30, was sentenced in June to 45 days in jail and five years probation.
She will be supervised as a registered sexual offender for 10 years as part of an agreement with prosecutors.
Former school board president David Mundy Sr. resigned in the wake of the scandal and pleaded guilty in July for failing to report suspected child abuse.
His son, David Mundy Jr., was sentenced in January to 90 days in jail and 10 years of probation for sexual contact the previous summer with three girls, one of whom Mundy Jr. had taught as a substitute at the school.
Over the summer, the school's board chose not to renew its contract with Principal Chris McCandless.
Parents at board meeting
The school, previously known as Brighton Charter School, has since changed its name and moved to a campus a couple of miles away. About 300 students attend the school.
Acting principal Anthony Matthews declined to discuss what he thinks the latest alleged teacher-student sex assault will do to the school's efforts to remake itself.
In a statement, he said Kelly was hired in the spring and "his job performance has been excellent."
The charter school's board discussed the assault accusation Thursday night during a break from its regularly scheduled meeting. A handful of parents and about 20 students attended the meeting.
"There's been allegations made. Nothing's been proved," Barry Arrington, the school's attorney, told them.
Arrington also reminded the parents that this board is completely different from the one that oversaw the last two sex scandals.
Angry parents, who refused to be named, pointed out that only two board members were new and demanded to know whether there would be "a stack of resignations" to come over the alleged incident.
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December 7, 2007
9:31 a.m.
Suggest removal
JustSayin writes:
Anyone want to bet that this guy won't get the sweetheart deal that cute Carrie got? (only 45 days in jail and only 10 years as a registered sex offender). My money is one this guy getting a mandatory 10 years and a lifetime on the list.
December 7, 2007
12:59 p.m.
Suggest removal
Scott writes:
First: I totally agree with RonT.
Second: I want to see what, if any, changes were made in the background checks of potential teachers at that school since Cutie Carrie was caught.
Scott