Fla. school district fined for inappropriate hugs

State and Nation

Discussion

September 10, 2010

Associated Press Fri Sep 10, 2010, 08:47 AM CDT

BARTOW, Fla. (AP) — The Polk County School Board has agreed to pay $120,000 to a family who accused a former elementary school principal of inappropriately hugging their two daughters.

David Carmichael, a lawyer for the school district, said the school shouldn’t be liable for principal John Stelmack’s actions, but said the district feels “responsible for our students.”

A judge signed the settlement earlier this month. The girls, who have not been identified, will split the money in a college trust fund and pay legal fees. They transferred to another school.

The 63-year-old Stelmack was sentenced in 2009 to five years in prison for possessing child pornography and 10 years of sex offender probation. He is appealing.

Officials uncovered the hugging incidents during an internal investigation.

Text Only

State and Nation

Sinkhole shuts down westbound I-20 in Alabama
Westbound traffic is being routed off Interstate 20 in eastern Alabama because of a sinkhole that's formed in the highway in Calhoun County.

February 10, 2012
Embalmer takes speech case to Mass. high court
Troy Schoeller admits he could have chosen his words more carefully when he talked to a reporter about bodies he worked on as an embalmer at a funeral home.

February 10, 2012
Los Angeles school reopens amid sex abuse scandal
The teachers union president assailed the reassignment of teachers as a stunt, about 100 parents and students blasted the move, and some of the new teachers needed a bit of help from their charges.

February 10, 2012 1 Photo
APNewsBreak: Powell had 'incestuous' images
Authorities say the images depicted "incestuous" sex and were disconcerting enough that they prompted a psychologist to recommend that Powell undergo an intensive psychosexual evaluation.

February 10, 2012 1 Photo
NYC sewage plant to offer Valentine's Day tours
It may not smell like a rose but a New York City sewage plant is offering tours for lovers on Valentine's Day.

February 10, 2012
Mississippi bill renames Gulf of Mexico as Gulf of America
State Rep. Steve Holland says the measure aims to mock anti-immigrant legislation that he finds mean-spirited and insignificant.

February 9, 2012
AG: Mortgage deal offers relief to Alabama borrowers
The deal also puts a stop to many of the bad behaviors that contributed to the mortgage mess in Alabama and across the U.S.

February 9, 2012
States, Feds to announce mortgage settlement
February 9, 2012
Unemployment aid applications near a 4-year low
February 9, 2012
Remlap woman dies after struck by car after crash
February 9, 2012
More State and Nation Headlines