Victims & Stolen M16s: It's Never All Black & White

A friend of ours recently questioned our referring to the two 17 year-old women involved in the Vina High School sex scandals as "victims." The word "victim" obviously has many connotations and certainly in legalese a victim might be one who intentionally made the wrong choices in order to promote an agenda but was deemed too young to be held responsible.

Do we personally call these two young women victims? We don't know their upbringing or in the case of Brian Keeton if any physical or chemical inducements were (allegedly) used. We're 99% sure from the details that have come to light so far that both these women need spankin' and the two coaches need divorcin'.

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Campbell's Madison Drug Bust

Now we come to a much more permanent type of  victim--a shooting/killing victim. For every victim who's murdered at random for money (think Mr. Elbert Farley in Tuscumbia), you have countless more who are murdered because of their choices and actions. That doesn't mean they should have been killed; it simply means if they had behaved in a rational, law abiding manner, they would not have been placed in a position to be murdered.

This latter group includes Thomas Grant Campbell. He's dead, so we don't know his side. We do know he willingly went to the Sheffield residence of Chris Martin. We do know that several local news agencies have pointed out that none of the three adults involved in the shooting have lived a completely law abiding life. Campbell's previous brushes with the law seems to have involved drugs and some (allegedly) stolen guns that precipitated his dishonorable discharge from the military.

This space is reserved for a sermon entitled "Life is Hard Enough without Drugs or Alcohol," but sadly such sermons never seem to reach their intended audience.



Shoalanda

Nobody Knows...the Troublesome Facts

We sincerely strive to bring correct information to our readers; that doesn't mean we don't make mistakes. Certainly we see many mistakes in other published media. We welcome corrections and addenda, but often it's impossible to verify. Below are some thoughts on recent Shoals stories of note:

1. The weir at Cypress Creek -- it's been again reported by the TimesDaily that "at least four" have died in the drowning machine. It's not hard to locate the names of at least five who have drowned, and all should be remembered: Jerry Roberson, Allen Weeks, Max Harlan, Will Pannell, and Daniel S. Smith. If anyone knows of more victims, please send us their names and the circumstances of their deaths.

2. Sonny Tibbs -- AL.com had this to say about Tibbs: Tibbs, formerly a teacher and girls' basketball coach at the high school, was teaching at Vina Elementary School at the time of his arrest Friday; however, a source close to the school (as well as "Scout") has informed us that Tibbs formerly coached boys' basketball and has never been involved in coaching the girls' team. It's also been stated that Tibbs' duties were not changed in September, so any cover up did not involve a transfer (Apparently Vina is such a small school that all 12 grades are housed together). We welcome comment on this also.

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Both the Quad-Cities Daily and Pen-N-Sword have had some excellent articles related to Greg Aziz and his arrest. Be sure to like them on Facebook.



Shoalanda

Vina High Student Victims Were Best Friends

Gary Williams

When asked about the two current teacher sex scandals at Vina High School, Franklin County Superintendent Gary Williams replied, "I don't know how things like this happen." Perhaps that's part of the problem. We've had teacher friends who carefully chose every word spoken to students of the opposite sex; they felt such actions were needed in order to maintain a professional relationship that could never be questioned. It would seem familiarity doesn't always breed merely contempt.

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Williams has also reported to the press that the two 17 year-old girls (reported victims) were best friends. The superintendent stated that at the time of his arrest, Tibbs had been transferred to Vina Elementary School in August after a nine year stint at the high school. We're surmising someone knew something was not quite cricket.

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And just how old are these two teacher/coaches? The TimesDaily and some other news sources have stated Sonny Tibbs was 35. Arrest records, along with a college bio, list his birth date as 11/18/74, making him 39 in three days. Similarly, the age of Brian Keeton has been reported in the TD as 38. Official records list his birth date as 3/26/73, making him 40. Both more than old enough to know better.

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Sometimes reader e-mail is just too good not to pass along: I was thinking about the comment that "sex sells." It's nothing compared to death and dismemberment, but you may be able to throw that in too. The coachs' wives haven't finished with them yet.



Shoalanda

Runnin' Wild in Franklin County

Running wild, lost control.
Running wild, mighty bold.
Feeling gay, reckless too,
Carefree mind all the time, never blue.
Always going, don't know where,
Always showing..I don't care!
Don't love nobody, it's not worthwhile.
All alone, running wild!

It may be an old song, but it could easily be Vina High's new anthem.

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A source close to the situation in Vina has related that the most recently terminated coach, Brian Keeton, is married to a student whom he taught while at Winfield. While the TimesDaily has reported Keeton's age as 38, official sources are reporting it as 40, making him 23 years older than his alleged victim/lover. 

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State Senator Roger Bedford is initiating a change in the law that affords a suspended teacher pay even if he/she has admitted guilt. Thanks, Sen. Bedford.

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Good for Joey Rushing to want to assist in making teachers aware that sex with a student under 19 is illegal, but should it really be necessary? For the record, don't try to put out flames with gasoline...

They're not ill-educated, Joey, they're just immoral. You probably can't change that.

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The following comment was sent to us and was not publishable in regular comments due to some language. The writer gave us permission to edit it:

I've been following your blog because I am interested in the events taking place at Vina.
1.) Props on the name. Love word play.
2.) Don't let all this extra attention from the Vina scandal get to your head. Sex sales. ***** "journalism" doesn't, so all of this should go away quickly.
3.) I'm fine with you saying terrible things about Vina. It's the business, so I understand.
4.) I do, however, take offense to this article. "Alabamians first?" "We see out tax dollars wasted on those who have no love for our county, much less citizenship."?? Pray tell, Ms. Shoalanda, how do you have any right to say that these people have no love for this country? Because I never risked my life to be here, travelled thousands of miles through dangerous territory in total fear of being found out to be here, nor have I been separated from my family to be here. Have you?
I can handle the criticism of teachers, principles, schools, etc. for sex crimes, but I so very desperately need to know where do you get off setting the bar for what is considered love of this country?

Our answers?

1) Many thanks. It wasn't particularly well thought out, but it's amazing that many don't realize it represents Shoals Land.

2) Not much goes to my head. For the record, we've gotten many more hits on at least five other news stories in our five years of publishing. We don't claim to be journalists here. We do claim to be astute commentators on local boondoggles. 

3) We're not saying "terrible things" about Vina High School as a whole. We are commenting on the behavior of certain teachers and coaches.

4) How do I have the right to say "Alabamians First?" I'm a citizen, for better or worse. It's my tax dollars that are unfortunately not going to veterans, schools, etc., at least in any great measure. They are going to those who are here because they want something free. I could leave here, but I choose to stay and make things better. 

Remember the meeting Roger Bedford and others had at the A.W. Todd center about two years ago? There were no U.S. Flags there...only Mexican flags. They really love our country, don't they? No, if Canada were closer, they would go there since there's more welfare programs (due to much higher taxes on those who work). How can I judge these people? It's easy. I judge them by their actions. 

Shoalanda

Teacher-Student Sex is More Than a Molehill

It would be very easy to start out with a joke, but as one reader pointed out, problems at Vina are far more serious than losing a few ball games. Yet another reader sent us a Facebook posting in which a Vina High supporter accused this blog of making a mountain out of an ant bed, or words to that effect.

Boys' basketball coach Brian Scott Keeton has denied the allegations of sex with a 17 year-old student. If the allegations are false, the student should be punished severely. If true, Keeton should never be allowed to teach anywhere again. If true, we have to ask again, just what was this 40 year-old man thinking?

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On a November 5th Facebook post, Brian Keeton's wife quoted from an article on how to "fireproof your marriage." On November 8th, the day Sonny Tibbs was arrested, she asked for special prayers. We hope everyone does pray for this lady and her child.

Let's also remember the family of the 17 year-old student. As a friend says, it's not always the parents' fault.

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Okay...just one small joke: Coach Tibbs was booked in an Alabama hoodie. It's nice to see Franklin County is giving Auburn equal time.



Shoalanda

Sonny Tibbs Given Two Weeks to Resign

Tibbs' Booking Photo at Top

First, a letter from an individual familiar with the situation at Vina High School:

I'd like for you or someone to ask the question as to why Tibbs was put on paid leave. The tenure law was changed last year for this very reason--so that boards can place an employee on unpaid leave and so that the employee doesn't get paid for being investigated. The law does have a provision that if the allegations are proven unfounded, then the employee is entitled to back pay.

So what's the reason for paid leave? He confessed--case closed. It probably doesn't hurt him that he's good buddies with Gary Williams and Richie Hester.

It would also be nice if you'd ask if Vina teachers had possibly been emboldened in these sorts of actions since school officials were pushing to drop the charges against (the last teacher caught having sex with a student).

Just my two cents...these kids are being mistreated with the direct blessing of the administration at all levels and in the Franklin County DA's Office, in every way possible (allowing a teacher to resign instead of firing them, placing them on paid leave instead of unpaid, dropping the charges because the board didn't want the embarrassment and...the list goes on).

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WHNT is reporting that Sonny Dewaine Tibbs has been given two weeks to resign or be terminated. In the mean time, he's being paid by the taxpayers of Franklin County and Alabama. We agree with the letter writer: Tibbs confessed to at least three sexual encounters with a 17 year-old student--what else will it take for him to be fired immediately?

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A reader has commented that Tibbs and his wife Regina Michelle have only two children--not three as we previously blogged. We're happy to correct that, but it does not change the fact that Tibbs betrayed the trust of his wife, parents, and children.

We learned a long time ago that teachers are just like the general population; there are good ones and bad ones. We simply don't think it should take that much self control to stay away from a teenage girl entrusted to one's care, no matter how many married lovers she may have had.



Shoalanda

"He's No Coach" and We Agree

Randy Hester

Our blogs on accused Vina coach Sonny Tibbs and coach/principal James Pharr brought scads of e-mails to our inbox. Many contained personal statements (even attacks) concerning the two Vina High School employees, or others, that cannot be reproduced here. Those which can be published are very interesting:

* Shoalanda, get the facts straight. James Pharr is no coach. Vina's football team hasn't won a game in two years. He has coached 4 years and his record is 4-36. (Point taken)

* Franklin County School Superintendent Gary Williams told the parents 2 years ago that it was Pharr's last year as coach because he didn't want a principal coaching because it would take away from him paying attention to his principal duties. Well, he lied. He is still coach and look what all is happening.

* I call Vina High the house that (Board Chair) Randy Hester built. He was elected by the people for the people, but he runs it elected by the people for Randy Hester's family. Both of his sisters drive buses. His wife drives a bus and is an aide.

* No big loss if Tibbs gets fired. The boy's basketball team didn't win a game last year and probably won't this year.

* Pharr got a grant for $6000.00 to buy a new lawnmower for the school. He keeps it for the football field and doesn't let the other coaches use it unless they want to help pay for it. He said he was the one who asked Roger Bedford for the money for it and if they wanted to use it they could pay to use it. (If proved, this might be an ethics violation?)

* Convicts are on campus during school hours weed eating, mowing and cleaning. I don't think they should be on campus while children are present but it has been going on for 2 years. There was even had an instance last year or maybe the year before where a parent was arrested because she was bringing drugs to one of the convicts on campus. 

And finally...

*  I just read Lisa White's comment. My child was at Vina when all of that was going on with Bynam and said that was bull crap. The whole class was talking about that because that boy was in her classroom all day long. Even when she was to be teaching them. When the Tibbs thing broke on the news my kids and their friends who were at our house said they had all been suspecting something because the two of them were always in the new gym together with or without other students in there. A principal should be aware of this stuff. My child said Pharr has no idea what is going on at school because all he does is stay at the weight room or the field house.

We received several comments that were in a similar vein, but you get the picture. The image of an asylum run by the inmates does come to mind. One reader suggested an attorney general's probe. We doubt that is feasible, but anyone may file an ethics complaint with the state ethics commission or contact the accrediting body:

Alabama Commission on Higher Education

 

Telephone:  (334) 242-1998

 

Fax:  (334) 242-0268

 

Delivery Address
100 North Union Street
Montgomery, AL  36104-3758

 

Mailing Address

P. O. Box 302000
Montgomery, AL  36130-2000

Shoalanda

Who is James K. Pharr & Just What Does He Know?

A few readers have asked us about Vina High School Principal James K. Pharr and how much he knew of at least two sex scandals in his school. Obviously, we can't say what Pharr knew...or to use the old cliche'...just when he knew it.

Pharr was raised in Hackleburg and received his teaching degree from the University of North Alabama. In 2010, the Franklin County Board of Education renewed his contract as principal of the small county high school. Pharr was principal when a married female teacher began a sexual affair with a student over ten years her junior. Now another married teacher has initiated an affair under Pharr's watch.

If the latest news accounts are correct, it was the family of Sonny Tibbs' victim/lover that informed authorities of the affair--not school officials. We didn't have to dig too deeply to discover that Pharr is a coach himself and leads the Red Devils football team.

It's beginning to look a little like a good ol' boy network, isn't it? We hope the Franklin County Board of Education will hold anyone responsible who knew about Coach Sonny Tibb's sexploits with students...but we're not holding our breath.

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We haven't done an actual count of how many secondary schools are in the Lauderdale/Colbert/Franklin area. Counting non-public schools, an estimate would number close to 20. Of these 20 or so schools, the only two reported cases of teacher-student sex have been at one school in Franklin County...and not a very large school at that. Either such cases are grossly under reported or the problems at Vina are so out of control that no responsible parent would send their child to that school.



Shoalanda

Let's Talk Some Real Turkeys

It's November, so what's more apt than some turkey talk. No, we're not going to discuss fowl, but something...someone...foul. If you haven't read any news today, here's an interesting update:

Sonny Dewaine Tibbs

What was Coach Tibbs thinking? Sure, we know the joke about how some men (all men?) think. Yet most manage to keep their pants zipped. What happened with Sonny Dewaine Tibbs? What has he given up?

He may still have his job until the Franklin County Board of Education meets, but he won't have it long. He won't have his teaching license long either. We don't know his wife or how she will react to his affair, but we do know Sonny boy has lost her trust. He may have lost her. If there is a divorce, you may as well say he's lost his three children also. Finally, if his "victim's" parents are inclined to help Franklin County prosecute, you can bet he may very well lose his freedom, along with all that money paid for bail and legal fees.

We may assume that no matter what he's lost, he will still have his career as a professional wrestler. Special, isn't it?

Now that we've discussed Coach Tibbs, what about the 17 year-old girl? We have no idea why a young woman would want to have sex with a married man approaching middle age, but some do. Even if her family is so louche as to not think twice about her sexual faux pas, you can be sure her classmates will not be that kind. In a school the size of Vina, everyone knows who the girl is. So do her neighbors. Any reputable college may look twice at her application for admission, assuming she even wants to further her education. The well to do, educated suitors won't be knocking at her door either. We have to wonder if she still thinks it was worth it...



Shoalanda

Female Predators: A Pretrial & An Arrest

Kimberly Bynum

Pretrial for Kimberly Bynum, the teacher who formerly taught at Vina High School, has been set for March 21st. Bynum was arrested in June of last year for an admitted sexual relationship with a student. Under Alabama law, students who have reached the age of consent are still prohibited from sexual relationships with teachers until they reach 19. If convicted of the Class B Felony, Bynum could face a sentence of 20 years.

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Dana LaShanna Myhan Allen, according to WHNT Channel 19, is a wife and mother. According to her Facebook page, she's an employee of Florence OB/Gyn Clinic in West Florence. According to Lauderdale County detectives, she's a second degree rapist who preyed on underage boys at her alma mater Wilson High School.

The daughter of Danny and Connie Myhan, the 38 year-old Allen has been married for 18 years to Russell O'Neal Allen. For several years, Allen has been a volunteer basketball coach at Wilson where all of her alleged victims were students. According to detective Travis Clemmons, the investigation has linked Allen to several students, but only one under the age of consent. Like Bynum, Dana Allen faces a felony charge that could result in a sentence of 20 years. 

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A Political Forum for Candidates Seeking the Office of

LAUDERDALE COUNTY

SUPERINTENDENT OF EDUCATION

Tuesday, February 7, 2012

at Rogers High School, Greenhill

6:00 PM in the Cafeteria

This event is sponsored by the Lauderdale County Education Association.

The public is invited to attend.

Shoalanda