Herald Highlands Ranch 7-4-13
Highlands Ranch
Douglas County, Colorado • Volume 26, Issue 33
July 4, 2013
A Colorado Community Media Publication
ourhighlandsranchnews.com
Sex assaults in news, but not new Recent cases involving children shed light on longtime problem By Ryan Boldrey
rboldrey@ourcoloradonews.com Sex assault on a child by a person in a position of trust is nothing new. Not in Douglas County, not anywhere else in the U.S. However, dating back to last summer, there have been four high-profile cases
making their way through the 18th Judicial District Court in Castle Rock, involving three Douglas County School District teachers and a Highlands Ranch youth pastor. All four men in question — ranging in age from 26 to 41 — have been charged with or already pleaded guilty to some degree of inappropriate sexual contact on teenage children under their supervision and guidance. Deputy District Attorney Chris Gallo, who specializes in cases involving crimes
against children for the 18th, has been the lead prosecutor in all four cases. What may be most disturbing, he said, is that for every high-profile case, there are a dozen other cases that he prosecutes involving these types of crimes. “We’ve had a ton of others where we have charged a person in a position of trust who wasn’t a (leader) in the community,” Gallo said. “Whether it was a neighbor, an uncle, a stepfather, this abuse happens across economic lines, across social lines.” And while there appears to be an inor-
dinate number of these crimes surfacing in the county lately, neither Gallo, District Attorney George Brauchler, nor Douglas County Sheriff’s Detective Mike Duffy sees an indication that there are more of these types of crimes per capita now than before. “I think in part, the stigma is slowly being taken away from this,” Brauchler said. He emphasized that more children who are victimized are seeing that the courts are not always going to side with the adult, and Assault continues on Page16
Teacher turnover declines
Cooling off on a hot day
School district figures show 380 departing By Jane Reuter
jreuter@ourcoloradonews.com
Close to 100 kids took part in the Highlands Ranch Community Association’s annual Lollipopalooza celebration June 28 at Westridge Recreation Center. Kids enjoyed cooling off outdoors in a dunk tank and bucket splash, and jumped up and down in indoor bounce houses on a 92-degree afternoon. Photo by Ryan Boldrey
Abandoned puppies recovering well Law enforcement still soliciting leads in incident By Ryan Boldrey
rboldrey@ourcoloradonews. com Four of the five puppies found abandoned in a trash can at Highland Heritage Park in May are recovering well in foster care and just weeks from adoption. The two male and two female shih tzu mixes that were still alive when found at the Highlands Ranch park are quickly coming into their own at Douglas County Animal Control Officer Caitlyn Cahill’s Bennett horse ranch. Cahill, who wasn’t working when the puppies were discovered May 21, brought them home a few days later after her mother offered to help nurse them to health. After weeks of being syringe-
The four surviving puppies who were found abandoned May 21 in a trash can at Highland Heritage Park are recovering well at the home of Douglas County Animal Control Officer Caitlyn Cahill. The puppies will be ready for adoption in a few weeks. Courtesy photo fed every three hours around the clock, the dogs graduated to warmed-up, crushed dog food
and milk this past week and just recently began drinking their water from a bowl. In ad-
dition, they have had quite the role model in Cahill’s 5-year-old Australian shepherd, Keyna. “She never had a litter of pups, but she has naturally taken to them,” Cahill said of Kenya and the puppies. “We’ve noticed in the past that she has some really good mothering instincts with the horses and the cats. She really took a liking to them.” The puppies, which were estimated to be between three and seven days old when they were found, are each beginning to show off their individual personalities, Cahill said. There’s Gus Gus, the go-getter of the group, who has been the first to do everything and consistently underfoot. There’s Brutus, the cuddly runt of the litter. There’s Lilo, the loner. And there’s Bridgett, the playful one of the bunch, who likes to wrestle. Douglas County law enforcement is still asking for help in Puppies continues on Page 9
A total of 380 teachers, or about 11.7 percent, of Douglas County teachers are leaving the school district this year. That figure is down from the 2012 turnover rate of 13.26 percent recorded by the Colorado Department of Education. Returning teachers were required to return contracts by June 23. After two spring protests surrounding the district’s new teacher evaluation program, and reports that large numbers of teachers would leave DCSD this year, the district report makes school board president John Carson very Carson happy. “It validated what we’ve been hearing,” he said. “The vast majority of teachers are staying. The TELL survey tells us they’re happy with their school environment. “These numbers are not large. If (departing teachers) wish to be vocal about it, it indicates they’re not happy. So we wish them well.” The state education department’s Teaching, Empowering, Leading and Learning (TELL) survey showed 84.7 percent of Turnover continues on Page 9
why teaCherS are leaving dCSd • Retirement: 101 • Resignation other: 71* • Resignation to work for more money at another metro-area district: 62 • Resignation to move out of area: 61 • Resignation to care for family member: 26 • Resignation to work for a school district closer to home: 16 • Resignation involuntary: 12 • Resignation to work for more money in Denver metro-area private sector: 11 • Resignation to work for
private sector closer to home: 7 • Resignation personal conflict: 5 • Dismissal: 3 • Downsizing: 3 • Resignation due to program reduction: 1 • Deceased: 1 • Total: 380 Information provided by Douglas County School District * Reason other than those listed, such as career change, spouse relocation, stay home with children, etc.
Printed on recycled newsprint. Please recycle this copy.