CLEARFIELD – Charges have been filed against a former substitute teacher for alleged sexual misconduct at the Clearfield County Career & Technology Center. Two former administrators have also been charged for allegedly failing to report the misconduct, according to court documents.
Darice J. Brady-McKee, 34, of LaJose has been charged by Lawrence Township police with two counts of dissemination of explicit sexual material to a minor, F3. She has also been charged with 32 counts of corruption of minors, M1.
Former CCCTC Executive Director William H. Weaver, 55, of Bellefonte has been charged with two counts of failure to report/refer, M2, and disorderly conduct, S.
Former CCCTC Assistant Director Cathy M. Thomas, 61, of Morrisdale has been charged with failure to report/refer, M2, and disorderly conduct, S.
Both Weaver and Thomas resigned from the CCCTC in May when allegations surfaced about their handling of the alleged sexual misconduct by Brady-McKee.
According to the affidavit of probable cause, on May 1 police received a report about an alleged incident of sexual harassment. Further, police were notified by a parent that a substitute teacher had made sexual comments to students.
Police were also notified that the administrators at the CCCTC were made aware of the alleged sexual harassment, which had occurred in March. However, police were told that nothing had been done about it and the substitute teacher was still there.
Police went to the CCCTC on May 1 and spoke to Weaver, who was then the executive director. He told police that on March 23-24, Brady-McKee substituted at the school. Weaver told police Brady-McKee had allegedly made comments about her personal sex life from the previous weekend to the students.
Weaver told police students complained to their regular teacher when she returned March 25. Weaver said he was absent from the CCCTC that day but when he returned he was informed by the assistant director about the alleged sexual misconduct.
Weaver said the regular teacher had her students write statements about the alleged sexual misconduct, which were given to the assistant director, Thomas, and later to him, when he returned to school on either March 26 or 27.
When asked about the content of the statements, Weaver told police the students alleged that Brady-McKee talked about her sex life and showed them bruises on her breasts, legs and buttocks areas. Weaver said when he asked Brady-McKee about it, she denied it.
Weaver told police that he had Brady-McKee placed on the list of substitutes only to call if absolutely necessary. He also said that Brady-McKee was not allowed to substitute in the Health Occupations class.
However, Weaver said there wasn’t anyone to substitute due to multiple teachers calling off work. He told police he allowed Brady-McKee to substitute for a business class on March 31 and in the IT Department on May 1.
When students from the health class noticed Brady-McKee on May 1, Weaver said they made complaints to him and began to text-message their parents. He said multiple students came to him, saying they didn’t feel safe and comfortable with Brady-McKee in the CCCTC.
According to Weaver, he didn’t believe the students were in any danger but confronted Brady-McKee. He informed her that it wasn’t working out due to the large number of complaints about her. Weaver said he also told Brady-McKee that she would have to leave the CCCTC.
Police asked Weaver for the students’ statements. After reading them, police asked Weaver if he’d notified parents, Children & Youth Services or Child-Line. Weaver said that parents only knew if their children had text-messaged them, and he’d just called Child-Line prior to police arrival.
Police asked Weaver why he didn’t notify Child-Line and police immediately after the incident had occurred in March. Weaver didn’t give police an answer.
Police interviewed students in the morning Health Occupations class who originally made complaints. When asked students provided similar information about Brady-McKee allegedly talking in “great” detail about her sex life and showing bruises on her body from “rough sex.”
Students told police that Brady-McKee made them feel uncomfortable and they were upset that she was permitted back into the CCCTC.
Students said when they saw Brady-McKee at the CCCTC on May 1, they went to Weaver. Students said Weaver told them not to worry about it and the matter was being handled by the administration. Students said they were upset and contacted their parents, which made Weaver and Thomas yell at them for cell phone use.
Police interviewed students in the afternoon Health Occupations class. Students told police that Brady-McKee had shared “intimate details” of her sexual experiences. Students also told police that she spoke about drug use multiple times and asked to go to the beach with them while she could provide them with alcohol and drugs.
Police also interviewed Cosmetology students at the CCCTC who alleged that Brady-McKee made them feel uncomfortable when she discussed drugs and her sex life over the last couple of years. Two students alleged that Brady-McKee showed them unknown males’ private parts when they were sophomores, which they reported to their teacher the next day; their teacher then reported the incident to the administration.
Police also interviewed a health teacher who took the initial complaint from her students upon her return to class. She had students write statements, which were turned over to the administration. When the teacher asked Weaver if it should be reported, he said, “Nah, I’ll take care of it.” The teacher said she contacted Child-Line when the substitute returned to the CCCTC, as it obviously hadn’t been taken care of.
Another teacher told police she had reported a photo incident to Weaver, who was the assistant director at the time of that complaint. The teacher said there wasn’t anything done about it; when she talked to Thomas about the alleged sexual misconduct this year, she was told the victims weren’t cooperating and the story couldn’t be validated as a result.
On March 27, police interviewed Brady-McKee about the allegations against her. She initially wouldn’t admit to the alleged incidents of sexual misconduct at the CCCTC.
She told police that she spoke to the students about drugs but never said she used or that drugs were OK. She said she did talk to the students about sex but only because they asked or it came up in conversation. She told police that she was only joking about buying the students alcohol for their trip and denied saying she’d buy them drugs.
When police asked Brady-McKee about the photos, she denied showing males’ private parts to students. Instead, she said students were talking about their boyfriends’ private parts, showed each other photos and asked her if she had any.
Police said Brady-McKee’s statements corroborated with that taken from the victims. However, police said she wouldn’t accept direct blame or admit to anything.
On June 15, police interviewed Thomas about Brady-McKee’s alleged sexual misconduct at the CCCTC. Thomas said she never thought about reporting it, and didn’t realize it should have been reported to authorities.
Preliminary hearings have been scheduled for Brady-McKee, Weaver and Thomas on July 29 at the Clearfield County Jail.
