Two Indiana Public School employees have been charged with failing to report sexual abuse allegations after they repressed the accusations internally for six days before contacting the Department of Child Services.
Human Resources Case Worker Shalon Dabney, 45, and Director of Human Resources for IPS Lela “Tina” Hester, 59, were each charged Wednesday with a misdemeanor of failing to report the allegations against IPS counselor Shana Taylor, 37.
Dabney and Hester will appear in court for an initial hearing May 17.
The allegations of sexual abuse led to the arrest of Taylor, who was charged March 2 with nine counts of child seduction, one count of dissemination of matter harmful to minors and one count of contributing to the delinquency of a minor.
A series of email exchanges obtained by detectives reveal both Dabney and Hester had more than enough relevant facts about the case by Feb. 18 to know they should have reported to DCS immediately.
However, no one called DCS until Feb. 23, after a media outlet had already been tipped off about the internal investigation, according to a probable cause affidavit.
In Indiana, all employees in a public or private institution, school, facility or agency are legally obligated to report alleged child abuse or neglect to DCS immediately.
On Feb. 18, Hester sent an email to a top IPS official, Chief Strategist Le Boler, providing information about the inappropriate relationship and Taylor’s suspension.
“I asked that the school police stay out of it so that she is not charged and we can handle from an HR perspective, but I don’t know if the mom plans to file charges,” Hester wrote in the email.
The allegations were first brought to the school’s attention when a mother met with William Jensen, the assistant principal at Positive Supports Academy, on Feb. 17.
Jensen contacted the director of Student Services who then instructed him to contact Hester, who forwarded all relevant information to Dabney. Dabney also serves as the Title IX director for IPS.
Hester told authorities Jensen asked her if he should contact law enforcement and she told him not to, but rather to follow their procedure. Hester said in her rush to make sure the students were kept safe, she neglected to confirm Jensen had made a DCS report, according to the probable cause affidavit.
Dabney said she did not realize the relationship had not been reported until she could not find the proper confirmation paperwork.
She contacted the school’s former principal, Mark Cosand, who has since resigned, on Feb. 22 to tell him he should contact DCS if he had not already done so.
An email from the district spokesperson to Hester said someone had sent a tip on the internal investigation to a local news outlet, and the news outlet had inquired about the incident Feb 22. The email was sent to Hester before Dabney told Cosand to file a DCS report.
Taylor reportedly had sexual relations with at least two male students, ages 16 and 17, she was responsible for counseling. Taylor allegedly met with one of them for oral and vaginal sex during the course of several months, according to court documents.
Taylor’s trial is scheduled for May 11.
Samantha Schmidt
