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Dec. 27, 2007
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

Former coach faces charges

Police say man got student pregnant

By LISA KIM BACH
REVIEW-JOURNAL

Kenneth Craig
Suspect wrote in e-mails of fear of discovery, LV police say

A former Las Vegas High School track coach impregnated one of his team members and then helped her get an abortion, Las Vegas police allege.

Kenneth Craig, 28, of the 2100 block of Tenaya Way, was arrested and booked into jail Dec. 20 on a felony charge of sexual misconduct with a student.

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    • Craig worked as a substitute teacher for the Clark County School District from May 2003 to May 2007. He also was a track coach at Las Vegas High School from February to May 2006. His arrest report said that he was an assistant track coach for boys and girls at the school.

    Police have recovered hundreds of pages of electronic correspondence between Craig and the then-17-year-old senior from a computer that the girl used. They subpoenaed Craig's MSN hotmail subscriber information. Some of the messages indicated that Craig feared discovery and knew that the relationship could have criminal consequences, police said.

    In one message, Craig talked about the possibility of facing jail time and losing his job, police said.

    In another message, sent to the teen on May 26, 2006, Craig wrote, "You forget although track is over your still in school ... which means if I get caught at your house ... that is MY ASS," according to his arrest report.

    He then told the girl that he was willing to meet her at night because it was less risky, the report said. He also reminded her to keep their relationship on the "DL," down low, the police report said.

    The former Las Vegas High student told police that she and Craig first had sex in March 2006 in her parents' home, according to Craig's arrest report. Medical records obtained by police through an Oct. 15 grand jury subpoena showed the victim had an abortion on June 22, 2006.

    The relationship first was reported to school district police by Las Vegas High's current girls track coach, Uvette Gonzaque-Francis.

    As a public education employee, Gonzaque-Francis is required by law to report suspected abuse involving students. School police turned the case over to Las Vegas police, whose records indicate that they got the case on April 10.

    Gonzaque-Francis told police she learned of the relationship from Craig's ex-girlfriend, Deanna Riddle.

    Riddle gave birth to Craig's son on Jan. 10 at Southern Hills Hospital and Medical Center, according to a birth announcement published in the Review-Journal early this year.

    On March 13, police said, Riddle reportedly told Gonzaque-Francis that Craig had sex with a female track athlete in 2006 and had gotten her pregnant. Gonzaque-Francis told police that Riddle said she paid for the abortion.

    When police talked to the former student, she said Craig and Riddle accompanied her to an abortion clinic.

    She said that "Deanna paid approximately $500 cash for the abortion and obtained the paperwork from the clinic," Detective Paul Slaninka wrote in the police report.

    Police interviewed Riddle in May.

    "I asked Deanna if she drove (the teen) and Kenneth Craig to an abortion clinic and Deanna stated that she drove her to a doctor's office and was unaware if it was an abortion clinic," Slaninka wrote in the report.

    "She also stated that she gave Kenneth Craig money on numerous occasions and is unaware if he used those monies to pay for an abortion."

    Electronic correspondence between Craig and the track team member make several references to her pregnancy and the abortion, according to the arrest report. Craig urged the student to save money because "we still have to go to the clinic in a couple of weeks," according to the police report.

    Other messages touch on the victim's desire to "keep it" and the effects of the abortion procedure, according to the police report.

    Craig declined to give Las Vegas police a statement in September. The arrest report said Craig was interviewed on the phone by school police in March. Craig admitted to having sex with the student but said that it occurred after the girl had graduated in June 2006, the arrest report said.

    Police said the electronic messages they recovered contradicted Craig's statement. The arrest report quoted a May 30, 2006, message sent from Craig to the victim that asks: "your not going to sleep with me anymore?"

    Las Vegas High School officials are on winter break and could not be reached for comment. Clark County School District spokeswoman Jaime Lea confirmed the period of Craig's employment but said a list of schools where Craig worked as a substitute teacher was not immediately available. "As a substitute teacher, he would have been at several different schools over the course of four years," Lea said.

    She said Craig had "separated from the district" but would not specify whether that meant he was fired or he quit.

    Craig's preliminary hearing is set for Feb. 20 in Las Vegas Justice Court.

    The charge of sexual misconduct with a student was added to the Nevada Revised Statutes in 1997 thanks to Terri Miller, who is now president of the Stop Educator Sexual Abuse, Misconduct and Exploitation.

    Miller said a daughter's friend had been sexually exploited by a teacher in Pahrump and was not prosecuted because the girl was not younger than 16, the age of consent in Nevada. Miller found that other states had laws that specifically prohibited teachers from taking advantage of their students, and she lobbied for such a law in Nevada.

    In Nevada, anyone who is 21 or older and is employed in or volunteering in a position of authority at a school is guilty of a category C felony if he or she engages in sexual conduct with a pupil who is 16 or 17 and is guilty of a category B felony if the student is 14 or 15.

    A category C felony is punishable by one to five years in prison and a fine of up to $10,000, and sexual misconduct with a student who is 14 or 15 is punishable by one to six years in prison and a fine of up to $5,000.

    Miller continues to lobby for changes to the law and contends the punishments are not severe enough. She has been pushing for those who are convicted of such crimes to be required to register as sex offenders, but she said her effort was scuttled by legislators in the past session.

    "Did you know that in Nevada, a person who sexually assaults a dead body is guilty of a Class A felony and is required to register as a sex offender, but a person who commits a sex offense on a child, someone who abuses their position as a trusted authority figure to abuse a child, that person is not required to register? This is sick," Miller said.

    Contact reporter Lisa Kim Bach at lbach@reviewjournal.com or (702) 383-0287.



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    wjmd wrote on January 10, 2008 07:57 PM: Vegasres, you're right. If you read the article and take it as is then it seems pretty sensational, but, that's what sells papers. My cousin is actually friends with one of them (NOT gonna say who, LOL) and no one's allowed to talk about it for legal reasons obviously, but my cousin was told everything's not as sinister as the police have made it seem. The public has only heard snapshots.

    The other thing of interest though, and I'm not sure if it's because my friends and I are young and so it's a generational diff of opinion, is that you call him a "child rapist," but the only reason that he's even guilty of anything at ALL is simply b/c of where he met her. If he was her boss at an after-school job at the Quickie Mart then this wouldn't even be news! I think he shouldn't be allowed to teach for being so stupid and definitely have probation (trying to withhold judgement 'til I know more though), but it seems like a waste of tax dollars to spend time on stuff like this. No offense, just my circle's opinion.

    Okay, I said my piece. I don't have time to waste chatting about it anymore, I just read it yesterday after getting an e-mail about it.


    vegasres wrote on January 10, 2008 06:20 PM: For the record, I was not anti-abortion in the first case either.
    What disturbed me about the police accounts of their initial interviews was how this abortion took place.
    An underage student is seduced and impregnated by her coach. She never tells her parents but the coach and his girlfriend drive the young girl to the clinic where the older girlfriend pays 500 cash for her abortion.
    These two adults had a lot of motive to have this girl’s pregnancy disappear, right?
    If these were the only two counseling this girl, then perhaps they could have influenced her. None of us know. We just know her coach and his girlfriend "took care of" her situation.
    This entire story is disturbing!
    Sorry if my reaction to it upsets you wjmd, but it really is disturbing


    vegasres wrote on January 10, 2008 05:56 PM: Apparently the police think that a crime occurred-so I guess the truth will come out in court. Although the age maybe 16, I don't know. It is not lawful to impregnate an underage girl and then facilitate her abortion with the help (and money) of your other girlfriend. I saw this article like everyone else and it seems as though LVPD believe that a crime was committed.
    And for the record, I wasn’t pro-abortion in the "second case." I was just wondering why the girlfriend would want to stay with and begin a family with a "child rapist" if she wasn’t already pregnant when she found out the awful truth about him. But like you say....."It’s a person's personal CHOICE."


    wjmd wrote on January 10, 2008 01:07 PM: Ha, vegasres I told my friend I was gonna stop by here today to see what/if you wrote anything because I thought it was funny that you write like you know these people but it's obvious you don't and are just going by hearsay or the article. The truth will all come out in court though. And, why you would make your position so anti-abortion in the first case and then chastise the other girl for the decision to keep the child in the second case, that doesn't even make sense. Nevada doesn't have any age requirements when it comes to abortions at the age of consent (16), it's a person's personal CHOICE.


    vegasres wrote on January 10, 2008 11:37 AM: The lvrj reported that miss riddle delivered a child that was fathered by the perpetrator. My timeline is not that "far off." This ex-teacher is a sexual predator and his girlfriend facilitated and apparently paid for his plans to eliminate the unborn child. Instead of driving the underage girl to the clinic and paying for the girl’s abortion, maybe she should have turned him in then instead of beginning a family of her own with him. I’m sorry to say but the only victim in this situation is the high school student, who I’m sure was lead down the wrong path (even if she allowed herself to be.) We were all young once and young people don’t always understand the consequences of their actions. They act on emotion. Miss Riddle and Mr. Craig were adults who knew perfectly well the consequences of their actions on their own lives, as well as the teenagers. I’m sure at least her parents would see it that way.


    wjmd wrote on January 09, 2008 09:41 PM: 2006LVHSGrad, you're right, he didn't have any prior offenses so how would the school know... but, the parents did know (you think someone can show up at night and parent's don't know, this wasn't at school).

    Vegasres, you're timeline for the other relationship & child is way off, thus your theory is too.


    vegasres wrote on January 08, 2008 08:51 AM: No,the student was a young black girl who thought she was in love. The kicker is this girlfrind, deanna riddle, craig had her pregnant at the same time as the high school student. I guess riddle dind't want any compitition, so she brought the teenager the the clinic and shelled out the $500 for the abortion. If I were the parents of the girl, I would want charges pressed on the girlfrind deanna riddle as well.


    2006LVHSGrad wrote on December 31, 2007 11:59 AM: Mamamia:

    I don't think thorough background checks would have prevented this. I don't believe he had any prior offenses.


    2006LVHSGrad wrote on December 31, 2007 11:58 AM: It's sick that so many men prefer to engage in such activity with young girls, and it's sad that something like this easily happened. I don't want to put any blame on her parents because I don't know them and don't know the whole situation, but it seems like if there was more supervision, the whole situation might have been discovered earlier or even prevented.

    My brother informed me that he went to school with this guy and he (Mr. Craig) is a former LVHS student. My family and I have a running joke that the former students who go back to the school to coach are trying to relive their days in high school. And a few even go back to try and catch some girls.


    Mamamia wrote on December 27, 2007 08:25 PM: The saddest part of this sordid story is the fact that the school district seems willing to hire people of this ilk without checking backgrounds more thoroughly before placing in a position of trust. If such incidents keep occurring, more parents will be forced to home school their children, which, after all, is a safer option in cases like this one. Heaven helps us.


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