(The Lion) — Parents in Colorado’s Jefferson County Public Schools district are expressing outrage over news of a child pornography investigation concerning the former chief of staff, who has committed suicide.
David Weiss, who had worked in public education for 19 years, was found dead while visiting family, Maryland’s Washington County Sheriff’s Office reported Jan. 1.
As previously reported by The Lion, the district had fired Weiss on Dec. 19 but hadn’t disclosed the nature of the criminal investigation concerning him.
“The only acceptable response at this point from the superintendent is to come out harshly and fiercely in regards to what her expectations are,” Lindsay Datko told Colorado Public Radio, “and what will happen to those who breach the trust of our children.”
Datko took issue with the district’s refusal to communicate specific details about the investigation with parents – especially “whether any Jeffco students may be victims,” according to CPR.
“People are really reeling and upset to hear the reality [of Weiss’ death], but also confident that there’s more to the story,” she said. “I think with this new development, it only heightened the worry of how severe this actually is.”
A history of sexual assault allegations
Four sexual assault cases had been brought against the district during the past year, making allegations against its former chief of staff “the fifth such case in JeffCo Public Schools in 2024,” CPR noted.
Brady Exploration High School marked the first incident in January 2024. One of its paraprofessionals, Imagine Ewer, was taken into custody and charged with sexual assault. Other charges included sexual exploitation of a child and unlawful electronic sexual communication.
“The second arrest followed an incident on Valentine’s Day when two boys under the age of 15 said Luis Fernando Robles-Luevanos, a family liaison at Creighton Middle School, called them into his office to perform what he called ‘medical exams’,” wrote Haylee May for CPR.
The third and fourth cases involved Justin Martinez, who worked in after-school care programs for the district, and Chloe Castro, one of the district’s social workers.
“We have been advocating for greater safety measures, and one of those is that JeffCo allows their employees to self-identify as trusted adults to children in their schools,” Datko said.
This ability to self-identify as a trusted adult raised concerns from George Mumma Jr., who spoke against the practice during the district’s June 22, 2023, school board meeting.
“When the school district started saying that they were going to make teachers or whoever a trusted adult, it raised the hair on the back of my neck,” said Mumma, a retired police chief.
“My question is, who does the training? Who determines whether or not this person’s capable of being the trusted adult, and are parents being involved in that discussion? Right now, I don’t think any of that’s happening.”
Many juvenile victims have said they were abused by a person they had believed to be a trusted adult, according to Mumma.
“It’s not for a teacher or some school administrator or some school attorney to decide. The parent is the trusted adult, and parents decide whether a child should be trusting so-and-so.”
