News

Jury Rejects Claims Against Teacher

May 19, 2005

VISTA --- Following a day of deliberations, a jury on Friday rejected claims that an Escondido preschool teacher physically abused and intended to harm two severely autistic children in his care.

The suit, filed on behalf of the children, identified only as Austin B. and Jessica B., alleged that teacher Shawn Priest repeatedly pinched and squeezed them, leaving bruises, from 2000 to early 2002 at the Nicolaysen Center, a preschool geared toward special education students.

Attorneys for the six defendants --- which included Priest, the Escondido Union School District and high ranking district officials --- argued that the students were not abused and were never intentionally hurt.

School district attorney Jack Sleeth also argued that most of the people who reported the alleged abuse misunderstood what they were seeing.

Sleeth said Priest was using an accepted technique for working with autistic children, a method known as "deep pressure". Priest never intended to hurt the children, Sleeth said.

The eight-woman, four-man jury was not presented with any medical documentation of physical abuse.

After hearing three weeks of testimony, the jury decided that Priest did not intend to harm either child, and that neither Priest nor district officials were negligent in the matter.

"The justice system works very well," Sleeth said outside of the courtroom after the verdict. He added that Priest held his own in a "brutal" cross-examination, and that Priest came across as an "honorable and careful man."

Priest was not in the courtroom when the verdicts were read. Reached at his home Friday evening, the 32-year-old said the school district "is a team that really is on the side of kids."

Priest is no longer a teacher at Nicolaysen, but is still with the district and works with children with disabilities.

"If I'd felt I was a detriment to a child, I would have been gone," Priest said. "They (the school district) stayed in the ring with me because they believed I was telling the truth, and I was a benefit to the children and these allegations were false."

In the courtroom, after the jury's verdicts were read, Jessica's father leaned forward and buried his face in his hands. The girl's mother frowned.

Jurors declined to speak with the media after the verdicts. However, a handful of jurors did speak to Andrea Leavitt the attorney representing the two children.

Leavitt said jurors told her they had two problems with the case; they did not believe Priest ever intended to harm the children, and there were only two alleged victims.

Leavitt, who on Thursday had asked the jury to award each child $1.46 million, said that she may take up the issue of "intent to harm" on appeal.

As Leavitt spoke outside the courtroom, Austin's father put his arm around his wife.

"I think we always felt all along that we just wanted our son's voice to be heard, since he didn't have the ability to do that," said Austin's mother Gretchen.

Neither Austin or Jessica have the ability to speak. The two children, who are not related, were each 3 years old when they started at the school.

Other defendants in the suit included district Superintendent Mike Caston, Assistant Superintendents Bob Leon and Claudia Boyle and former Nicolaysen principal Jan Zelasko.

No longer at Nicolaysen, Zelasko is also still employed with the district.

--North County Times

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