Infamous Scandals

by Anne Williams

  Debra was becoming more and more reckless with each day and ten days later, on June 14, she invited the boy to help her clean the classroom. She crossed the unforgivable line and had sex with the boy at the school. From there Debra could no longer contain her lust for the boy and the following day she drove him to Ocala to see his cousin. They picked his cousin up from his house and then to his shock, Debra handed him the car keys (despite the fact that he was only 15) and told him to drive. Meanwhile, in the back of the car she had sex with her student. Not even worrying about whether the boy’s cousin would tell anyone, Debra then took the boys out for a smoothie and then shopping. She was captured on a security camera wearing a very brief sundress, supposedly unaware that she was doing anything wrong.

  the news spreads

  The news that Debra was hanging around with young boys spread like wildfire. She was seen in the shopping centre by the mother of one of the cousin’s friends. She in turn told the cousin’s mother, who then asked the boy’s mother if she was aware that her son was hanging around with his beautiful teacher. Debra tried to appease the situation by calling the boy’s mother, unaware that she had already confronted her son and he had told her just how far they had gone. The police had already been informed and detectives went to interview the boy, who confirmed his story. They decided the best way to trap the teacher was to get the boy to phone her while they listened in. He asked Debra if she had enjoyed herself the day before, to which she replied she had. The detectives then asked the boy to call again, but this time to invite her over to his house. While on the phone Debra made the boy promise that his mother wasn’t at home.

  Debra arrived at the appointed time on 21 June 2004, but instead of the boy waiting for her, as she stepped out of her car she was surrounded by police. She couldn’t comprehend at first what she had done, but then when they told her she was being arrested for lewd and lascivious behaviour with a 14-year-old boy, the severity of the situation sank in.

  The boy was asked personal details about Debra to prove that she had indeed been his sex partner, while Debra was forced to have an embarrassing internal examination. Not only could Debra now face up to 30 years in jail but she had to come to terms that her career was in ruins and her marriage was over.

  going to trial

  According to three psychiatrists who were hired by the defence, it was confirmed that Debra was suffering from a bipolar disorder, which may have explained her rather erratic behaviour. It is known that women who suffer from this disorder often experience hypersexuality.

  The preliminary hearing took nearly two years in which time Owen divorced her, Debra’s pictures appeared everywhere and she became engaged to a childhood sweetheart by the name of Andrew Beck. In November 2005 Debra’s laywer managed to make a plea bargain with the prosecutors and said that Debra would plead guilty to ‘lewd and lascivious battery’ if she was given house arrest instead of a prison sentence. However, the judge rejected the plea bargain and demanded that it went to trial.

  With the fear of a prison sentence looming over her head, Debra prepared herself for the worst. Then, quite out of a blue, the boy’s mother told the prosecutors that she wanted to drop all charges. They felt it wasn’t worth putting their boy through the ordeal of testifying in court. With the media following Debra Lafave wherever she went, they also felt it wouldn’t be long before their son’s face and name were all over the papers. For once the media intensity had done Debra a favour.

  Debra could not believe that she had been let off so lightly and immediately phoned her fiancé to tell him the news, breaking down in sheer relief. At a news conference later that day she said:

  The past two years have been hard for all parties involved. I pray with all my heart that the young man and his family will be able to move on with their lives.

  Debra is now on controlled medication to try and fight her bipolar illness, and under the terms of her plea agreement was put on house arrest for three years and then on intensive probation for a further seven. She is only allowed to leave home to go to work and for essential errands. However, worse, far worse, she is a registered sex offender who will never be allowed to work with children or live within close proximity to a school. She wears an electronic ankle bracelet and every single movement of her life

  is tracked.

  Many people still feel that she should be in prison for her crime against an adolescent, but others feel that deep down she is a good and kind person who was a victim of her own distorted mind. She currently works as a waitress and, unable to profit from her crime, can never write her story for others to learn of her struggle with illness.

  Amy Gehring

  The case of Amy Gehring has raised a lot of questions, and there has been considerable debate as to how this 26-year-old supply teacher was ever allowed to teach in the first place. Although Gehring was cleared of indecently assaulting two schoolboys whom she was accused of having sex with, she did openly admit that she had had sex with a 16-year-old pupil at another school where she previously worked.

  Amy Gehring grew up on a farm in a small hamlet in Ontario, Canada. She graduated from the University of Western Ontario, but never pursued a teaching position in her homeland. She came to the United Kingdom in 2000 on a working holiday visa, at a time when supply teachers were in great demand due to staff shortages.

  Concerns regarding her professional conduct first came to light in October 2000. She was suspended by the agency that had employed her, TimePlan, amid claims that she had kissed one of her pupils and invited another boy back to her flat, where she had sex with him.

  TimePlan had a meeting with child protection officers on 12 October, and they were advised not to send Gehring to another school while they carried out their investigation. However, on 23 October the agency were told by the police that no charges were being brought against Miss Gehring and that the matter had been dropped. When TimePlan spoke with Gehring, she categorically denied that anything untoward had taken place.

  Before placing Gehring in another assignment, the agency spoke with the police and the Child Protection Unit (CPU) to see whether they thought it was advisable to send their client to an all-girls’ school. After a lot of consideration – and to be on the safe side – they decided that they would just send Gehring on one-day placements to stand in for absent teachers.

  However, after just one day at a comprehensive school in Surrey on 1 November 2000, she was accused again of entering into sexually inappropriate relationships with some pupils. She was interviewed by the police and the CPU as part of their enquiries and warned about her future behaviour. They also wrote to TimePlan saying that they believed that Miss Gehring could not be trusted and was more than likely to target young male pupils if placed on any further assignments. Despite these warnings, Gehring was given several other short placements before returning to the comprensive school in question for the remainder of the term.

  more scandal

  On 5 January 2001 playground gossip was rife and TimePlan were once again informed by parents about alleged assaults taking place at the school by Gehring. It was claimed that she had had sex with a boy in an alley close to the school. Then she had attended a private party being held by some of the pupils on New Year’s Eve, where she allegedly got very drunk on Malibu and Barcardi Breezers and supposedly had sex with two other boys.

  This time the matter was not dropped and the case went to trial. In her own defence, Gehring said, ‘I put myself into situations I shouldn’t have at parties because I became close to them [the pupils]. Looking back, I feel quite stupid for all of the things that I did. I was away from my family in a different country and I was spending most of my time with them. I became one of the kids basically’. She also admitted that she had got so drunk at the party that she couldn’t even remember if she had had sex or not! Although she did add that she had gone to the doctor the next day to get the morning after pill just to be on the safe side.

  The morning after the party, Gehring se
nt text messages to one of the boys asking him, ‘Did we have sex last night? I can’t remember. Please don’t think bad of me. Oh my God, I’m so sorry’.

  Gehring’s defence lawyer put it to the jury that it was possible it was just a case of two teenage boys having just too much testosterone, complicated by a lot of gossip, rumours and innuendos.

  One of the boys admitted in evidence that he had been offered a lot of money by a newspaper to give his story. He said he had had sex with Gehring in broad daylight in an alley near the school and that she had also performed oral sex on him in a toilet at the party on New Year’s Eve.

  Another 15-year-old boy also gave evidence that he had had sex with Gehring in a downstairs toilet at the same party.

  The jury was directed by the judge to find Miss Gehring ‘not guilty’ of a further charge against another boy, as the alleged incident did not constitute indecent assault because the boy supposedly instigated the sex. The jury failed to reach a verdict after deliberating for 10 hours and 15 minutes and in February 2002, Guildford Crown Court cleared Miss Gehring of all charges.

  return to canada

  Amy Gehring returned to her homeland but, although having been cleared of having sex with under-age schoolboys in Britain, she had to face disciplinary charges in her native Canada. She was accused of seven counts of professional misconduct relating to her behaviour back in the United Kingdom. She was found guilty of seven counts of professional misconduct, including abusing students ‘physically, sexually, verbally, psychologically or emotionally’ and banned from teaching in Canada for at least ten years.

  The tribunal said Miss Gehring had failed to uphold the profession’s standards and that she had behaved in a ‘disgraceful, dishonourable and unprofessional’ way. Gehring, who was not actually present at the hearing, said that she had no plans to pursue a career in teaching.

  Gehring’s case made MPs question the regulations regarding supply teachers and it has also highlighted the United Kingdom’s rather out-of-date laws regarding ‘adult-child’ sex. The law, dating back to 1956, prohibits a man from having sex with a girl aged 15 or under, but does not prevent a woman from having sex with a boy of 15. If an adult woman does have sex with a boy of 14 or 15 she can, just like Gehring, only be charged with ‘indecent assault’.

  PART SEVEN: Government Scandal

  J. Edgar Hoover

  The Federal Bureau of Investigation, better known as the FBI, has for many years held secret files on some of the most villainous criminal minds of the 20th century. However, perhaps one of the most intriguing scandals to come out of this major law enforcement agency is that of its own ruler, J. Edgar Hoover. It wasn’t until his death in 1972 that details came out that perhaps the man who spent his lifetime fighting against crime wasn’t quite so squeaky clean himself. Hoover stood for everything that was decent and his solid principles made him the ideal head of the FBI, a position which lasted for 48 years. And yet, if the stories are to be believed, Hoover was steeped in corruption. Perhaps what the public saw was indeed an amazing charade to cover up his more underhand activities. Was it really true that Hoover wore dresses with lace stockings and high heels, and a black curly wig and make-up? Was he really being blackmailed by the Mafia?

  rising up the ranks

  The 1920s saw the United States riddled with lawbreakers, particularly as it was a time when it was illegal to either make or consume alcohol. The distillation and distribution of alcohol became very big business and gangs started to compete for supremacy. As a result, violence and corruption was everywhere and the Mafia were soon taking a stronghold on the major cities of the United States.

  The United States had no national police force at this time to try and deal with a situation of such magnitude, and Congress chose an unknown professional bureaucrat by the name of J. Edgar Hoover to head the newly formed FBI. Although funds were scarce and its agents did not have much authority in its early days, Hoover soon turned the department into the world-famous and internationally acclaimed institution that is now recognised all over the world. Hoover’s ‘G-men’, as they were known, soon became national heroes as they captured some of the most notorious criminals – John Dillinger and Machine Gun Kelly – to name just two.

  Hoover quickly introduced a new set of standards for his agents. Not only did they need to have a college degree but he also insisted on a very high personal moral and dress code. He was a strict disciplinarian and demanded personal loyalty from anyone who worked for him. Within three years the FBI had the best fingerprinting techniques in the country, the best trained agents and the best record for fighting crime.

  hoover’s best friend

  When Clyde Tolson originally applied to join the FBI, his application was turned down. However, he tried again the following year, 1928, and this time his application form was spotted by Hoover. Tolson was hired and was quickly promoted through the ranks and, after only three years he was appointed assistant director of the up-and-coming law enforcement agency.

  Tolson and Hoover became close – or perhaps it is fair to say very close – friends and over the next 40 years were constant companions. They were like siamese twins – they rode to and from work together, ate lunches together and even went on holiday together – in fact there was hardly a time when they were seen apart. When rumours reached Hoover that people were calling him a homosexual, he lost his temper and started to hunt down the individuals who had dared to intimate such a thing. Little did he realise that behind his back some of his FBI employees had labelled the two men ‘J. Edna and Mother Tolson’. Hoover made it his duty to try and find the people who had started the rumours and he used his agents as musclemen. They visited the suspects in their homes and threatened them if they didn’t stop spreading slanderous remarks about Hoover.

  Although today there is nothing scandalous about being a homosexual, in the 1920s it wasn’t accepted in the same way. Added to this, Hoover was outspoken on his views about homosexuality and often referred to them as ‘queers’ and ‘fairies’. This was extremely hypocritical, especially as there were rumours that he loved to dress in women’s clothing. Hoover is alleged to have paid off anyone, including gangsters, who obtained any embarrassing pictures of the other, rather sordid, side to his life.

  When Hoover died in May 1972, he left virtually his entire estate to his companion, Tolson, and he also took hold of Hoover’s secret files. Most of Hoover’s personal effects were destroyed, in accordance with his wishes, and so if there was any evidence of a sexual relationship between the two men, this secret information died with them.

  hoover and the mafia

  For many years Hoover refused to believe that there was such a powerful crime syndicate as the Mafia, even though there was a mountain of evidence proving this fact. Because of his denial and his lack of action against them, the Mafia began to spread their wings even more until they controlled many of the major cities across the United States. Some have intimated that Hoover refused to crack down on organised crime because he was being blackmailed by the Mafia for his secret life as a homosexual. It is believed that the powerful Mafia boss, Meyer Lansky, was in possession of incriminating photographs and had put considerable pressure on the FBI boss.

  Hoover’s war on organised crime didn’t really get going until 1933 when a wave of crime swept over parts of the United States, turning names like John Dillinger, ‘Machine Gun’ Kelly, ‘Pretty Boy’ Floyd and ‘Baby Face’ Nelson into heroes. Hoover was not happy with the glorification that these gangsters were receiving and he saw it as a challenge. The FBI was Hoover’s life and he defended it like it was his own progeny. This was another reason behind his lack of action against the mobsters in previous years, because he feared failure. When Hoover did eventually send his agents against the Mafia hardmen, the media and public loved it. At last the FBI was receiving recognition and taking on a new image.

  Hoover’s war on the gangsters was always conducted with two main criteria on his mind – success for his FBI
men, but also veneration for none other than J. Edgar Hoover himself. The publicity served a double purpose, because not only did it boost his reputation but it also kept the media from snooping into other areas of his life that weren’t quite so above board. With his notoriety reaching its peak, Hoover was living the life of luxury, befitting that of a king. He used his own agents to keep his house spick and span and a string of bullet-proof cars to drive him wherever he wanted to go. He also used some of his agents to place enormous bets for him at racetracks across the United States, at the same time swearing them to secrecy about his gambling habits.

  Hoover and JFK

  Hoover had built up dossiers on anyone of importance – judges, movie stars and politicians were all too scared to put a foot wrong for fear of recrimination. When John F. Kennedy came to power in the 1960s, it was hoped that he would retire Hoover and replace him with a less corrupt individual. However, Hoover had got his hooks in first and used Kennedy for his own political leverage. Kennedy knew better than to mess with Hoover – after all his own file was probably one of the thickest and most incriminating of all. Hoover didn’t approve of Kennedy’s liberal views and his plans for civil rights, so from the onset of his presidency Kennedy was a target and the incriminating evidence mounted.

  The file started back at the beginning of World War II when Kennedy had a romance with 28-year-old Inga Arvad, who was suspected of being a Nazi sympathiser. After that he copiously gathered every snippet of dirt on Kennedy, delineating numerous liaisons with women and campaign contributions from Mafia bosses. Although Hoover was always outwardly polite to Kennedy, behind his back he attempted to smear his reputation as much as he could.