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Pasco teacher faces felony sex charges
By KENT FISCHER and TAMARA LUSH © St. Petersburg Times, published January 24, 2001 NEW PORT RICHEY -- A Bayonet Point Middle School teacher faces felony charges after sheriff's detectives said he admitted having a sexual relationship with a 14-year-old female student. James Chris Howard, 41, is charged with three counts of lewd and lascivious acts with a child and one count of contributing to the delinquency of a minor. Howard, who teaches special education, was arrested Tuesday morning after turning himself in to Pasco County sheriff's deputies. A deputy's report states that Howard admitted fondling the girl, kissing her and touching her genitals last June at Starkey Park. Authorities said the teacher and the girl, then 13, had three sexual encounters. "If he's admitted to it, I'm going to fire him," Superintendent John Long said of Howard. Long said the law requires him to suspend Howard with pay until the next board meeting, scheduled for Feb. 6. Long said he will then ask the board to either fire Howard or suspend him without pay depending on the outcome of the criminal investigation. Howard began teaching in 1990 when he was hired to work with emotionally handicapped kids at Pasco Middle School. Howard moved to a similar position at Bayonet Point Middle in 1993. School and sheriff's officials said they have no reason to think Howard was involved with any other students. "There is no information as to any other victims at this point," said sheriff's spokesman Jon Powers. Howard is being held at the county jail in Land O'Lakes on $40,000 bail. He declined an interview request by the Times. A detective's hunch brought the relationship to light. By chance, Detective Greg Hinnant was in the parking lot of the Regency Park Library on Dec. 15. The detective noticed Howard pull up and, about 10 minutes later, he watched as a young girl walked out of a nearby subdivision and climbed into Howard's car, Powers said. "Based on (Hinnant's) experience and training, he felt that something was wrong with the situation," Powers said. Hinnant, a detective in the crimes against children unit, approached the car and tried to talk to Howard but he drove off with the girl, Powers said. The detective followed and Howard tried to "put some distance between he and the detective," Powers said. Eventually, Hinnant pulled Howard over. Howard told Hinnant that he was a teacher and said he was counseling the girl. Both the girl and Howard told Hinnant that school officials and the girl's family knew that he was seeing the girl outside of school, Powers said. Hinnant contacted the girl's family and learned that the teacher did not have permission to see the girl outside of the classroom, Powers said. The school district put Howard on a temporary assignment away from students while detectives investigated further. Initially, both Howard and the girl denied having a sexual relationship and detectives were unable to press charges, Long said. District officials were scheduled to meet with the girl and her mother Monday, but they never did. District officials said the girl's mother recently found incriminating letters that her daughter had written to Howard, and she took them to police. The girl then confessed to the relationship with Howard, said Jim Davis, the district's director of employee relations. Howard's personnel file shows that he has consistently received satisfactory job reviews. In addition to teaching, Howard has coached football and track over the years, records show. Howard did receive a letter of reprimand in 1992 after he grabbed a student during a verbal confrontation at Pasco Middle School. - Tamara Lush is the police reporter in Pasco County. She can be reached in west Pasco at 869-6245 or (800) 333-7505, ext. 6245. Her e-mail address is href=mailto:lush@sptimes.com>lush@sptimes.com.
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