ALL COUNTIES: What is going on? Teachers are supposed to be a child’s role model. However, more and more cases have emerged involving illicit behavior by teachers ranging from sexual relationships with students to possession of illegal substances to attempted murder.
The Lowlights---
Johnston County: A former teacher once charged in a murder-for hire is accused of printing $200,000 of fake money. Marcia Grimsley was a Johnston County elementary school teacher and the widow of a powerful man in state politics. Her late husband, Joe, was an advisor to former Gov. Jim Hunt. In 2004, she was charged in a murder-for-hire plot. Recently, Clayton police stopped her car after getting a tip from an informant. Inside her trunk, officers said, they found large sums of counterfeit currency. Police believe Grimsley was printing the counterfeit money by herself. They seized a computer, printer and fiber printing paper from her house. Grimsley is facing a new legal battle over the fake illegal tender. She is out of jail on bond.
Nash County: A Northern Nash High School teacher was charged with attempted first-degree murder following a domestic dispute that ended in gunfire. 42-year-old, Brenda Dean Wilkins of Whitakers is being held in the Nash County Detention Center on a $25,000 bond. Police say Wilkins shot John Moore five times Monday evening in a domestic dispute that happened in Rocky Mount. Wilkins was a family and consumer science teacher. She’s been suspended with pay. (http://www.wral.com/news/local/story/1892282/)
Johnston County: Earlier this week, law enforcement arrested a 36-year-old Johnston County school teacher during a methamphetamine sting. Amy Snead, a second-grade teacher at Polenta Elementary School in Garner, was charged with possession of an immediate precursor chemical and exceeding the pseudoephedrine limit. She was released from jail late Tuesday afternoon under a $20,000 secured bond. (http://www.ncwanted.com/ncwanted_home/story/1885713/)
Cumberland County: Back in April, a Cumberland County high school teacher landed behind bars after he was accused of having sex with a student. 26-year-old Cameron King was a teacher at Gray’s Creek High School in Fayetteville. King was charged with taking indecent liberties with a student. (http://www.ncwanted.com/ncwanted_home/story/1277461/)
Also in Cumberland County: 28-year-old Joel Vincent Hurley was arrested after two different victims came forward to report sexual abuse. Hurley was also a teacher’s assistant at Gray’s Creek Middle School and claimed to be a part-time employee with the Fayetteville-Cumberland County Parks and Recreation Department. (http://www.ncwanted.com/ncwanted_home/story/1854838/)
Brunswick County: Janet Klatt, was convicted in February of sexual activity between a school personnel member and , was a student. She was sentenced to 30 months on probation and fined $500. Investigators said Klatt, who taught at a private school in Concord called The Cannon School, was discovered having sex with the student at the Clarion Hotel on Hillsborough Street during the overnight trip in April 2006. She also was convicted in Cabarrus County in an incident with the same student.
(Note: Brunswick County has recently been a hotbed of illicit activity between faculty and students. NC WANTED would like to know why..)
To learn more about these cases and read about more stories involving teacher misconduct, click on links in the gray sidebar next to this article.
Anyone with information on cases involving teacher misconduct should call NC WANTED toll free at 1.866.43.WANTED (1.866.439.2683) or click on "Report a Tip" Your identity can be kept confidential.
