In the last month, 4 Valley educators are either facing charges or are under investigation for sexual conduct with a minor. According to police reports, all of these cases involved social media.
It is unusual to see four separate instances highlighted in the legal system just this month, and it is bound to be unnerving for parents who send their kids to school, trusting they will be safe and in good hands.
Friday morning, Patrick Battillo—known as Mr. Orng, a Phoenix Suns super fan, and a former Peoria High School boys basketball coach—appeared before a Maricopa County judge. He was sentenced to three and a half years in prison on three counts of attempted sexual exploitation of a minor. Last month, Battillo pleaded guilty to soliciting sexual photos and videos from students at the high school.
Earlier this month—also within Peoria Unified—two female teachers at Centennial High School, Haley Beck and Angela Burlaka, were accused of sexual conduct with the same teenage boy.
And finally on Thursday, 22-year-old Jessenia Rodriguez was arrested and charged with sexual conduct with a minor and luring an 8th grader, a 15-year-old boy. According to each police report, much of the evidence compiled was from online communication between these teachers and the student victims.
Doctor Brecken Blades, a forensic psychologist, says while these cases do have that in common, the gender of the offenders differs, which changes public perception of these cases.
“In my office alone, I’ve seen a huge uptick in online offenses,” Doctor Brecken Blades said. “What’s an unfortunate part of the issue when it’s a female who’s the potential perpetrator versus a male is that our society tends to view that differently, and it often goes underreported, and sometimes the female isn’t portrayed in the same way that a male offender or perpetrator would be portrayed.”
And while data shows female offenders are more rare, the impacts do not change.
“It is unfortunate when someone uses their position of authority; that can have increased trauma outcomes for the victim and certainly impacts the entire community,” Doctor Brecken Blades said.
She says parents might be uneasy, given they send their kids to school for eight hours a day around what is supposed to be trusted adults.
“That is valid. But it is not every teacher,” Doctor Brecken Blades said.
There are signs to look for and to be aware of: Is there communication outside of school channels—whether that’s phone calls, social media messages like Snapchat, or texting? Is a teacher giving extra attention to your child that’s not connected to a school event?
