KOKOMO, Ind. — Steve Dishon, the superintendent of the Taylor Community School Corporation, was fielding questions from parents Friday morning.
Many of the questions concerned the safety of their children after Randy "Scott" Sullivan, the now former varsity girls' basketball coach, was arrested for allegedly grooming and having an inappropriate relationship with one of his players.
Court documents say Sullivan, 49, of Kokomo, would always take the teenager to and from practice and school events.
This is something Dishon says will no longer be accepted or tolerated for any staff member to do unless there's an emergency.
"Practices one-on-one and lessons one-on-one will not happen at the school, so there will be no breaking out the shooting machine and taking up shots," Dishon said. "There won't be any musical lessons that are one-on-one. All lessons, all group activities will be in groups."
According to court documents, during those car rides, the 15-year-old freshman says Sullivan would tell her she's pretty.
But then, she claims he started touching her, and, as Zero Abuse Project's Kristina Karabov explained, this is textbook grooming behavior.
"So, maybe the person in trust tells an inappropriate joke and the child doesn't immediately go and tell their parents, well, the coach knows that's OK or the teacher knows that's OK, so they just start to push those boundaries of the child, and as long as it's not reported, as long as the child doesn't seem uncomfortable with it or resistant to it, it'll be easier to take that next step, and that next and that next step," Karabov said.
Detectives with the Howard County Sheriff's Office discovered "several grossly inappropriate text messages, pictures and video" on the victim's phone. Investigators later confirmed several of the photos and videos "clearly originated from inside the house where Scott lives." Also, the phone number used belonged to a phone registered to Sullivan.
Dishon also talked to parents about additional trainings Taylor school staff and students will undergo, in addition to the new set of guidelines.
"We need to help students understand what is appropriate and what's inappropriate, and then, we also need to understand the 'see something, say something' policy we have is a way for them to identify things that seem a little bit off," Dishon said.
Parents like Mindy Fleenor left the morning meeting feeling reassured that their kids are going to be OK.
"My children have been here forever. I went here. I do not think that it's a bad school. I think it happens everywhere. It doesn't matter if it is our school, it doesn't matter if it's at home — this stuff happens everywhere," Fleenor said.
In a statement issued Sept. 27, Dishon said Sullivan was placed on leave from his duties as a coach and groundskeeper with the district once the initial accusations were learned. As more facts were uncovered, Dishon said Sullivan was terminated from his job and banned from school property or any events involving Taylor students.
At some point after the investigation began, detectives learned Sullivan had left home in his vehicle and had not been seen by friends and family for 1 1/2 days. When he returned, a note was found in his vehicle, apologizing to friends, family and the victim.
An arrest warrant was issued for Sullivan on Oct. 3. He turned himself in to police later in the day and is being held at the Howard County Jail on a $50,000 bond.
He faces charges of child solicitation, sexual battery and dissemination of matter harmful to minors.
Police ask anyone with additional information about the case to contact Howard County Sheriff's Office Det. Waymore at 765-614-3463.
