Investigative records show that a Hoquiam High School science teacher recently arrested for allegedly sending two young girls sexually suggestive messages has faced previous accusations of inappropriate behavior at school dating back at least four years.
Teacher Wesley A. Phillips now faces felony charges of voyeurism and communicating with a minor for immoral purposes involving as many as four 12- and 13-year-old girls, stemming from alleged spying and sexually explicit messages sent over the past several months.
In the wake of the recent allegations, a former Hoquiam High School student has come forward, saying she complained in 2008 of repeated sexual harassment from Phillips. She wrote in a statement to police that she discussed the harassment directly with then-High School Principal Mark VandenHazel and two teachers.
When the girl came forward, the High School was still dealing with four back-to-back scandals involving teachers accused of sexual misconduct or inappropriate contact with students between 2006 and 2008.
The student recently told police that school officials seemed to listen to her at the time and Phillips left her alone, but she believes her complaint should have been taken more seriously.
“I don’t think they really believed me,” she wrote in an email to investigators. “I think they wanted to handle it quietly since other allegations were being made against other teachers.”
Police investigators reported that Phillips was also previously disciplined for having inappropriate content on his classroom computer. School administrators have confirmed he was disciplined, but would not discuss any details of the allegations.
Hoquiam Superintendent Mike Parker declined to comment on how the previous complaint was handled. He said the school is reviewing all allegations as part of an ongoing internal investigation into Phillips’ conduct.
“We are still, ourselves, doing an investigation,” he said. “We’re being very thorough and deliberate.”
Parker emphasized that the school district has implemented extensive sexual harassment and boundary training for all teachers in recent years. He said the district has also tightened up school policy on communication with students.
Phillips, who also served as an assistant coach for girls basketball at Aberdeen High School, has been placed on paid administrative leave from both schools pending the outcome of the internal and criminal investigations.
Repeated harassment
In public records recently obtained by The Daily World, the former student wrote several recent emails and submitted a three-page statement on what she believed to be repeated sexual harassment from Phillips in 2007 and 2008.
The unidentified former student stated she played basketball for the Hoquiam High team while Phillips served as head coach. She stated she had long considered him a mentor before his inappropriate comments caused her to start avoiding him whenever possible.
“I didn’t have any real evidence that he was trying to do anything with me, so I kept it quiet, not wanting to be another rumor,” she wrote. “Around this time there were two other teachers at Hoquiam High School being accused of inappropriate behavior toward students and I heard firsthand the rumors that were being circulated about the girls that were allegedly involved. … I didn’t want the same thing happening to me.”
The former student stated Phillips first made questionable comments when she was waiting with him after basketball practice. He would later play off some of the comments as “jokes.”
“Mr. Phillips suggested we play one-on-one basketball and I agreed,” she wrote, “next thing I knew he was asking if I would play strip basketball. I got uncomfortable and stopped playing…”
She stated Phillips also asked her about intimate aspects of her relationship. Eventually, she said, she did everything she could to avoid him.
“I was really confused and scared,” she wrote. “He was my role model and I thought that I must have misunderstood what he was really trying to say.”
When Phillips reportedly started trying to contact her outside of class, she stated she broke down emotionally and reported his conduct to a teacher who asked her what was wrong. That teacher, a male, immediately involved a female teacher and the two instructors went to VandenHazel, who had a conversation with the girl.
“I told my whole story to the principal and he listened,” she wrote. “I know that they were curious as to why I didn’t come forward earlier but they listened to me and … they told me not to worry about it. They would make sure that he left me alone from then on.”
A letter from Phillips included in police records confirms the school talked to him about the complaint, but does not discuss any details.
VandenHazel, who now works as vice principal for River Ridge High School in Thurston County, said recently he was aware of the new allegations against Phillips, but he was not comfortable discussing the details of the previous complaint from 2008.
“We had some interactions,” he said of Phillips, “but without my notes I’d rather not comment on it.”
History of misconduct
When the former student reportedly came forward in 2008, Hoquiam High School was trying to recover from a string of misconduct allegations against teachers and coaches in recent years.
Two of them were particularly high profile cases. In December of 2006, Hoquiam choir teacher Matt Hirschfelder was accused of having a sexual relationship with an 18-year-old female student in a case that went to the state Supreme Court before Hirschfelder pleaded guilty to coercion and surrendered his teaching certificate.
In 2007, head football coach Todd Hoiness was accused and later convicted of sexual misconduct for an inappropriate relationship with an 18-year-old female student. Hoiness was sentenced to five months in jail and forced to register as a sex offender. He lost his teaching certificate, too.
In May of 2006, a special education teacher was forced to surrender his teaching certificate after he admitted to viewing pornography on his classroom computer and was accused of “grooming behavior” with a male student.
And in October of 2008 a teacher and coach was accused and later fired over allegations he sent hundreds of sometimes inappropriate text messages to two students.
Phillips was arrested last month for allegedly sending sexually explicit messages to two 12-year-old Hoquiam Middle School students. He also allegedly watched them through windows and made suggestive comments, which may have involved two additional 13-year-old girls.
In the wake of the recent allegations, a previous computer issue has also resurfaced from several years ago. Police investigators reported Phillips was reprimanded by the school after inappropriate content was discovered on his classroom computer. He denied responsibility for it, but was reportedly disciplined for not properly securing his computer.
Phillips’ letter to the school addresses the incident, blaming the inappropriate computer usage on a student. School officials declined to discuss the incident.
Increased training
Superintendent Parker said the district has taken several steps in recent years to crack down on teacher contact with students, implementing new boundary training and reminding teachers of the consequences of sexual harassment.
“We put the entire staff through training after the first incident,” he said. “We certainly ramped up our training based on past incidents.”
New policies warn against teachers privately contacting students. Parker also issued a memo in 2010 indicating teachers should not share private numbers, contacting students through their parents if necessary.
Employees must also report any suspicions of inappropriate contact. He said all of the regulations are outlined in annual training sessions and teacher handbooks.
Chris Eide, chairman of the Hoquiam School Board, said the school has worked diligently to tighten up rules and oversight on teacher-student interactions. He said he shares the public’s “disgust” over the new allegations.
“The polices were tightened up significantly,” he said, adding, “We’re extremely disappointed with the accusations. … It’s an outrage. We share their (parents’) frustration with it.”
When asked about how the school handled the previous complaint about Phillips, Eide said he believed the resolution was appropriate under the circumstances. He was not on the board at the time.
“I think it was reasonable at the time,” Eide said. “All of these things have to be handled delicately. There are people’s careers at stake. … I think that was done.”
New awareness programs
While the District has stepped up training and regulation in many areas, most of those efforts have focused on reinforcing the rules with staff members. The District has yet to implement any sort of widescale program to help students better understand sexual boundaries and harassment issues.
When recently contacted by Beyond Survival, a sexual assault awareness center, the District scheduled a meeting to discuss implementing sexual harassment presentations for students. By all accounts, the meeting went well.
Doreen Winningham, executive director for Beyond Survival, said she was excited to have the chance to introduce the program in the Hoquiam School District. The center has previously provided free sexual boundary presentations for several area schools including Aberdeen High School.
“We are working on putting together some presentations,” she said.
The presentations aim to empower the students by outlining safe behaviors and establishing clear boundaries. The program offers a variety of presentations for different age groups, ranging from “Joey Learns the Touching Rule” to high school presentations on sexting and healthy relationship.
Winningham said she looks forward to working with the Hoquiam schools, noting the program seemed to face “resistance” in recent years after repeated failed attempts to work with the District.
She said the program helps arm students with the knowledge they need to identify sexual harassment and protect themselves. She said she fears some of the school’s recent incidents could have been prevented or discovered sooner if the students had previously attended the program.
The center is now compiling presentations for the District, she said, with the hope of scheduling them for classes as soon as possible.
Parker said he believed the High School had tried to incorporate parts of the program before in addition to regular sex education and healthy living classes. He noted the Department of Health has also helped provide some sex ed preparation for the Middle School, but he remained optimistic about what Beyond Survival could provide for students.
“I’m excited for how they could enhance our curriculum,” he said.
Eide said protecting students is the board’s highest priority. He believed any previous difficulty to introduce Beyond Survival’s awareness programs to Hoquiam schools may have simply resulted from miscommunication.
“We are re-engaged with them (now),” he said. “We’re all ears.”