Eric Echols Pleads No Contest in Sacramento Court
I’m Ed Smith, a Sacramento sexual assault lawyer. A Sacramento resident, Eric Echols, pleaded no contest in Sacramento Superior Court on October 19 to six felony counts and one misdemeanor count of molesting six children. Superior Sacramento Court Judge Michael Sweet has set sentencing in the case for December 21.
The Case
Echols, hired in 2014, was placed on administrative leave with pay in July 2016 by the Elk Grove Unified District immediately after another employee reported allegations of inappropriate behavior with students between July 2015 and June 2016 at the school. An investigation followed and he was placed under arrest by the sheriff’s office in Sacramento County in September 2016 with bail set at $900,000. Echols also worked at other schools in the district.
The Charges
The charges against Echols include six counts of lascivious and lewd acts with an individual under 14, all of which are violent felony charges in the state. He also pled no contest to one misdemeanor charge of molesting or annoying a minor. He faces 11 years in a state prison.
The Elk Grove Unified School District
The district has about 63,000 students under its care. In apress release shortly after the arrest, the school district said the matter was of grave concern, saying they would cooperate with law enforcement. However, five others have been arrested since 2016, causing alarm among parents. Besides Echols, four other employees, an independent contractor working as a crossing guard, and a volunteer have been arrested since last year. The schools associated with those arrested are:
- Florian High School
- Sheldon High School
- Cosumnes Oaks High School
- Marion Mix School
- Prairie Elementary
Charges ranged from having sex with a student and sexual battery to porn charges. A spokesperson for the school district said that before an employee is hired, the employee must pass a background check.
Eluding Background Checks
Doing a background check is helpful for weeding out prospective employees who have been charged and/or sentenced for a crime, those who lost a license or have been formally reprimanded. However, schools face another issue termed passing the trash or secrecy deals. These euphemisms refer to a common practice of allowing a teacher’s record to remain unblemished and often paying them severance while removing them from the school for inappropriate behavior. Saving time and money, such deals allow the teachers to move on to other schools after resigning. Those schools will find no record of the teacher’s misconduct.
Negligent Hiring
When an employer hires someone without being secure that the employee will not pose a safety risk to others, the employer may be using negligent hiring practices. Secrecy deals pose a problem since the record of inappropriate behavior does not exist. However, in other cases presented in an exposé by USA Today, incriminating evidence of abuse in some teacher’s backgrounds were found to be available despite not being researched. In the event that a child or an adult is harmed by sexual abuse or assault by a member of the clergy, hospital staff, those who work in a nursing homes or other residential facilities or retail stores can file a claim against the employer if they failed to adequately check for improper behavior in an aplicant’s background.
Sacramento Sexual Assault Lawyer
I’m Ed Smith, a Sacramento sexual assault lawyer. Anyone assaulted sexually faces emotional and possibly physical issues. When it happens to a child, it is all the worse. If your child has experienced sexual assault or if you were injured in this way, call me for confidential, free, and friendly advice. You can reach me at (916) 921-6400, or toll-free if you are not in the area at (800) 404-5400.
I have worked to help many Californians and their families as an injury lawyer for more than 35 years. My staff and I provide compassionate care and strive to make sure my clients receive the compensation they are owed in traumatic injury and wrongful death cases.
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