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GFU: Nude art OK, but not in public
Effort to join county's two dispatch
centers arises again
Newberg school district preparing for more
students
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Coaches arrested on sexual abuse allegations |
Open Bible Christian School coaches
Todd Woods and Charlies Lasiter fired, await trial |
By B. Scott
Anderson, Newberg
Graphic reporter
E-mail Scott at
banderson@eaglenewspapers.com |
Two Open Bible
Christian School coaches were arrested this week on allegations they
had sexual contact with female players from the school’s volleyball
and basketball teams.
A press release from the McMinnville Police Department said the
allegations against Edward “Todd” Woods and Christopher Charles
Lasiter stem from “inappropriate contact with female students over
the last two school years.”
“We’re
staggered by this,” said OBCS principal Frank Canepa. “It’s
horrible. In my nine years as principal, we’ve never had anything
like this happen. I’m so sorry we had some bad guys victimize some
of our students.”
Woods and Lasiter served as coaches for the Panthers for the past
year. Woods was the head boys basketball coach last year and took
over the volleyball program this season. The 31-year-old McMinnville
resident was also poised to take over the girls basketball program
this season. Lasiter, 30, also from McMinnville, served as an
assistant coach under Woods for basketball and volleyball.
Woods was charged with third-degree sexual abuse, furnishing
alcohol to a minor, sexual harassment and tampering with a witness.
Lasiter was charged with third-degree rape, third-degree sexual
abuse and contributing to the sexual delinquency of a minor.
Lasiter, whose bail was set at $20,000, was conditionally released
Thursday after he was arraigned. The conditions of his release were
that he have no contact with minors, no contact with the victim, no
contact with his daughter and he is not allowed on Open Bible
property. Lasiter is scheduled to appear in court Dec. 15 for a
trial report conference.
Woods was booked Thursday afternoon; his bail was set at $10,000.
He secured bail late Thursday and was arraigned Friday.
Canepa said Open Bible officials received an anonymous tip that
“these guys had engaged in some inappropriate activities last year
off campus.”
Even though Open Bible officials couldn’t immediately substantiate
the information, Canepa immediately had school employees attend the
volleyball team’s practices.
“We wanted to take immediate action to protect the kids,” Canepa
said. “It was still an accusation at that point and we did not
terminate them at that point.”
After a preliminary investigation by the McMinnville Police
Department, Canepa said he was given sufficient information to
immediately fire both coaches.
“It turns out that was the right thing to do,” Canepa said.
Repeated attempts to contact Woods and Lasiter were unsuccessful by
Friday morning’s press time. MPD detectives referred questions about
the case to District Attorney Brad Berry, who was unavailable for
comment Friday morning.
After Woods and Lasiter were fired Monday athletic director Liz
Dante and principal Canepa held an hourlong meeting with parents and
players.
“They kind of informed everyone on a need-to-know basis,” said Sara
Gardner, a sophomore who played on both the volleyball and
basketball teams.
Gardner said she didn’t know Woods well and wasn’t aware of the
allegations against him.
“He was just kind of a coach,” she said. “As far as personality, I
didn’t know him that well. I’m trying to stay away from all of
(this).”
Woods served as the St. Paul High School baseball coach in 1999 and
his contract was not renewed after one year. He also served as an
assistant football coach at Willamina High School from 1999 through
2004. In that role, he did a “pretty good job,” said Willamina
athletic director Jerry Buczynski.
“But unfortunately, coaching isn’t just Xs and Os,” he said.
“There’s a lot of other stuff that coaches must take care of and
that didn’t always happen, things like how you come across to
people.”
Woods’
contract as the Willamina baseball coach wasn’t renewed following
the 2004 season. Buczynski said he started to notice problems in the
coach.
“Things came to light after the season,” he said. “I can’t discuss
those because those are personnel things and they are confidential.
There were issues that happened periodically throughout the season.
I just had some concerns with the way things were going and (his
contract) wasn’t renewed.”
Buczynski said on a personal level, Woods makes a great first
impression on people because he is knowledgeable about sports.
“If you just meet him, he’s a great guy,” Buczynski said. “When you
talk about sports, he knows what he’s talking about and he’s very
friendly.”
Canepa said he was “stunned” by the allegations.
“None of us had any reason to believe they were bad guys,” he said.
“We would not have people on staff who we felt weren’t normal,
upright people.”
Buczynski said he wasn’t surprised when he discovered charges had
been filed against Woods. He said while at Willamina, Woods seemed
“quite possibly” too friendly with players.
“Sometimes it went a little too far to the ‘friend’ level,” he
said.
More questions about Woods arose this past summer when St. Paul
High School boys basketball coach Buell Gonzales, Jr. held a free
basketball summer league for teams throughout the Casco League.
Gonzales called Woods, among other South Casco League coaches, and
asked if his team would like to join the summer league. Woods
agreed, but on the day the league started, Woods called Gonzales and
said he had to cancel Open Bible’s participation because of a lack
of players.
The day of the camp arrived and five players from Open Bible showed
up at St. Paul for the camp. Gonzales told the players that Woods
had called to cancel, but players told Gonzales they were under the
impression the camp was being put on by the Chehalem Park and
Recreation District and that that was the reason for the $60
per-player fee Woods had charged them. Since the camp was free and
had no correlation to the CPRD, Gonzales was stumped.
Travis Gleaves, who spent half of the year as a freshmen at Open
Bible but now attends St. Paul, was one of the players who showed up
in St. Paul to play in the summer league. Gleaves’ father Jeff said
to the best of his knowledge, Woods never returned the money.
“It was just kind of odd,” he said. “We just never knew what
happened (to the money), but it was just kind of a moot point
because we ended up enrolling Travis in St. Paul anyway.”
A search of the database Oregon Judicial Information Network (OJIN)
indicates both Woods and Lasiter have had brushes with the law.
Woods has been cited for eight driving infractions in the past 15
years, including driving while suspended, and was sued in small
claims court.
According to OJIN, Lasiter pled guilty in 2001 to driving under the
influence of intoxicants after a bench warrant was issued when he
failed a diversion program.
Canepa said he checked references on both Woods and Lasiter, but
Buczynski said he was never called. He added he thought it odd that
a reference check wouldn’t include someone’s previous employer.
“(Open Bible) didn’t talk to me and they didn’t talk to my
principal, so I don’t know who they talked to,” he said. “I never
spoke with anybody with Open Bible. They must of checked with
somebody else, but it wasn’t us.”
Canepa stands by the claim Open Bible officials checked references
and that any other claim was false.
“That’s ridiculous,” Canepa said. “That’s incorrect. Of course we
check people we hire. That’s crucial. I don’t believe people would
say that.”
Who loses the most in this situation? The players? The parents? The
teams? The school?
“The only losers should be the people who did wrong,” Canepa said.
“If other people have a look at us in a lesser light than before,
that’s unfortunate. Two people committed some wrongdoing and they
will face charges for that. To go through this experience is
terrible. It’s hurtful for the students, families and the league and
everything.”
The boys and girls basketball programs Woods and Lasiter were to
coach are now coachless. With the season set to start in a few short
weeks, the seasons of the teams will go on.
“I think it will come together,” Canepa said. “We intend to go
forward with season.” |
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From
Nov. 19,
2005, Newberg Graphic
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