There are lots of things that don't make sense about this tale:
A former Holliston middle school teacher who owned up to fondling and kissing a 17-year-old female student in June will receive his pension if he does not violate the conditions of his probation. Thomas V. Collins, 71, of 20 Kinsley Lane, Mendon, will receive his benefits package from the Massachusetts Teacher Retirement Board because he was not convicted of the crime, said Sean Neilon, the board’s assistant executive director...Collins in November waived his right to a trial on charges of indecent assault and battery and admitted to sufficient facts before Judge Paul Healy in Framingham District Court. Admitting to sufficient facts is tantamount to a guilty plea. Healy continued the case without a finding for five years, during which time Collins will be on probation. He must undergo a sex-offender evaluation and a psychiatric exam, and seek any recommended treatment...
Police arrested Collins, a former math teacher at Robert Adams Middle School, after, they said, he grabbed and hit a 17-year-old girl’s buttocks and forcibly kissed her. The girl said the incident happened June 21, the last day of the school year, and Collins’ last day of a more than 40-year teaching career.
How, exactly, does one enter a guilty plea and then have the judge decide there were no findings in the case? If the issue is that the charges are without merit, why weren't they dropped? If the charges do have merit and Collins pled guilty, why doesn't that automatically mean a conviction?
And what's a 17-year-old student doing at a middle school?
Posted by kswygert at January 4, 2006 11:37 AM