Magnolia School staffers facing failure to report child abuse charges
A top administrator and a long-time teacher at the Magnolia School face charges of failure to report child abuse for not reporting to authorities alleged sexual abuse of a student at home.
Warrants were issued Thursday for 40-year-old Sunshine Jacobs and 53-year-old Kathleen McGlynn. The website of the alternative school on West Tharpe Street lists Jacobs as a middle school math and Spanish teacher and McGlynn as the school's administrative director. The school teaches kindergarten through 8th grade and has between 55 and 60 students.
Police say a 12-year-old girl attending the school told staff members in January she was being sexually abused. Jacobs told TPD investigators the girl said she not did not feel safe at home and the suspect touched her inappropriately.
But instead of alerting the Florida Department of Children and Families as required by state law, Jacobs and McGlynn met with the girl, her mother and the suspect and developed a "safety plan."
The plan, which police could not locate in the school's file, required the girl to take her clothes into the bathroom when taking a shower so she could change in there afterwards. She was to begin counseling, not be alone with the suspect and not wear revealing clothing around him.
After the meeting, Jacobs searched the Internet for mandatory reporting requirements but still did not report it, she told TPD investigators. She said she did not tell DCF about the allegation because of a bad experience early in her career and because she did not believe the girl. Jacobs said she thought the girl made up the story because her parents would not allowed to go home with friends.
About two months later, on Mar. 11, a third party ultimately reported the allegations to DCF, sparking the TPD investigation. The girl said the most recent "molestation" occurred two weeks prior.
Two years ago, the girl's mother told investigators the girl accused the suspect of abuse but he "was found not guilty and nothing happened to him," the report said.
The redacted TPD report does not list the name of the alleged victim or the suspect's name, age or relation to the girl, referring to him only as "Jack," and noting that he picked her up from school.