Authorities don't expect to file charges against additional St. Paul school staff members who apparently knew of alleged misconduct between a custodian and students but didn't report it to police.
Dakota County Attorney James Backstrom said Tuesday that "a number" of district employees were aware of and concerned about Walter J. Happel's alleged behavior at Linwood Monroe Arts Plus school. But, he said, former Principal Beth A. Behnke and Assistant Principal Craig A. Guidry had the most complete knowledge of his behavior, which held them accountable for reporting Happel's alleged smacking of a student's buttocks in January 2012.
"There is a reason to believe this act was done for sexual purposes when you look at the entire history of Mr. Happel's past behavior," Backstrom said. "The administrators had access to all of those reports based upon the evidence that's been gathered."
Behnke, 48, of Burnsville, and Guidry, 52, of Arden Hills, were charged Monday in Ramsey County District Court with one count each of misdemeanor failure to report the maltreatment of minors, a rarely charged crime in Minnesota and one with a low conviction rate.
Backstrom's office reviewed and charged the cases due to a conflict of interest.
Other staff members may have known about isolated incidents, but they didn't have the complete picture to suspect that Happel's behavior rose to a mandatory reporting threshold, Backstrom said. Complicating the charging issue, he added, is that some of Happel's alleged misconduct — following boys into bathrooms, exposing his genitals to a student, giving out candy — does not fall under the purview of Minnesota's mandatory reporting law.
Charges against Behnke and Guidry show that members of the school human resources staff were also aware of the allegations against Happel. But Backstrom said the law does not consider them mandatory reporters.
The law requires people such as educators and clergy members to report suspected neglect and physical or sexual abuse within 24 hours of learning of it.
