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Marching band gets another punch in the gut and more bad publicity


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Assistant Marching Band Director At Pennsylvania High School Charged With Distributing And Possessing Child Porn

 

HARRISBURG, Pa. (KDKA) — An assistant marching band director at a high school in Pennsylvania has been charged with distributing and possessing child pornography.  Attorney General Josh Shapiro announced Monday that 39-year-old Stephen Gugoff was arrested on Sunday. Shapiro says investigators found at least 50 files containing images of child pornography in his home.  He has been fired from his position at Central Dauphin High School.

“The defendant was trusted by his students and community while he also privately exploited children. Today’s arrest is another step towards a safer Commonwealth,” said Shapiro in a release. “We will continue to work to protect children and hold those who hurt them accountable.”  According to the release, the investigation began after a Derry Township police officer found an IP address sharing files of child pornography on a peer-to-peer file-sharing network. Police subpoenaed the IP address for the source and they learned the downloads were coming from Gugoff’s home in Harrisburg, the AG said.  Gugoff is charged with 25 counts of disseminating images of child pornography and 50 counts of possessing those same images.

 

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2 hours ago, LoveKathyG said:

Seems like these kinds of things happen at all grade levels and with all kinds of teachers.  It's awful, but is there a sense that it's more prevalent with band directors or staff?

 

20 minutes ago, Ghost said:

Not really.  Athletic staff might be worse.

There's a reason I chose to post this.  I will not use names, just vague references.

My high school had several teachers who were sexual predators, and when I say that phrase, I mean they were in teaching positions, over the age of 21, and had sex with minor students.  Several were serial predators:  three band directors and at least 4 teachers who were also coaches or a cheerleading sponsor.  All but one were male, so yes, I got a sense, first hand, that it's more prevalent among band directors and coaches.

There were more than a few students who knew about these activities.  Hell, I knew about the female teacher and the one student she was currently having the affair with, but I didn't think to say anything, and nobody else did either.  Why?  Because as students, we held these teachers in such a light that we rationalized what was happening.  We turned a blind eye to it because we didn't really see a problem, because the brain doesn't finish figuring out right and wrong until age 25.  We were incapable of knowing the full depth of right and wrong, and we expected the teachers to be the experts.    

In the past, we just accepted all this aberrant behavior because we didn't see the harm.  Well, the harm may not show up for years, but then dozens and dozens of lives are ruined when the kids involved in those acts can't have regular, loving relationships because they have psychological damage.  Count the number of young female teachers over the past decade who have been revealed to have had sexual relationships with students... in high school, middle school or lower!  What are the odds that a good number of these women were the victims of coaches, teachers, or band directors who had taken advantage of them as teens?

This is the first time I have actually seen a case of a band director found to be distributing child pornography, but it's not the first person I've seen busted for it who held some type of authoritative position over children.  There have been several cases over the last couple of years in the metro Atlanta area.

We must break the cycle of predation now.  There is no such thing today as "being paranoid", or "being overly cautious" when it comes to inappropriate relationships between faculty and students, staff and marching members.  One abused kid is too many.  As it relates to this forum, this is just another reason people will have to stop funding and supporting band or drum corps, and a good reason to not let their kid participate.  Covid may have dealt DCI/DCA/BOA a harsh and severe setback, but it's incidents like this one that will be the death blow to it all.

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5 hours ago, Tenoris4Jazz said:

Assistant Marching Band Director At Pennsylvania High School Charged With Distributing And Possessing Child Porn

 

HARRISBURG, Pa. (KDKA) — An assistant marching band director at a high school in Pennsylvania has been charged with distributing and possessing child pornography.  Attorney General Josh Shapiro announced Monday that 39-year-old Stephen Gugoff was arrested on Sunday. Shapiro says investigators found at least 50 files containing images of child pornography in his home.  He has been fired from his position at Central Dauphin High School.

“The defendant was trusted by his students and community while he also privately exploited children. Today’s arrest is another step towards a safer Commonwealth,” said Shapiro in a release. “We will continue to work to protect children and hold those who hurt them accountable.”  According to the release, the investigation began after a Derry Township police officer found an IP address sharing files of child pornography on a peer-to-peer file-sharing network. Police subpoenaed the IP address for the source and they learned the downloads were coming from Gugoff’s home in Harrisburg, the AG said.  Gugoff is charged with 25 counts of disseminating images of child pornography and 50 counts of possessing those same images.

 

My old high school. To add to it the principal got caught DUI a few weeks earlier. Was at a wedding reception, had too many and went driving in the dark on a curvy back road. Then tried to blame on “my phone distracted me”. Knocked out a phone pole which damaged a house. 
 

This came out yesterday late in the day. Earlier in the day it was reported that a 19 year was arrested for the same reason. That one was about a mile from where I live now (county next to the Assistant Band Director). They’re all around folks…. 

Edited by JimF-LowBari
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There were times at my workplace where fellow workers used to tip me off on these disasters so I could apply for the position. With 30-100 applicatns BITD for these jobs, a horde of us descended on those openings when thew word got out. I saw the same faces over and over trying to land a job. Even with all the regulations and laws in place, it's still going on, though at least the culprit ends up arrested instead of a quiet resignation and walk stealthily out the back door to another job whether within education or outside the field. In certain cases, they found better opportunities after they were caught and were effectively rewarded for their perfidy. Jim, Ream, and I know a few of them from BITD who ended up that way. 40 years later, I still shake my head on some of this.

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45 minutes ago, BigW said:

There were times at my workplace where fellow workers used to tip me off on these disasters so I could apply for the position. With 30-100 applicatns BITD for these jobs, a horde of us descended on those openings when thew word got out. I saw the same faces over and over trying to land a job. 

There was a video in the news where the school principal was in his car getting ready to drive off and someone telling him not to. Video ended before we could see how it ended or if person taking video really pressed the issue. My thought was video taker could be held accountable for not calling the cops. 
Later found out (from people in the district) about him getting drunk at a wedding reception and the Jr High principals (3 in the district) were there. Sister had the thought that the vid might have been taken by someone who could put in for his job. Figure if he hadn’t wrecked this would be the only evidence of his problem. Frigging soap opera…

Edited by JimF-LowBari
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7 hours ago, LoveKathyG said:

Seems like these kinds of things happen at all grade levels and with all kinds of teachers.  It's awful, but is there a sense that it's more prevalent with band directors or staff?

While pedophiles can work anywhere, they do find ways to be around children as often as possible. They place themselves as director, teacher, instructor, and/or leader of artistic bodies such as performing arts, where they have surrounded themselves with adoring and aspiring performers. They may be respected subject matter experts in the field of music or artistic design.

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It's sad but not surprising. They are there hidden in jobs where one least expects it. I do think progress has been made to stop the coverups or at least in most cases. it's sad in the past where these abuses were ignored or covered up for reputation sake and no consideration about the victims.

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