"During many ages there were witches. The Bible said so. The Bible commanded that they should not be allowed to live. Therefore the Church, after doing its duty in but a lazy and indolent way for 800 years, gathered up its halters, thumbscrews, and firebrands, and set about its holy work in earnest. She worked hard at it night and day during nine centuries and imprisoned, tortured, hanged, and burned whole hordes and armies of witches, and washed the Christian world clean with their foul blood. Then it was discovered that there was no such thing as witches, and never had been. One does not know whether to laugh or to cry."-Mark Twain - (Added by: salon)
Joelle Ogletree, Former French Teacher at Glen Rose High School-Accused 5 years ago of sex with students
Article in the Austin American Statesman about the scandal that hit town regarding Ogletree, who was accused 5 years ago of having sex with a couple of high school students.
A month before the trial prosecutors offered a deal: If Ogletree pleaded guilty only to public lewdness, she wouldn't have to go to prison or register as a sex offender, although she'd still forfeit her teacher's license.
"I urged her as strongly as I ever urged anyone to take that plea bargain," recalls Bruce Beasley, her lawyer.
She decided one afternoon as she lay on her living room couch after a long cry. "I had this feeling wash over me, of pure peace," she recalls. "I told them 'no.' Because I didn't do it."
The trial began that Aug. 16. What the jury didn't know was that Sam already had confessed at a church camp that he'd fabricated his story of sex with his teacher. According to a deposition, he said he'd felt pressured by school administrators, whom he estimated had interrogated him between 10 and 20 times.
Matt was the first to testify against Ogletree. Under questioning, though, his stories changed. Details about the alleged encounters were added, forgotten or altered.
Starting the previous spring, Chayce said, Ogletree had begun dressing "very vulgar" in class. Later, he added, she'd lured him into her empty classroom to watch her strip.
(Because they were minors at the time, the boys who accused Ogletree of molestation are identified in this story by first names only.)
Chayce's friend Matt was next. Ogletree had asked him to help move a piano at her house the previous summer, he said, but when he showed up, there was no piano, and Ogletree was alone. "She started coming on to me," he told an investigator. "Reluctantly, I gave in."
In the following months, the boys spilled more details of alleged sexual encounters — in and out of the classroom — to investigators.
Matt said he recalled an incident at a student camp out at the Ogletrees' house. Chayce said he remembered a time in the middle of the school day when he and his teacher ended up on her classroom floor, kissing and groping. He claimed four incidents in all.
In May, Sam, the son of the former mayor, said he and Ogletree had sex at her house when he'd stopped by to drop off a paper for her husband, a chemistry teacher at the high school.
Turns out that Sam was lying
The trial began that Aug. 16. What the jury didn't know was that Sam already had confessed at a church camp that he'd fabricated his story of sex with his teacher. According to a deposition, he said he'd felt pressured by school administrators, whom he estimated had interrogated him between 10 and 20 times.
Matt was the first to testify against Ogletree. Under questioning, though, his stories changed. Details about the alleged encounters were added, forgotten or altered.
The next morning, prosecutors suddenly asked the judge to end the trial, claiming that Ogletree's husband was intimidating Matt by glaring at him through the courtroom door as the boy testified. The judge agreed and declared a mistrial before Chayce could testify.
Sam, who graduated from college this year, declined to discuss Ogletree, other than to confirm that he'd retracted his allegations. Matt was voted Glen Rose's prom king and moved away. He could not be reached for this story.
Ogletree's friends have speculated why students might make up a destructive story about their new teacher: perhaps teenage boasts spun out of control. In a letter of support submitted as part of Ogletree's license hearing, one of the boys' teachers described them as "liars, cheats and plagiarists."
But Chayce, who returned to work in the family real estate business after attending Bible college, says he told the truth. "It happened," he says. "I don't know if it happened the way I said it did; it was very unclear to me. I didn't write down in my daytime planner, 'I messed around with my teacher today.' I tried to forget it."
But he never testified under oath.
Ogletree says that though she still hears the occasional whisper as she travels about town, she intends to stay in Glen Rose.
"Why would I leave?" she says. "I didn't do anything to be ashamed of."
UPDATE in JUNE 2008-Dr Phil showing the 2 programs again. for those who are coming here via a search engine and want to look at the court transcripts, TEA transcripts, in order to see what could not be possibly covered during a short television show, click THIS link.
Last Comment by salon-Amazing to me how familiar people are from around the world with this case. And you're right, the Ogletree family has spent a lot of money to try to c.... 25 Nov 2008 | 18:44
I know her and I didn't believe these allegations for even half a second. Why the boys lied I don't know, but she would never do anything like this. I'm proud of her for sticking to her guns and not giving in. She's a credit to teaching, to women, to mothers.
2 - skb21
30 Oct 2007 @ 16:11
I know all 3 boys in this case. One of which is my cousin. I firmly believe she did it! She did it, she did it!! (Edited for personal attack innuendo-salon)
I completely back the Administration's decision to ban her from all Glen Rose Schools. (edited for personal attack innuendo-salon).
3 - joe
30 Oct 2007 @ 17:53
I don't think she did it. If it is your cousin you should go give him a Madea smackdown for ruining someone's career.
4 - txsunshine82
30 Oct 2007 @ 22:42
I thought your cousin was the one that confessed at church camp he lied about it.
5 - salon
31 Oct 2007 @ 15:09
The issue here isn't with her and her husband, it is with the 3 boys who made comments. Again, she was never found guilty of the charges that we are talking about here in a court of law, the TEA exonerated her and gave her back her teaching certificate, so it's a little smarmy to suggest other personal, rumour innuendos that have nothing to do with the facts of THIS case. Why should someone be banned from schools when it's not only never been proven that she did anything wrong, when in fact at least 2 out of the 3 accusers recanted or their testimony was not found credible, AND the TEA didn't believe it.
6 - U_Cant_B_Serious
1 Nov 2007 @ 18:48
Any shred of credibility Chayse may have had went out the window with his comment, "I don't know if it happened the way I said it did; it was very unclear to me..."
Please! Guys can tell you in excruciating detail their best football/basketball/baseball game from high school well into their 60's and 70's. The same with their first sexual encounters (particularly if it involved an older woman). You don't need to write it down in a dayplanner to recall what happened.
Certainly appears that this young man has been caught up in a lie he perpetuated and has decided its easier to continue to make claim in spite of independent polygraph, than to own up to his lie.
It's a shame that he decided his ego is worth more than this woman's reputation. Disgusting excuse for a man!
7 - yankeefan
2 Nov 2007 @ 21:26
If anyone saw Dr. Phil today, Joelle was cleared hands down. The boy who previously disappeared showed up on the show and took a lie detector test. Joelle took one too. Guess what-she passed, he failed!!!
The school system didn't get agressive until she sued them for putting her through this whole ordeal.
They are just saving face at this point and are worried about the huge judgement against them that is iminent.
The boy wrote a poem about the so called event and distributed it around the school. These testosterone filled adolescents started a brag session that got out of control. Everyone is trying to cover themselves against liability, rather than revealing the truth.
8 - psburton
2 Nov 2007 @ 22:37
Just finished watching the Dr.Phil Show and was searching for more info on the story. Happy not to live in any small towns from Texas.
9 - cauthx5
2 Nov 2007 @ 22:54
These boys just ruined her life. I think she is innocent. She has never been found guilty; so who would believe that she is guilty? Their stories don't add up. Every time they talk about the time it happened; their stories change. Chayse and Matt need to get a life and stop trying to ruin someone elses life!!!
10 - klbloom1
3 Nov 2007 @ 10:57
Just finished watching the Dr. Phil episode. One thing the show didn't point out was a motive for these kids to smear this teacher and the teacher did not seem to provide one either. I also thought it rather bizarre behavior for a teacher to be handing out the cryptic notes to the student which he said she said had sexual connotations; why she would be riding a student around in her car; and why she would invite them over to her home.Seems there is alot of smoke here for no fire.
11 - salon
3 Nov 2007 @ 11:32
Well, consider that it's a TV show! Remember how Ogletree showed the 80 page TEA (Texas Education Agency) hearing in which not only was Ogletree given back her teaching licence but the boy's statements were found to be *fabricated*. If you really want to understand this more, I suggest you go read the entire, publicly avaiable transcript of the hearing. (Another way to get to the transcript is by searching on the site, put in the keyword Ogletree and choose this.
SOAH DOCKET NO. 701-06-1196.EC TEA/DIVISION OF EDUCATOR CERTIFICATION AND STANDARDS, Petitioner VS. JOELLE OGLETREE, Respondent § BEFORE THE STATE OFFICE OF ADMINISTRATIVE HEARINGS PROPOSAL FOR DECISION
12 - U_Cant_B_Serious
3 Nov 2007 @ 16:42
I think the motive is fairly obvious. These "kids" likely started out telling stories amongst each other, each attempting to outdo the other. She's a young, attractive woman and no doubt the fantasy of more than a few of the students. Eventually an adult gets wind of the stories and starts to inquire. They're caught in a lie and are not likely to embarass themselves or their prominent families within the community by confessing to making up the stories. While most people caught in a lie will eventually come clean, there are those who are so narcissicistic as to feel their self-image cannot survive such a confession. (OJ Simpson anyone?)
The fact that Ms. Ogletree doesn't offer up a motive during the Dr Phil show is likely due to advice from her attorney to not speculate about their motive. Dr. Phil kept asking about her lack of anger towards these kids, probably more because it would make for better tv than demonstrate and indication or her guilt/innocence. She's doing exactly what he eventually tells most people in disputes to do, focus on those things you can to manage/solve the situation and leave the emotions at the door.
Slightly off topic, but the hilarious part of this show was when Dr Phil asked if it was ok to bring out Matt so she could face him on national tv. She hesitated and Dr Phil pushed asking why she wouldn't want to do that. She said she didn't want it to be a screaming match and Dr Phil says, "won't happen on my show." Then he repeats basically the same thing. Then he throws to commercial break and the tease before break is for a Dr Phil show next week and the group of people are shouting and pointing fingers at each other as Dr Phil sits there. Too funny.
13 - salon
3 Nov 2007 @ 18:09
Heh. Yeah, that made me laugh, too. I mean, Ogletree obviously didn't know Phil was going to have one of her accusers facing off with her, sitting within spitting distance and I thought it was very classy of her to be concerned that she not be expected to react Jerry-Springer style. And Ole Phil Says "Won't happen" as he cuts to break and 2 seconds later, there's mama and daughter in law shouting at each other about whose baby this kid is. Yuh-huh. And Mr. My-Show-Is-Restraint-Personified sure did want to see a big cat and dog fight. Maybe he's used to people who cannot control themselves.
14 - mimi
4 Nov 2007 @ 17:51
Salon and U-Can't-Be-Serious BRAVO for your sensible rationale. Hey, has anyone sent the T.E.A. document to the Dr. Phil show? Those writing in could find out the entire,TRUE story then.
15 - salon
4 Nov 2007 @ 23:53
Mimi-hate to sound cynical, but I doubt Phil gives a hoot about the real evidence... he's off on some new shouting match with troubled families. Wouldn't be a bad idea, though, to get a userid on the message board and post the link.
16 - thisiscrap
5 Nov 2007 @ 16:08
You know I watched all of this - I am from Texas and I am going through something similar as this poor woman, some crazy little girl has said that my son did some pretty terrible stuff to her, crazy thing is my son isn't the first, I think he is like #4, just this is the first time they have gone all the way to the authorities and not just spread ugly rumors, we have had to hire an attorney, my son now has a probation officer, this is a kid who never was even in the principals office before this year. And get this the "alleged" incident happened in April of last year, she told the first person in May of last year, her parent's in June of last year and they pressed charges in August. Our legal system is WHACK.... more power to her for standing up for what she knows is the truth....
17 - whitkat
5 Nov 2007 @ 20:00
If what happened was so bad for these boys, why did 1 include playing I Never in french class as one of his favorit high school memories? Seems like he would want to leave it alone instead of bringing it up again as a senior.
18 - joe
5 Nov 2007 @ 20:11
was that in the yearbook or something?
19 - beinformed
5 Nov 2007 @ 22:31
kbloom1,
How can anyone know someone's motive, that could only be pure speculation. Most of us can come up with some plauseable reasons, only the boys know for sure.
As per your other concerns, I hope you checked out the official findings on the webpage suggested by "salon". If there had been a finding of something "crossing the line", although not criminal, her license could still have been revoked, or at least she could have been given an "inscribed reprimand" on her certificate. She wasn't.
20 - mimi
6 Nov 2007 @ 10:53
Who was the principal who informed Mrs Ogletree she was fired?
21 - whitkat
6 Nov 2007 @ 18:57
joe - I don't remember if it was the yearbook or the paper
mimi - I don't think he is there anymore...it was Harris
22 - Kylie
21 Nov 2007 @ 20:52
These are some sad little boys and maybe one day they will get this back three fold what they have done. They have not only distroyed this woman but her family as well. I dont know how they can sleep at night knowing what they have done.
23 - mcarapella
24 Nov 2007 @ 22:51
Kylie-
Those little boys have not destroyed Ms. Ogletree or her family. I saw her on TV. She may be a bit shaken, but she and her family are far from destroyed. It's certainly taken a toll on them--but living the lie those boys are living will take a far greater toll over time than their teenage fantasies will ever take on the Ogletrees.
This kind of nonsense is not uncommon at all--and the administration should have been able to handle this problem. The fact that they couldn't perform a reasonable investigation to prevent this from spiraling out of control is totally unacceptable and they are the ones who should have trouble sleeping. It was THEY who clumsily stumbled into the tangled world of high school gossip and rumors and, I dare say, proved themselves more gullible than your average teenager! It was they who first legitimized the story and ultimately fed it until it grew into the laughable tall tale we now know. God-willing, the implausibility of their story will help the Ogletrees achieve a swift and certain victory in their suit against the school district and force much needed change in the way that unsubstantiated (not to mention implausible and impossible) accusations against teachers are handled in the future.
24 - salon
26 Nov 2007 @ 08:31
Confidential to Tstoner. I'm not posting your comment because everything you mentioned is discussed in the Administrative Law Judge report (see comment #11, above). I have to assume you haven't read it yet, since some of your assumptions are not correct; take the time to read it and you'll wonder no more.
25 - salon
27 Nov 2007 @ 08:44
Kylie-I agree with you with one exception-they are now adults. When they went on the Dr Phil show, they did so as adults. But not grownups.
26 - kylie
28 Nov 2007 @ 20:15
its just a pitty that as adults they cannot step up to the plate and admit they are wrong. i myself had a problem with a teacher but was scared to speak out. i will always wonder if what he did to me he has done to someone else. i thought no one would believe me and its people who lie that make it hard for someone its really happening to.
27 - salon
29 Nov 2007 @ 08:58
kylie. youre right, and im sorry you had a problem with your teacher. every teacher is not a saint, just as every teacher is not a predator.
28 - kylie
4 Dec 2007 @ 16:29
salon. i agree with you there are some teachers out there that are fantastic. they go above and beyond what they have to do. its an underpaid thankless job. we need to give credit to those who do the job well.
Are you watching the same episode of Dr Phil ? I live in the Uk and have just watched the Dr Phil episode concerning this case, and she is obviously guilty. Why the hell would a teacher send those kind of notes to her students ?
31 - salon
7 Nov 2008 @ 09:58
Ah. So that explains why there have been so many people from the UK the last day or so looking at this. Look at the picture link in the menu at left that has a pic of both Matt and Chayce. It will take you to a bunch of entries that have the scanned reports of the criminal trial as well as the ALJ/TEA hearing. The criminal trial was declared a mistrial, but the DA never filed charges again, instead it was dropped, with jeopardy. The ALJ hearing judge said that the evidence was fabricated. If you really want to know more detail than just an hour or two on a Dr Phil show, spend some time to read the evidence and explanations.
32 - salon
8 Nov 2008 @ 11:38
In doing some disk cleanup, I have moved the PDFs that are the criminal trial and the ALJ reports. The new links are these.
I have just watched this am I have no doubt she is innocent!
34 - carl
25 Nov 2008 @ 17:41
I have watched Dr Phils show. I live in Belgium, I am Belgian, and I don't know any of the persons in this issue. However, I believe she's innocent and I hope that these out-of-control allegations will never have a similar effect in Europe. It is the responsibility of a school that it should be a safe place and therefore no malicious practices can be tolerated, but focussing on one person, thereby using "non-optimal" interrogation techniques on young kids is not done. This is also the responsibility of the school.
I can easily estimate that these young kids would admit anything and try to stick to their story. I can image the pressure of the one kid, who could not live with the lies anymore, but finally did the one right thing: tell the truth.
When I realize how much money it takes to clear your name in the US, I can only shake my head and hope that a change in legislation improves this situation significantly.
35 - salon
25 Nov 2008 @ 18:44
Amazing to me how familiar people are from around the world with this case. And you're right, the Ogletree family has spent a lot of money to try to clear her name, it's really a shame.
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