Check out photographer Steve Zugschwerdt’s photo gallery of
Bainbridge High School’s 2009 graduation ceremony by clicking
here. Lots of photos there.
This year’s batch of grads numbered 365.
The average GPA was a sturdy 3.2
Forty-two grads were National Honor Society members.
Valedictorians were Nathan Abrams, Donna Horning, Ariana Mann, Charlie Reis, Cara Thompson, Jessica Vincent and Abigail Wyatt.
A vicious sibling rivalry spilled from the virtual world of the X-Box to the real world of a Winslow apartment complex. With the game over, the brothers dropped their controllers and bent their callused thumbs and sweaty fingers into real-life fists. The fight ended as many brother vs. brother fights do: with a headlock and a “had enough?” Rather than earn bonus points and promotion to the next level, the victorious brother was taken to the county jail.
Also this week, more details in the screw driver stabbing at the Rolling Bay auto repair shop. Looks like the mechanic held his own pretty well, knocking his 6’3 assailant to the ground with several punches to the head.
Friday’s arrest of a Bainbridge man for inappropriately touching a girl at the Bainbridge Island Aquatic Center is the second sexual misconduct incident at the public pool in just over a year.
In April 2008, a 44-year-old Bainbridge man was accused of going into a bathroom near the center’s lobby with a 4-year-old girl. According to police, he then took off her bathing suit and observed her use the restroom. The girl’s mother, thinking she’d been in the facility too long, eventually entered and encountered the man, who “froze” and then left, police said. Though charged, the man’s sexual molestation case was thrown out due to lack of evidence.
Officials from the Bainbridge park district, which runs the aquatic center, stressed that the pool is still a safe place for families.
“I think we’re doing an excellent job protecting the public,” park district director Terry Lande said today.
The center has several cameras in public areas and staff are trained to look for signs of sexual misconduct, he said.
“Is (the center) unsafe? It’s probably as safe as any public pool in the country,” he said. “But there are some pretty horrible people out there who walk the streets and walk into public buildings.”
Lande was surprised that the alleged incidents connected to Friday’s arrest occurred out in the open and during a swimming class. Police say the incidents were recorded by the center’s security cameras.
The park district immediately turned over the center’s security tapes and is working with police on the investigation, Lande said.
Bainbridge Island police have arrested a 62-year-old male paraeducator on suspicion of taking indecent liberties with a 17-year-old mentally disabled female at a public pool.
Bainbridge Island School District leaders told authorities late Thursday that they suspected the Ferncliff Avenue man was having inappropriate sexual contact with the girl. A witness reported seeing the man touch the female student in a hot tub and in a swimming pool at the Bainbridge Island Aquatic Center.
The girl is a student in one of the classes in which the suspect serves as a classroom aid.
Investigators reviewed video surveillance tapes from the pool, which they said confirmed what the witness saw, according to a statement from the Bainbridge Island Police Department.
Investigators also learned the man is a caregiver to mentally challenged females that live in his residence.
On Friday around 7:30 p.m., police apprehended the man at his home as he tried to escape.
He refused to speak with investigators and was arrested on suspicion of taking indecent liberties.
He is being held on $500,000 bail.
Bainbridge school district spokeswoman Pam Keyes confirmed that the victim is a Bainbridge High School student.
The suspect has worked for the district for at least six years. He has no record of sexual misconduct with the district.
“This is absolutely the first incident,” Keyes said.
The Kitsap Sun is withholding the suspect’s name until he is formally charged.
