Sex offender worked as substitute teacher in Russell County
Man committed offense as juvenile, failed to report his employment
– ariquelmy@ledger-enquirer.com
A registered sex offender worked for months as a substitute teacher for Russell County schools before deputies arrested him in December for failing to tell sheriff’s officials about his job, officials said.
Nigel Kendall Cochran, 24, was arrested by Russell County deputies Dec. 20 on a charge of failing to report his employment, records state.
A Juvenile Court judge gave Cochran sex offender status about six years ago, when he was an adult, though he had committed the offense years earlier as a juvenile. That status would have been lifted in about four years if Cochran had no more sex offender-related violations, said Russell County Sheriff Heath Taylor. Sex offender status is rarely lifted for those who commit the offenses as adults.
Nigel Cochran, 24, became a substitute teacher in Russell County in May.
The Juvenile Court status means his criminal history doesn’t appear in the school system’s background check. He became a substitute teacher for the Russell County School District in May, which violated no law at the time because he was a juvenile when he committed the offense, said Russell County Sheriff Heath Taylor.
Taylor said Cochran failed to report his new job to the sheriff’s office, which is against the law, and that his deputies learned about Cochran’s job when they investigated a student’s December complaint that Cochran had acted “inappropriately,” Taylor said.
That investigation showed Cochran violated no laws against that student. However, it alerted deputies that Cochran was working as a substitute and had not registered that information with the sheriff’s office, the sheriff added.
“He was a registered offender that as part of his registration law and requirements, he had to notify the sheriff’s office within five days of his employment,” Taylor said.
If Cochran had told authorities in May about his job, no charges would have been filed. However, a July change in the law would have restricted him from continuing his job at a school, Taylor added.
Under the new law, no sex offender, regardless of juvenile status or otherwise, can work in a school.
Russell County schools superintendent Mike Green said Cochran passed a background test to become a substitute.
“There’s a process they go through,” Green said. “There’s got to be background checks. If he got on our list, there was nothing in his background check.”
Malissa Valdes-Hubert, public information manager with the Alabama Department of Education, said her department does statewide background checks for potential teachers.
“We did the checks,” she said of Cochran. “He came back clear.”
A search for Cochran in the state’s sex offender registry shows no results. Taylor said that’s because Cochran’s sex offender status is through Juvenile Court.
The sheriff said that while Cochran had to report where he worked, the law restricts his residence from appearing on a sex offender registry search.
“We don’t make those calls. We don’t make those decisions,” Taylor said. “And that’s why it doesn’t appear. That’s why the school system didn’t know about it.”
Taylor said July’s change in the law, which restricts any sex offender from working in a school, should stop Cochran’s situation from repeating.
Cochran is currently free on $5,000 bond. His case likely will appear before a grand jury in May, officials said.
The felony offense Cochran faces carries a sentence of two to 20 years in prison.
via Ledger-Enquirer.com | 01/13/2012 | Sex offender worked as substitute teacher in Russell County.
If he was my son I would have asked if he was just plain nuts getting a job where he would be a target for charges if he was caught. I wish these folks would use some better judgement about what they do. It’s like they just are looking to get arrested again by not following the restrictions on them. I have a son that will face lots of challenges once he gets out but with firm encouragement I’m hoping he won’t do anything as foolish as this young man did.
I agree he should have used better judgement, but apparently this young man was desperate to have a job, in order to survive as not be a victim of being homeless or hungry. There are a lot a young men labled as a SO that don’t deserve it. In my opinion most so called sex crimes are personal when it comes to having such a label placed on you. I have a newspaper article which proves it all about who you know, who you are and how much money you have. The article is about 3 young men, ages 17, 18 and 19, that raped a fourteen year old, which was the girlfriend of the 17 year old. In the newspaper article they were repeatedly addressed as the 3 teens. But, because of who they were, from prominent families, the towns allstar sports player with a scholarship, the father was a coach and they were able to hire a prominent attorney which seems everyone feared. They were given a slap on the wrist with probation, community hours and was not required to register as a sex offender. To sum it all up my son was referred to as an adult, not as a teen throughout his case and labeled as a sex offender at the age of 18 for consenual sex. He is now 29, jobless with 3 children and lives at home with us. THE LAW SHOULD APPLY THE SAME, REGARDLESS OF WHO YOU, WHO YOU KNOW OR WHAT YOU HAVE!! I have very little faith in the justice system when it comes to being fair.
Bobby I couldn’t agree with you more the Law has always favored the effluent. We constantly hear slogans like “America’s a free country” and that “we all have inherited Rights” but the fact of the matter is America’s not a free country it’s a very expensive country and we simply have the right to buy our Rights. If you have no money then you have no Rights.