Tuesday, May 11, 2010

“Man Accused of Molestation Caught Tutoring Child, Police Say” plus 3 more

“Man Accused of Molestation Caught Tutoring Child, Police Say” plus 3 more

Man Accused of Molestation Caught Tutoring Child, Police Say

Posted: 10 May 2010 08:51 PM PDT

Brett Zagorac was advertising tutoring services online using a fake name

By JAMES LANGTON
Updated 11:00 PM CDT, Mon, May 10, 2010

A former substitute teacher with a long history of child abuse allegations is accused of using a fake name online to get close to another young child in Evanston.

Police say 27-year-old Brett Zagorac, of Munster, Ind., advertised himself as a tutor on Craigslist under the name BJ Wilhelm.  He was out on $8,000 bond and ordered to not have any contact with children following charges that he molested a 5-year-old Portage, Ind., boy last year.

"It's particularly egregious he's out there under another name," Porter County Deputy Prosecutor Cheryl Polarek told the Northwest Indiana Times.

An Evanston mother has come forward saying Zagorac tried it again on her 7-year-old daughter. The mother told police she hired him under the same alias on Craigslist. She became suspicious when her daughter said he was rubbing her back during an appointment on April 4.

Evanston Police said they haven't filed any new charges against Zagorac at this time, but that the incident is under investigation. Zagorac is back behind bars and the judge in the case could revoke his bond.

Zagorac was convicted of battery for touching students in 2003, but that conviction was overturned by an Indiana appellate court. In a separate incident in 2005 he plead guilty to a misdemeanor battery charge for touching students in Naperville and Downers Grove.

Molestation charges filed against him while working as a substitute teacher at Edison Elementary School in Hammond in 2003, were later dropped when the victim refused to testify.

First Published: May 10, 2010 10:39 PM CDT

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Free lodging in China, but only if you speak English

Posted: 10 May 2010 11:27 PM PDT

SHANGHAI (Reuters Life!) – Visitors seeking to see China on a budget would do well to brush up their English language skills to take advantage of a scheme that offers free lodging in Chinese homes in exchange for English tutoring.

With the cost of one hour of English tuition costing up to 500 yuan ($73.26) -- unaffordable for the vast majority of Chinese -- a not-for-profit Chinese organization called Tourboarding launched the initiative last month.

Lodgers must speak at least two hours of English a day in return for their keep while their Chinese hosts can learn for free from a resident live-in English teacher.

"In the past 30 days, 5,000 Chinese families have signed up," said Ken Chen, 38, one of the founding members for Tourboarding.

Chen said the aim of the company, which is run online (www.tourboarding.com/), is not to make money but to provide opportunity for the millions of Chinese keen to learn English.

Tourboarding hopes to tap into foreign demand for cheap accommodation in China, particularly in Shanghai, as hotel prices have soared since the start of the World Expo in May.

"Travel industry hates us, people love us," is the motto on its website, which prides itself on offering travelers airport pick-up and drop off, free accommodation with a family and two meals a day.

Travelers can choose to exchange their language for free accommodation, tour guiding or even Chinese cooking lessons.

Yang Yang, 16, a female student in Shanghai advertises her home on the Tourboarding website to prospective travelers: "The house is next to a lake, green is good. We can offer single rooms for you to live. My parents want me to invite a woman."

Chen said Yang is just one example of a rising number of Chinese opening their homes to foreigners in the hope of improving their English.

"We accept travelers from all over the world. In the future we will copy this model to imitate in new, booming countries such as Russia, Brazil and Vietnam," said Chen.

Chen who quit his job at Nike Sports China, joined forces with Nuno Zhang, 28, an ex-Google employee to create the Tourboarding concept. The company started up in April.

He added that the website would rely on donations from travelers until volume traffic increases.

"In the future we will bring in advertising to make the service sustainable but we will not charge hosts at all as they are from a developing country," Chen added.

(Editing by Miral Fahmy)

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Police: Molestation suspect caught tutoring child

Posted: 10 May 2010 04:00 PM PDT

VALPARAISO | A former substitute teacher is back behind bars on allegations of inappropriately touching a child he was tutoring while out on bond on the same type of allegations.

A 7-year-old girl from Evanston, Ill., told her mother that Brett Zagorac repeatedly rubbed her back during a tutoring session at her home April 4, according to court records.

Zagorac, who was out on bond at the time on a charge of molesting a 5-year-old Portage boy he was tutoring, had been prohibited by Porter Circuit Court Judge Mary Harper from being alone with or tutoring anyone younger than 18.

He claims one of his attorneys did not properly explain the conditions of his bond, according to court records. Zagorac also is denying allegations he continued to seek students through an online advertisement on Craigslist.

Zagorac's bond was revoked April 28, and he was booked into the Porter County Jail on May 3. A hearing is scheduled for 9 a.m. Tuesday before Harper on Zagorac's request to reconsider the bond revocation.

Zagorac, who also has gone by the alias BJ Wilhelm, is charged with molesting the Portage boy in December.

He was prohibited Feb. 23 from having contact with anyone younger than 18 while out on bond.

The mother of the Evanston girl told police she hired Zagorac through a Craigslist advertisement in which he supplied the name BJ Wilhelm. She said she was unable to reach one of Zagorac's references by telephone and another replied after the tutoring session.

The girl reportedly told her mother the English tutoring session went fine, except that Zagorac kept rubbing her back, according to police. The mother said she then did an online search and learned of Zagorac's criminal history involving children.

Zagorac has been accused numerous times of touching children inappropriately in both Indiana and Illinois, resulting in at least one conviction.

As part of his request for Harper to reconsider the revocation of his bond, Zagorac included a sworn statement in which attorney T. Edward Page said he incorrectly told Zagorac the only limitation on his freedom was that he could not be alone with anyone younger than 18.

When Zagorac asked for clarification on the order regarding tutoring children under 18, Page said he gave him an example that was unclear and subject to misinterpretation.

Evanston Police Cmdr. James Elliot said Monday no charges have been filed against Zagorac, but the case remains under investigation.

Zagorac was found guilty in 2003 of misdemeanor battery involving two Peifer Elementary School boys while he was substitute teaching in Schererville. The Indiana Appeals Court later reversed the findings and ordered separate jury trials, during which Zagorac was acquitted.

Child molestation charges against Zagorac were dropped in October 2007 when the alleged victim, 13, refused to testify. The boy was an 8-year-old student at Hammond's Edison Elementary School at the time of the alleged incident.

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AAfter Search Preparing American Students for Global Competition with Free Online Math or other Tutoring

Posted: 10 May 2010 12:23 PM PDT
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