Teacher arrested for alleged role in fight club in probation camp classroom [Updated]

A former Los Angeles County probation camp teacher was arrested by sheriff’s major crimes investigators Tuesday morning and charged with six counts of child endangerment for allegedly allowing boxing-style bouts between his students during class in what detectives have dubbed "the fight club case," authorities said.

Teacher Stephen Wesley, 43, was arrested as he left a home in the 7000 block of Faust Avenue in Canoga Park at about 7 a.m., according to Steve Whitmore, a sheriff’s spokesman. Wesley was booked at the Crescenta Valley sheriff’s station and is being held in lieu of $600,000 bail, Whitmore said.

"This individual was supposed to create a safe environment for probationers, and he was allowing them to engage in overt violent acts," Whitmore said.

Cal Remington, interim chief of the Los Angeles County Probation Department, said that on Aug. 8, 2008, Wesley apparently was caught on a Probation Department security camera “encouraging minors to fight” at Camp Karl Holton in San Fernando.

Remington said he has not seen the tape but was briefed on the case when he began his job last month and was told that “the tape showed it all.”

According to a probation official who has seen the security camera footage, Wesley stood inside the classroom door as the students -- who apparently told Wesley that the security camera was broken -- cheered on fighters. Wesley allegedly can be seen and heard refereeing several fights, instructing shirtless male students not to bloody each other or tell anyone about the fights. Wesley also appeared to be on the lookout for visitors, according to the source.

“It’s unacceptable,” Remington said.

Although probation staff are sometimes stationed in classrooms and circulate throughout probation camps, no probation staff were in Wesley’s classroom at the time of the fights, Remington said.

Remington said probation staff who saw the tape alerted sheriff’s investigators. Warrants were issued for Wesley’s arrest last month, but investigators had difficulty locating the teacher at first, Whitmore said.

Wesley is no longer teaching in the probation camps or halls, probation staff said.

According to Margo Minecki, a spokeswoman for the Los Angeles County Office of Education, Wesley resigned Sept 29, 2008, after the school district's internal investigation of the incident ended but before he could be disciplined.

Minecki said Wesley had worked for less than two years for the state-funded and county-supervised school district, including about 200 teachers in the probation halls and camps. She declined to say whether he had been disciplined prior to the alleged fight club incident, citing the confidentiality of personnel records.

[Updated 3:30 p.m.: An earlier version of this post incorrectly gave the number of teachers in the probation camps and halls as 833.]

State records show that Wesley was credentialed by the district in 2007 as a special education teacher. His credential is still valid and he has no record of discipline, state records show.

Reached by phone prior to his Tuesday arrest, Wesley said he remembered teaching at Holton for a day but said he knew nothing about students fighting during classes.

A native of Jefferson Park, Wesley said he wanted to teach probation youths to make a difference in their lives. Instead, he said he struggled to maintain control of his often overcrowded classrooms when students acted out.

Wesley said he was apprehensive about teaching at Camp Holton, where he had heard “horror stories” from colleagues about youth rioting and attacking teachers.

“It’s like you’re going into battle without armor,” Wesley said. “As long as you don’t get hurt, you’re fine.”

-- Molly Hennessy-Fiske and Richard Winton

Read more about this case: Former probation camp teacher held in fight probe

Photo: Stephen Wesley. Credit: Los Angeles County Sheriffs Deparment

More breaking news in L.A. Now:

O.C. jails begin checking immigration status of all inmates

Homicide Report: 10 killings last week in Los Angeles County

Freeway damage not related to Pico Rivera earthquake, engineers conclude

Schwarzenegger rejects deficit-reduction plan | 

College students warned of Mexican violence as spring break begins

Comments

[kooo]

Looks like somebody broke the "1st Rule of Fight Club..."

[Dan]

We had these boxing matches in Junior high. right in Glendale. The problems were settled and respect was learned.

[Breetai]

Why don't you nanny state goons just come out and tell the truth that you just want to make sure the cycle doesn't break.

[John]

He was not employed by the Probation Dept but rather by LA County office of Education. When I read this article, the implication is that he works for the Probation Dept. Keep in mind it was Probation staff that had turned the tapes into the proper authorties.

[randy]

Round three, and the Probation Dept takes it on the chin again, then a left to the ribs, is the beating ever going to stop. Probably not, not as long as these types of people are employed by the Board of Education or the Probation Dept, and they have to pass a pysch exam. Who is giving the psych exam,?

[nightqueen]

I know I shouldn't but, as a former high school teacher, this headline makes me laugh out loud.

[Chris]

I remember in the 7th grade that a fight broke out and our teacher allowed the two kids to keep fighting. After what seemed like, oh, a couple minutes, the two buffoons were too tired to keep swinging and a lesson was learned---they made fools of themselves. That was the end of it. I don't recall there being any more flare ups the rest of the school year. I also remember our teacher saying afterwards something like, "Now, don't you feel pretty ridiculous?"

I teach and have encountered really only a few fights in over two decades of teaching. Each fight has been a separate incident and I had to make the call to intervene or not. Common sense tells you that any fight between two individuals you don't know could be very dangerous to get involved in, but most school fights are pretty mundane, actually. This teacher the article refers to sounds like he definitely went over the line, but I can see the validity in letting kids fight too.

[Pat]

Was this bare knuckle or gloves with headgear? Either way, it's good for the kids. Builds character, discipline and respect, right? I would have loved to have seen this.

[John]

kooo said it best

[perry yoshida]

Stephen Wesley can now engage himself in fight club at the jails.

[randy]

Round 3 and the Probation Dept takes it on the chin again, and another one to the ribs. What a joke, I thought the classroom was for higher learning. I guess this is why there is a law suit against the LACO in Lancaster's Juvenile Camp, because they don't teach the thugs! I don't know who's worst, the dept who hires these people who are to go under a psych evaluation or that these people are just nuts!

[Chunkdog]

Sounds like he is in line for a promotion.

[Brad]

yeah Dan...thats the way to teach junior high students respect...have them beat each other up...so later when they grow up they can teach their wives respect the same way...give me a break...besides...no one fights with fists anymore...they show up later with a weapon to teach even more respect...get a clue...fighting belongs in the boxing ring not the classroom!!!!

[bettie]

There are morons everywhere.

But the fact that they are "teaching" our children is frightening.

[whamo]

Weak management of the camps, because of over-regulation, leads to students taking over the classrooms. Sad.

[happy.2.B.exteacher]

"There are morons everywhere.

But the fact that they are "teaching" our children is frightening."

Posted by: bettie | March 16, 2010 at 03:05 PM

Sadly, as a former teacher, I saw more than my share. Too many nitwits and don't-give-a-darn burnout cases. Bureaucrats come first, teachers second, parents third, and children last.

[citizen]

In my day this is how all disputes school or otherwise were dealt with. A male teacher would take the two troublemakers outside, provide adult supervision while they settled it out and that would be the end of it. And back then we weren't reading stories 24/7 about teenagers killing eachother off in record numbers with details so gruesome you can barely stand to read. Perhaps this teacher was on to something, remembering the days of more supervision and less killings. As a parent I would rather have my child settle his dispute in school with an adult watching rather than have these kids finding eachother in the street on their way home.

[Brett]

Wow. Times have changed. I'm 44 now but only some 28 years back in Junior High School, right here in So Cal...if you got into a fight during Gym class, they broke out the gloves. Lots of problems were settled on the grass, gloves on, vs in the parking lot after school, gloves off. I think we have to remember we're changing as a society....so what looks so bad as a news headline is only a subtle shift from what was completely acceptable only 20 years ago. This guy, however, gets a $600K fine and jail. I wonder what the kids did that caused him to suggest this....probably something far worst.

[Chiquis]

unfortunately you can't be too cautious when dealing with other people's kids and the system. funny how boxing is OK but not under these circumstances.

[Holladay]

This was a school for troubled kids. Why not let them beat the hell out each other their gonna do it anyway in jail so you might as well train them early for whats about to come.

[ginsu]

this guy is a sadist. I hope they throw the book at him.

this abuse of power will scar these kids for life.

[ginsu]

sadistic abuse of power.

[Ed Forbes]

This is how it was at my school when kids fought. They were sent to the gym, put on boxing gloves, and fought it out under supervision. Best that way then having the boys go home for guns after school!

[Gary]

Now an important question. Why did the "major crimes" unit have to handle the investigation and why did it take 19 months to make an arrest. Maybe they could not decide if a crime occurred? Maybe they are just slow in their work?

[Tony]

I have mixed emotions on this article and its responses. At some point people have to find a way to resolve a hostile issue. Some find it easier to go fist to fist. While others want to use it as a last resort. I am the latter. Yet, I struggle with having some adult watching kids fight. What if someone dies in the fight? As a parent, would you be ok with the end result?