Authorities on Tuesday charged the president of the Brighton Charter School board with failing to report child- abuse allegations and tampering with a witness.
The charges stem from a case in which a teacher at Brighton Charter High School is accused of having sex with a student during a field trip. The teacher, 29-year-old Carrie McCandless, was charged with sexual assault on a child by a person in a position of trust. She turned herself in to authorities Tuesday and posted bond.
Brighton police spokesman John Bradley said Tuesday that charter president David Mundy, 53, is accused of failing to comply with a state law requiring school officials to report allegations of child abuse to police.
Bradley said police learned about the allegations against McCandless on Nov. 1 and police opened an investigation on Nov. 3. The assault allegedly happened in late October.
“So it was fairly obvious that we needed to start investigating to see whether (school officials) met their responsibilities,” Bradley said. Authorities would not specify what led to the tampering charge.
Terry Gogerty, who founded the charter school but is no longer affiliated with it, said he spoke to Mundy after the McCandless allegations emerged.
“He told me that he had legal counsel throughout the process and believed he was following the advice of legal counsel,” he said. Mundy declined comment.
This is the latest trouble for the charter school.
On Oct. 23, Mundy’s son, 31-year-old David Mundy Jr., a former substitute teacher at the school, pleaded guilty to unlawful sexual contact and contributing to the delinquency of a minor for allegedly kissing and fondling one of three teenage girls at his home in December 2005. Mundy Jr. was no longer a substitute at the high school at that time, but authorities said he had met one of the girls at the school.
McCandless is the wife of Brighton Charter’s principal. She is accused of having sex with a 17-year-old male student while on a weekend field trip. She has been fired.
