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Spartanburg, South Carolina

December 15, 1993

Blacksburg Battles Trains Blocking Intersections

BLACKSBURG - The Town Council agreed Tuesday night to turn to the Public Service Commission for help with a problem of trains blocking major highway intersections. Town Attorney Larry Flynn suggested that the council submit a letter to the PSC, which has control over the railroads, asking them to look into the continued blocking of the intersections.
Mayor David Hogue said the inconvenience to residents is not the major concern. "It bothers me that I have to wait 10-15 minutes to go across the track and up the hill to get a hamburger, but it bothers me more that the ambulance, fire truck and police can't get across these same tracks even though the town has an ordinance of no more than a five-minute delay caused by trains switching and blocking the tracks," Hogue said. "Police Chief Wayne Elder has even written tickets to Norfolk Southern engineers, and that's just a drop in the bucket, I guess, because they continue to tie up the crossings when they switch tracks," Hogue said.
Town Administrator Trudy Martin said the county's Transportation Planning Committee is studying the feasibility of building an overhead bridge in Blacksburg. The latest recommendation was to build it just outside the city limits. Hogue said if the bridge placement would ease the crossing problem, he would support it. "If they wanted to put it down at Broad River, I'd take exception. But anything that's in sight of town would help."

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Spartanburg, South Carolina

November 24, 1993

Trustees Accept Resignation of Blacksburg Coach

GAFFNEY - Cherokee County school officials unanimously accepted the resignation of former girls' basketball coach Mitch Harris Tuesday night.
Harris was suspended with pay Oct. 8 when a video camera was discovered by girl students in a Blacksburg High School locker room. Harris admitted videotaping the students. He said he had set up the camera to catch boys stealing and smoking in the locker room. Harris continued to be paid until the board accepted his resignation.
Superintendent Sue Cleveland notified Harris in a certified letter that he would be terminated and would have 15 days to appeal her recommendation in a hearing by the board. Harris responded with a letter of resignation rather than a request to defend his actions. "No employee can be terminated until the board acts on the recommendation to terminate," board Chairman Joe Dean Spencer said. "The news media jumped the gun. The school board has the right to hire and fire. Nothing was final on Harris until we voted tonight to accept his resignation."
Both Spencer and Cleveland said there were no negotiations regarding the recommendation to terminate Harris or accept his resignation. Cleveland said Harris' personnel file will be sent to the state Department of Education, which will decide whether Harris keeps his teaching certificate. Cleveland said the district has a legal obligation to send Harris's file to Columbia. Failure by the district to surrender the personnel file to the state department could lead to the revocation of the superintendent's license.
Cleveland said the state department will request copies of police investigations. The Seventh Circuit Solicitor's Office found no criminal charges under which Harris could be charged.

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Spartanburg, South Carolina

November 20, 1993

Blacksburg Coach Won't Appeal Firing

GAFFNEY - A Blacksburg High School girls' basketball coach has resigned instead of asking for an appeal of his termination, which resulted from the discovery of a video camera hidden in a locker room.
Mitch Harris was suspended with pay Oct. 8, the day after several seventh grade girls found the camera set up and taping in a locker room used at different times by boys and girls. Harris initially told police and school officials he set the camera up to catch boys stealing and smoking in the locker room.
The 7th Circuit Solicitor's Office found no criminal law under which they could charge Harris but cited "poor judgment" on his part. School Superintendent Sue Cleveland said Friday the board will discuss Harris' resignation at its meeting Tuesday night. "We received word that Mr. Harris did not intend to appeal the board's decision to terminate him, and he has tendered his resignation. The board will consider it on Tuesday. It is an item listed on the agenda to be discussed." Cleveland issued a statement dated Nov. 1, recommending Harris' termination, which stated that he had 15 days to appeal the decision by requesting a hearing before the board.
Blacksburg Police Chief Wayne Elder said his investigation showed that Harris admitted videotaping students, destroying the video tape and tampering with the camera. The board will decide Tuesday whether to accept Harris's resignation or uphold Cleveland's recommendation of termination.

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Spartanburg, South Carolina

November 05, 1993

Locker Room: Authorities Deny Viewing Videotape

GAFFNEY - Dr. Willie Ross, assistant superintendent of the Cherokee County School District, and school district attorney Bruce E. Davis say they never saw a videotape made in a Blacksburg High School locker room.
Wednesday night, at a meeting of about 20 Blacksburg High parents and children, a seventh-grader said she saw Ross, a school board attorney and other officials viewing a tape that had been made by a hidden video camera.
Several officials say that can't be true. Blacksburg High School teacher and coach Mitch Harris was fired by the school district this week.
Police say he admitted placing the video camera to tape the locker room. Blacksburg Police Chief Wayne Elder said Harris told him he destroyed the tape made by the camera and gave a blank substitute to authorities.
Ross said he went to the school the day the investigation began. "I was sent there to stabilize the situation and see to the welfare of the children. I told the parents at 1 p.m. that we would have more information at 3 p.m. I addressed them and told them what I knew. I upheld that end. Then I read in the paper that I didn't tell the parents or police everything. If I saw or thought I'd seen anything, I would have made it available to police. I don't do police investigations."
Ross said a student told him that the football team had viewed tapes made in the locker room. "I stayed until the team had eaten its pre-game meal that Friday and interviewed students, asking if they had viewed a tape in the locker room. No one admitted to viewing a tape." Ross said that not only did he not view a videotape made in the locker room, there is not even a VCR in the area of the building he was in that Friday. "I don't even know when the chief saw the tape he said was blank. I didn't see it. I didn't see a tape being viewed by anyone."
School district attorney Davis said Thursday that he does not know what tape the student could be talking about. He said he did not view any tapes made by the video camera hidden at the school. "In fact, we attempted to find any that might have been made during our investigation and found none."
Harris said Thursday he has been advised by his attorney not to talk about the incident. "Once it's over, I'll talk to anybody. But I don't feel I should mix words with anybody right now."
Authorities have said they have no law under which they can prosecute Harris. Police Chief Elder said he has sent letters to county legislative delegation members asking them to introduce legislation that will make such videotaping a criminal violation. "The Attorney General's office told me they would push to have such legislation passed. We need it so that if the same situation arises in the future, there will be a law that police can prosecute a case under."

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Spartanburg, South Carolina

November 04, 1993

Blacksburg Student Says She Saw Tape Being Viewed; Parents and Students Gather to Plan Strategy in Video Camera in Locker Room Case.

BLACKSBURG - A seventh-grader who discovered a video camera taping her class in the school locker room said she saw authorities viewing a tape made in the locker room. She said she saw Cherokee County School District Assistant Superintendent Willie Ross, a school board attorney, a school administrator and possibly a police officer viewing the tape in the school's clinic when she went to get a bandage. The tape showed her and others "sticking their hands in the hole" where the camera was hidden from view.
About 20 people, parents and students, gathered Wednesday night to discuss the setup of a camera in a school locker room. Parents feel that police have covered up for those responsible by denying that a videotape made in the locker room exists.
Blacksburg Police Chief Wayne Elder said Tuesday he has been open about his investigation and has not hidden anything. He said Blacksburg High School teacher and coach Mitch Harris has admitted making a tape in the locker room and then destroying it before school officials or police saw it. Authorities say they have no criminal charge on which they can prosecute Harris.
But seventh-grader Amber Parker said she and another student saw officials viewing the tape made when the students discovered the camera and were attempting to reach it. She said she and the other girl covered the camera so it would not film the girls who were coming in to dress next at the end of the class. Amber also said she was one of two guards that Harris posted at the door to the camera area each day for at least 10 minutes before the end of class. She said she now believes he was tending to his camera. The two guards were instructed not to let anyone in. Sometimes, he would tell them he was using the bathroom, Amber said, but he had a bathroom and a couch in his office.
Harris was fired by school officials earlier this week. He had been suspended with pay Oct. 8 when the girls' seventh-grade physical education class discovered the camera, which was set up to film in a room used by girls and boys at different times of the day.
Elder said Harris had given him a blank tape that he said came from the camera, but he later admitted destroying the original tape made in the dressing room. Police said they failed to find any other tapes made in the locker room during their investigation.
Students and parents want to know where the tape is that at least two students say they saw authorities viewing at the school. Parents are asking how long the taping had been going on during Harris' 10 years at the school. Some girls reported that students who were not members of the class that found the camera are accusing the others of tattling. They also are calling them liars.
Seventh-grader Brandy Riddle found vulgar statements about her written on the shower stall door in the locker room. That door has been painted, she said. Brandy's father, Larry, said he was raised to believe in the law. "The whole thing has been shrugged off as if our girls are lying," he said, referring to police and the Seventh Circuit Solicitor's Office decision not to prosecute Harris.
Larry Riddle said, "We can't get any criminal charges, so let's line our pockets with gold," referring to possible civil action. "We can buy two 12-acre tracts of land, build a school so we can keep an eye on our kids and know where they are. We can put up a sign that the school is being videotaped."
Danny Lamb, who has three daughters at Blacksburg High School, said he wants to see something done so that anyone who is involved in any taping incidents will not be able to work with children in any state, not just South Carolina. One of Lamb's daughters was in the class that found the camera and showed it to her sister. "Our daughter had problems sleeping at night. She'd wake up crying and go to her mother. We've taught our children to respect their elders and then to have their elders do this, it throws them for a loop. They're so young."
Gerald Parker said he stands behind his daughter and what she said she saw. "I believe there was a cover-up. I believe the girls did the right thing in telling what they saw. But they told the wrong person. They told Harris, the man who set the camera up."

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Spartanburg, South Carolina

November 03, 1993

Harris Fired; Coach Admits Videotaping Locker Room

BLACKSBURG - A Blacksburg girls' basketball coach has admitted videotaping students in a locker room, destroying the videotape and tampering with the camera. He has been fired, but officials say he cannot be prosecuted.
Blacksburg Police Chief Wayne Elder said Mitch Harris admitted to him that he destroyed the tape made in the locker room and substituted a blank tape. Harris was suspended with pay on Oct. 8, the day after students found the camera in the locker room.
Tuesday, school district officials announced that Harris had been fired. Elder said Harris had agreed to take a polygraph test when the case was under investigation. He later changed his mind and story. Harris told Elder that after parents complained, he gave Principal Jim Leigh the wrong tape, which Elder found to be blank.
Harris also told Elder he destroyed the original tape after telling police the blank tape was the only one made in the dressing room, which was used at different times of the day by boys' and girls' classes. Harris said he tampered with the camera by pushing the red indicator light into the housing so it would not appear to be taping. He told Elder he did this after Leigh saw the camera and before Elder did in an attempt to prove his accusers wrong, Elder said.
The Seventh Circuit Assistant Solicitor Trent Pruett said Monday there was no evidence with which to charge Harris with any criminal activity. Violation of rights or privacy is a matter to be determined in civil courts, Assistant Solicitor Trent Pruett said. Obstruction of justice or destruction of evidence charges are not applicable since the tape was destroyed before police began their investigation, Assistant Solicitor Robert Hall said Tuesday.
Elder said he has two major problems with the taping incident - "setting up the camera in the first place without permission and then lying about the light on the camera to discredit what the kids saw. Leigh knew the light was on Thursday and Friday morning, but when he went with me to the camera Friday morning, the light had been repositioned."
It's a problem that there is no law to cover what happened, Elder said. "I've called the Attorney General's Office. Other people have had problems with the lack of law in this area and nobody has attempted to have the law changed." Elder said a charge could be made for filming in a private residence but not in a public building. "The law needs to be amended to include taping as a violation in public places, too," he said. "There's not enough evidence to charge Harris under other sections. It's hard to crawl into his head and find what he's thinking."
After Harris altered his stories, Elder asked the polygraph examiner if the test could determine whether Harris made the film to catch smokers and thieves as he originally stated. Harris did not take the polygraph test, Elder said, since the examiner said deception regarding his intent would be hard to determine.
Several girls crowded around the camera when it was discovered, Debbie Hollifield, a parent, said. At least eight girls in the seventh-grade class went to the camera when it was spotted and all 27 saw and touched the camera, she said. "This is something they all saw. It was not a report by one member of the class to authorities." Hollifield said at least three of the girls have told their mothers they are concerned. She said they have asked questions such as: "I don't know what it feels like to be raped, but why does that grown man want to look at my body." She's concerned that the girls will suffer serious effects when they have to dress out for gym class. They are now exercising in the clothes they wear to school. Hollifield said she is happy that Harris has been terminated. "I'd be even happier if his teaching certificate is taken from him."
Elder said any other reports made to him regarding Harris' performance on the job would be investigated. "This investigation so far has been tough," Elder said. "Tough on a lot of people. I haven't covered anything for Harris. I want the public to know what my investigation to date revealed. I haven't cut any corners."
Hollifield said she and other parents still want justice. "We just don't know how to go about it. I feel like if I had been caught with a camera in somebody's window, they would have thrown the book at me. If we have to bring a civil lawsuit, we'll do something. We don't want this to happen again."
Cherokee County Superintendent of Schools Sue Cleveland issued a statement Tuesday. "After a thorough investigation of the charges against Mr. Jack M. Harris, termination of his employment has been recommended. Mr. Harris has 15 days to appeal this decision by requesting a hearing before the board of trustees. On the advice of the school district's attorney, the district officials will not make any further statements regarding this situation."

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Spartanburg, South Carolina

November 02, 1993

Solicitor Clears Coach Accused of Videotaping in Locker Room

GAFFNEY - The 7th Circuit Solicitor's Office has found no evidence of criminal wrongdoing in an investigation of a coach's videotaping of a Blacksburg High School locker room.
Harris Deputy Solicitor Trent Pruett said Monday his office reviewed the investigation at the request of Blacksburg Police Chief Wayne Elder to decide if the case should go before a grand jury.
"We took a lot of time and looked long and hard at the information provided to us," Pruett said. "It is the opinion of this office that there is some evidence of a lapse in judgment but not enough evidence to prosecute a case by proving to a jury beyond a reasonable doubt that he committed a crime."
Mitch Harris, the girls' basketball coach responsible for setting up the video camera, was suspended from his job with pay on Oct. 8, pending the outcome of the investigation. School officials did not say Monday how the solicitor's ruling would affect Harris' job status. Though some parents had questioned whether the students' rights to privacy had been violated, Pruett said, "Civil actions could be filed, but it is still our view that the case could not be proven to a jury beyond a reasonable doubt."
Seventh-grade girls had discovered a video camera set up to film the locker room used at different times of the day by girls' and boys' physical education classes. Initial reports were that Harris set up the camera to film boys suspected of stealing and smoking in the locker room. Elder said the tape turned over to him by school officials was blank. Several parents say the outcome of the investigation condones the use of the camera in filming students without their consent.
Parent Kathy Riddle said the students who found the camera have been instructed by their parents not to change clothes. They are taking exercise class in their school clothes. "We are angry," Riddle said. "How do we know it won't happen again? We feel that the kids have not seen justice. They're condoning what he's done. Our kids have no rights at all." At least three parents will meet tomorrow to plan strategy, Riddle said. "If no law was violated, then we want to contact the legislators to have the laws changed. We'll write the president. We'll get a permit to picket the school if Harris returns as a teacher. We'll continue to pursue it."
School officials were not available Monday to speak on the status of Harris' job after the solicitor's office made its announcement. Dr. Willie Ross, assistant superintendent, said he was not in the office today because of in-service training and is not aware that any decision has been made regarding Harris.

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Spartanburg, South Carolina

October 16, 1993

Blacksburg Police Chief Raises Privacy Issue in Videotape Case

Blacksburg's police chief said Friday that prosecutors must determine whether a high school coach violated students' privacy by setting up a video camera in a gym dressing room. Chief Wayne Elder said he finished his investigation Wednesday and expects to turn his findings over to the 7th Circuit Solicitor's Office on Monday. Elder said Friday he is uncertain if South Carolina privacy laws apply to the videotaping of school students at Blacksburg High School.
The girls' basketball coach, Mitch Harris, has told police he set up the camera to catch boys stealing or smoking in a dressing room. "In a normal case, we would go ahead and collect evidence and pursue it, but there's a question of law," Elder said.
Two female students reported the videotape recorder to officials Oct. 8 after it was discovered the day before by a 12-year-old girl. Harris, who has been suspended with pay, has denied he used the camera to tape female students. The dressing room is used at different times by male and female students.
Elder has said he was told the camera was not working and did not record the students dressing or undressing. He said he has a tape that is believed to have come from the camera, but there is no evidence the camera was set up to film anyone undressing.

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Spartanburg, South Carolina

October 15, 1993

Officials Trying to Tie Up Loose Ends in Video Case - Blacksburg

No decision is expected before next week in the case of suspended Blacksburg High School coach Mitch Harris, a school official said this week. Cherokee County School District Superintendent Sue Cleveland said she doesn't expect any change until next week.
Harris was suspended with pay Oct. 8 after parents reported their children found a video camera set up to record a dressing room at the high school. The room is used by male and female physical education students at different times of the day. Harris is the girls' basketball coach and an assistant football coach. "We are continuing to investigate and interview anyone who wants to talk to us," Cleveland said. "We don't have all the loose ends wrapped up, and we can't until we feel we have dealt fairly with everyone."
Blacksburg Police Chief Wayne Elder, Cleveland and other school officials are conducting the interviews. Elder said any decision on criminal charges in the case will come after the interviews are completed. Harris initially told police that he set up the camera to film male students smoking and stealing in the dressing room. The school district's attorney has said no criminal charges will be brought against Harris. Elder said Harris told him he forgot to turn the camera off before the girls' class began Oct. 7. A tape reportedly in the camera was blank, Elder said.

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Spartanburg, South Carolina

October 12, 1993

Videotape in School was Blank, Chief Says

BLACKSBURG - Police Chief Wayne Elder said Monday that the tape from a video camera set up to record activity in a Blacksburg High School dressing room was blank. Mitch Harris, the girls' basketball coach at the school, admitted setting up the camera, and he has been suspended with pay in connection with the incident.
The police investigation is continuing, Elder said, and he plans to decide Wednesday whether any laws were violated. The matter came to the attention of authorities Friday after several girls told their parents they found the camera in the gym dressing room. "I need to interview three more people who weren't at school (Monday), and then I'll have everything I need to make a decision on whether there has been any criminal violation of the law," Elder said. No one has disputed that the camera was set up to record the dressing room, Elder said. "It's a matter of whether it was set up to record for the purpose we were told or for some other reason."
In his initial interviews Friday, Elder said he was told the camera was set up to catch male students smoking or stealing in the dressing room and that Harris forgot to turn it off before the girls' class began. Two boys' classes had used the room earlier. Elder said he was told Friday that the camera was not set up to record the students "in a state of undress."
School Board Chairman Joe Dean Spencer said the matter is still under investigation and only will be considered by the trustees if Harris requests a hearing. Dr. Sue Cleveland, superintendent of schools, said she met Monday with Blacksburg Principal Jim Leigh, Elder and the district's attorney, Bruce Davis. "We're trying to talk to everybody who wants to speak to us about this," Cleveland said. "We're being thorough and careful in an effort to treat all parties fairly. A decision has not been made," regarding the coach. Cleveland would not discuss what, if any, action could be taken against Harris. "He is suspended with pay until the investigation is over," Cleveland said. "This enables us to check into various things, and it's generally easier on the individual this way."

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Spartanburg, South Carolina

October 09, 1993

Blacksburg - The Girls' Basketball Coach at Blacksburg High

BLACKSBURG - The girls' basketball coach at Blacksburg High School was suspended from his job Friday after female students found a video camera focused on a dressing room used by gym classes.
The coach, Mitch Harris, was suspended from his job with pay pending an investigation, said Cherokee County School District Assistant Superintendent Willie Ross. Parents said school district attorney Bruce Davis, however, told them Friday that no criminal charges would be filed against the coach.
Blacksburg Police Chief Wayne Elder said he was told the camera was not working and did not record the students dressing or undressing. Elder said 7th Circuit Assistant Solicitor Robert Hall is looking into the case. Elder has a tape that is believed to have come from the camera, but he said, "There is no evidence that anyone set the camera up with the intent of filming anyone in a state of undress." "Our first obligation is to protect the children," Ross said. "Mr. Harris, the parents and students have been cooperative in our investigation, which will continue Monday morning. It's unfortunate."
A 12-year-old girl told her mother that she saw the video camera Thursday in the dressing room, which is used at different times by male and female students. The girl's mother, Cathy Riddle, said police told her that the camera was set up to catch boys smoking and stealing and that the coach forgot to turn it off after the boys' classes. She said authorities told her that two classes of male students used the dressing room prior to the class of female students, who were changing from their gym clothes when several females spotted the camera.
Mrs. Riddle and other parents went to the school Friday. She said she couldn't get answers to her questions from school officials so she called the news media. "I felt like the school was hiding something," she said, adding that parents wanted to know if someone had cut a small opening in a supply room door to allow a camera lens to be focused on the dressing room.
Elder said he was told the camera was set up to record but failed to work. "This is reported to be the only time that an attempt was made to tape a class, and the tape I have is supposed to be the only one," Elder said. "My investigation so far reveals that no one knew about the camera being set up except the subject involved. I will continue to interview other people."

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September 16, 1993

Couple Wanted on Drug Charges in Alabama Nabbed - Blacksburg

Two fugitives wanted on drug charges in Alabama were taken into custody by the Blacksburg Police Department and Cherokee County Sheriff's Office Wednesday morning.
Blacksburg Chief Wayne Elder received and confirmed information that a couple living in Kings Creek were wanted by police. They also had been charged with flight to avoid prosecution. Sheriff Bill Blanton obtained a fugitive warrant, and Elder, Blacksburg officer Leonard Foster and county Deputy Curtis Martin took Jimmy Dean Gibson, 35, of Albertville, Ala., into custody after stopping his car on S.C. Highway 5 outside of Blacksburg.
Sheriff's Office personnel found Tabatha Lynn Flynt, 26, of Guntersville, Ala., at the Kings Creek residence. She is being housed at the Gaffney city jail, and Gibson is at the county jail. Alabama authorities are expected to pick them up today, Elder said.

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August 28, 1993

Elks Club Honors Top Lawmen

GAFFNEY - Six law enforcement officers were recognized this week by the Elks Club at a steak supper. Each department elects an officer of the year. The Elks have honored officers for seven years, Steve Taylor, chairman of the banquet, said.
Officers of the year are Charles Douglas Whitaker and Chris Skinner of the Gaffney Police Department, Leonard Foster of the Blacksburg Police Department, J.P. Manning of the Cherokee County Sheriff's Office, M.D. Johnson Jr. of the S.C. Highway Patrol and Curtis W. Jackson of the S.C. Wildlife and Marine Resources Department. Guests speakers were Hugh Munn, spokesman for SLED, and state Sen. Harvey Peeler.

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August 26, 1993

Blacksburg Hit with Night of Car Break-ins, 1 Theft

BLACKSBURG - Vehicles at three businesses were broken into during the night Tuesday, and one car was stolen. Police Chief Wayne Elder said it was the worst night in years for theft and incidents reported to his department.
Fingerprints were lifted and forwarded to the State Law Enforcement Division. At least seven vehicles were broken into at three different businesses, and one vehicle was stolen from Quail Hollow Apartments.
"We're working from the angle that it may be the same person or persons involved," Elder said. At Southern Poultry, radios, a television and CB radio were taken from three cars.
Patterson Wrecker Service reported three vehicles were broken into and radios removed. A shotgun was taken from a car at Innovative Technology Inc.