UPDATE: OK Judge Dismisses VPO Served to 9-Year-Old at School
Non-Profit, Undersheriff & Shawnee Police Involved in VPO Fiasco
Update: Latest Information (April 11, 2024)
In an effort to provide the latest, most accurate and balanced reporting, The V1SUT Vantage has received the following, new information:
Suspensions Following Court Order - After a protective order was served to a student at Horace Mann Elementary School, sources now inform that Shawnee Public Schools (SPS) placed not just the child served but all three children involved in the described “Stay Away Agreements” on out-of-school suspension for the remainder of the 2023-24 school year. According to one of the families, administration informed the school could not accommodate the children under the conditions of the court order. This publication reached out to the district to confirm this new information, but has not yet heard back.
Investigation of Teacher Misconduct - The Shawnee Police Department (SPD) has issued a statement concerning the investigation of an accusation reported through the OSDE’s Awareity System against a SPS staff member. In a previous statement, SPS described the reported concern as a teacher “watching inappropriate things on a personal phone during class time”. The accused staff member was identified as Timothy McDaniel, 6th grade teacher and coach. According to the SPD, it has investigated the report, finding “no evidence of a crime”.
Prior to the release of SPD’s statement, this publication requested an update on the district’s internal investigation into the matter but has not yet received an official statement.
Original reporting:
Two weeks ago, an Oklahoma story went national as a 9-year-old was served with a protective order at Horace Mann Elementary School within Shawnee Public Schools (SPS) for “stalking” and “harassment”. Yes, Pottawatomie County Undersheriff Travis Dinwiddie walked into an elementary school to serve a child with a court order demanding he stay away from a classmate. Not your typical day in 4th grade. Dinwiddie is currently campaigning for a promotion to sheriff within the same county.
The order and its service at school would suggest some violent perpetration had taken place. A deeper investigation shows a layering of public and non-profit institutions misusing the laws concerning domestic violence. Despite all groups involved working under taxpayer funding, each is pointing to internal policies to justify a wall of non-transparency concerning the situation.
On April 4th, Associate District Judge Tracy McDaniel (OK Judicial District 23) dismissed her own order after legal representation for the served child’s family filed both a motion to dismiss and to seal the case based upon the statutory definition of stalking which prohibits application to those under age 13.
There were several additional errors and actors involved in preparing, granting and executing the original protective order.
Where this Began: School Issues “Stay Away Agreement”
On March 7th, the mother of the 9-year-old boy was asked to sign a “Stay Away Agreement” by Horace Mann ES principal Christi Lovelady. The agreement (below) required the boy not “approach, talk to, sit by, or have any contact with” a female classmate on school property or during school activities until the end of the school year. According to the male child’s grandmother, the children were left in the same classroom, making the agreement nearly impossible to abide by.
The girl and a third child (male), along with a parent/guardian, are reported to have also signed a similar agreement. The boys were to stay away from the girl and the girl was to stay away from the boys. The reason for the mandated separations is not stated within the agreement.
Just four days later, the mother of the female child contacted the school to report her daughter had been going up the staircase at school as the boy was going down the same staircase claiming he had blocked her on the stairway. The boy was suspended, and the following day, the mother of the girl filed a police report, and later, a petition for protective order (PPO) against the boy.
According to a report from KFOR (above), the nature of the relationship between the children varies greatly based upon differing accounts from Elsy N. Goggin, the girl’s mother, and Lavonne McCoy, the boy’s grandmother (not the child’s legal guardian). Goggin calls whatever happened “violence against her child”, while McCoy remembers the children being friendly at a local store. McCoy further informed this publication that it was the girl involved who regularly sought attention from the boys by chasing them, pulling on their hair and clothes, and passing notes, as kids will do.
Who’s correct, who’s overreacting and was there ever an act of violence between the children that could’ve warranted law enforcement and court intervention?
This publication reached out to Principal Lovelady, specifically asking about the Stay Away Agreements, whether the children remained in the same classroom, and requesting confirmation of any physical violence involved. We made a request under the state’s Open Record Act for any video of the interaction between the children on the staircase which is close to the school’s main office. We also asked if a School Resource Officer (SRO) had been involved and if the Pottawatomie County Sheriff’s office had given the school prior notice and an opportunity to review the order before serving the child on school property.
Cherity Pennington, SPS Communications/Library Services Coordinator promptly replied, in part, with the following:
“The school did not receive prior notice of Pottawatomie County Sheriff department officers coming to our school. A school resource officer was not involved when the child was served. An SRO was contacted and arrived at the school after the child was served.
Out of respect for student privacy and the law, I cannot share information about many of the questions you asked, such as camera footage, discipline records, and the VPO order. What I can share is that we have protocols and procedures in place related to student safety, and we fully investigate and address any concerns about safety that students and parents share with us.”
Due to the school district’s privacy policies, no one will ever see what actually happened or didn’t happen to prompt this unusual order by the local court.
Court Documents Contain Glaring Errors: Non-Profit Project Safe Represents Petitioner
According to the dismissal order by Judge McDaniel, Goggin’s petition and communications with the court flow through Project: Safe, a non-profit funded by the OK Attorney General's Office, Victims of Crime Act (VOCA), Sexual Assault Services Program (SASP), the United Way of Pottawatomie County and others.
Project: Safe (or Project Safe, Inc.) describes itself as a “non-profit certified by the Attorney General's Office to provide advocacy and shelter services to victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, stalking and dating violence” across Pottawatomie and Lincoln Counties.
The group’s website describes behaviors associated with stalking, the basis for the PPO against the 9-year-old boy, though none appear to apply in this case:
It seems state tax dollars through the AG’s office and federal funding through the DOJ are working to handle non-violent conflicts between children at elementary schools through an organization charged with protecting battered women.
The V1SUT Vantage reached out to Project: Safe executive director Renée E. Clemmons requesting clarification about the services provided to Ms. Goggin. Clemmons responded as follows:
“Thank you for reaching out. We are unable to comment about specific cases involving potential clients without written consent. Please refer to our website, Facebook or Instagram page for more information on our services.” - Renée E. Clemmons, Project: Safe (April 1, 2024)
Much like the public school district involved, which also works under tax-payer funding, the privacy policies of Project: Safe make transparency impossible and accountability for adherence to Oklahoma’s statutes in this case non-existent.
Stalking Claim Requires a Police Report: Courts and Shawnee Police Deny Family of Boy and The V1SUT Vantage Copy of Report
The PPO filed by Goggin bypasses the sections defining the familial, residential or romantic relationship statutorily required to obtain such an order, going directly to the stalking exemption as the basis for the request.
A police report must be provided to the court when claiming stalking and/or harassment within a PPO. The boy’s family was not provided a copy of the police report attached to the petition against their child, despite that document being an official part of the filing. The Shawnee Police Department (SPD) then denied the family a copy of the report because only their child’s initials and an incorrect birthdate were listed on the report.
On April 1st, this publication submitted an open records request to the SPD for a copy of the police report (#2400951). Despite receiving an email confirming the request was received on the same date, as of publication, the SPD has not provided the requested report.
Non-transparency seems to be a problem for schools, courts, non-profits and law enforcement in the area. Despite the state’s Open Record Act, even appropriately redacted, public information is not forthcoming.
Court Ignores Requirements, Statutory Definitions and Age Restrictions for Protective Orders
The PPO filed by Goggin identifies domestic abuse, harassment and stalking as justifications for the order. These terms are specifically defined on the petition form completed by Goggin’s through Project: Safe, making it clear that the law specifically prohibits the application of those terms to this case due to the boy’s age and the nature of the relationship between the children.
Domestic abuse is defined under OK Title 22 Section 60.1 as “any act of physical harm or the threat of imminent physical harm which is committed by an adult, emancipated minor, or minor child thirteen (13) years of age or older against another adult, emancipated minor or minor child who is currently or was previously an intimate partner or family or household member.”
Similarly, the statute limits the application of stalking to “an adult, emancipated minor or minor thirteen (13) years of age or older”. Neither domestic abuse or stalking can be lawfully applied to a 9-year-old.
Harassment is defined by the law as a “knowing and willful course or pattern of conduct by a family or household member or an individual who is or has been involved in a dating relationship”. In the context of Oklahoma’s domestic abuse law, a dating relationship is an “intimate association, primarily characterized by affectionate or sexual involvement”. The relationship between the 9-year-olds involved clearly does not meet either statutory definition.
Within a handwritten statement by Goggin submitted within the PPO, she describes the boy using profanity toward her daughter and family, primarily outside of school, and claims to have video of such, though no video appears to have been submitted with the petition. Goggin also describes the interaction between the students on the staircase, claiming the boy not only blocked her daughter, but “pointed his fingers in form of a gun towards her”:
The boy’s suspension form includes no mention of him making any threatening hand gesture, and his family says the school never informed them of anything involving such an action on the boy’s part. They state the boy was almost down the stairs when the girl started up. (Additional information after original publication: All three children involved in the “Stay Away Agreements” are reported to have been suspended from school for the remainder of the school year.)
Nothing within the petition, the school’s suspension form or the Stay Away Agreement describes any act of physical violence perpetrated by any of the children involved. The boy’s family believes the claim concerning the hand gesture was fabricated in an attempt to show some “threat of imminent physical harm” as stated within the statutory definition of domestic abuse.
Mother Filing Petition Has Worked in Public Ed Since 2020
This publication sought to contact the girl’s mother, Elsy N. Goggin, but little publicly available information exists about her (no addresses, phone or voter registration found). Information does exist to confirm Goggin was employed within public education from 2020 until 2023.
Goggin worked as a paraprofessional within the Norman Public School district during the 2020-21 and 2021-22 school years. According to the district’s board meeting minutes, Goggin was hired as a teaching assistant in October of 2020. Goggin was then emergency certified through the OSDE and taught Spanish at Norman HS during the 2022-23 school year. Her teaching certification expired last June.
OSDE’s annual records do not show Goggin as working as either certified or support staff within an Oklahoma public school during the current school year. SPS confirmed that Goggin has never been an employee of that district.
Judge McDaniel Has Multiple Conflicts of Interest within Shawnee Schools: Teacher/Coach Husband Now on Leave Pending Investigation
Initial petitions for protective orders are regularly denied by judges, if deemed outside of the state’s Domestic Abuse Act. Despite multiple concerning aspects within Goggin’s petition on behalf of her daughter, Associate District Judge Tracy McDaniel (OK Judicial District 23) issued the emergency ex parte order. McDaniel also ordered the defendant (child) to pay the petitioner’s (Goggin’s) court costs and attorneys fees (“TBD”).
Tracy McDaniel was appointed as an associate district judge for Pottawatomie and Lincoln Counties on September 1, 2016. She was then elected special district judge in November 2018 and ran unopposed in 2022.
Judge McDaniel has at least two immediate relatives who teach and coach within Shawnee Public Schools (SPS) indicating a potential conflict of interest within cases involving the district. Her husband Timothy McDaniel is a 6th grade math teacher and boys/girls golf coach at Shawnee Middle School.
This publication has confirmed through multiple sources that Timothy McDaniel is currently on administrative leave from SPS pending an investigation involving his reported viewing of what was believed to be an inappropriate video during class time last week. No other verifiable information about the incident or investigation is available at this time. The matter came to the attention of the OSDE through the Awareity system, which allows anyone to report a range of concerns related to any of the state’s public schools. (Additional information after original publication: On April 11, 2024, the Shawnee Police Department released a statement saying they have investigated the reported incident of teacher misconduct finding “no evidence of a crime”.)
According to News9, SPS provided that outlet with the following statement concerning the matter:
4/9/2024 Statement: "Shawnee Public Schools has received an Awareity report which accuses a teacher of watching inappropriate things on a personal phone during class time. Shawnee Public Schools takes the issue very seriously and is currently investigating the allegations. However, the details of the investigation are confidential as it is a personnel matter. The accused employee is on administrative leave with pay pending the investigation. The safety and security of our students are our top priorities, and we promise our community that we will continue partnering with them to ensure safety measures are in place."
Judge McDaniel’s sister Kathy Chamblin also works within the district as a teacher and boys/girls golf coach at Shawnee High School.
Judge McDaniel’s publicly available social media suggests her support of Oklahomans for Public Education (#OklaEd), a political, progressive teachers’ group that opposes anything Ryan Walters, school choice, and the removal of controversial books from school libraries, including those describing or depicting adult sexuality. McDaniel shared a post from the group describing the benefits to families when schools were closed during the Covid-19 pandemic. The post advocates for “No testing, No curriculum, No evaluations” and perhaps no accountability for public schools and educators.
Another judge from Oklahoma’s 23rd Judicial District recently made national news and resigned following a texting-from-the-bench scandal. An Oklahoma State Supreme Court (OSSC) investigation found judge Traci Soderstrom exchanged more than 500 texts with her bailiff, many juvenile in nature and indicative of judicial prejudice, during a trial concerning the murder of a 2-year-old boy. Soderstrom resigned in February, three days before a special trial concerning her conduct was scheduled to commence.
Undersheriff Falsely Claims He Had No Choice, Had to Serve Child at School & Gave Family Prior Notice
Travis Dinwiddie, Pottawatomie County Undersheriff told KFOR he had to serve the 9-year-old at school and claimed he made sure the boy’s parents were notified before it happened. The boy’s family reports it was the school’s principal who contacted them after Dinwiddie and others from his office had already arrived at the school to serve the child. Similarly, the district states, “The school did not receive prior notice of Pottawatomie County Sheriff department officers coming to our school.”
According to Dinwiddie, “We served it there (at school) because that was the address that was put on the petition by the court. It’s ordered by the courts, and so we have to serve that as officers of the court.”
Dinwiddie’s statement directly contradicts the considerable flexibility provided to law enforcement in their duty to serve such orders under OK Criminal Procedure statutes (§22-60.4.) which allow law enforcement to serve wherever the defendant is found, engage other agencies in the process and even hire a private investigator to identify alternative locations for service.
There appears to be more to this story. The boy served with the order remains out of school, and his family states they have no idea when he’ll be able to continue his education. The V1SUT Vantage will continue to follow developments in the case.
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The wicked web of the perpetual " good ol boy network " is alive and well in our State. I reside in and have witnessed many across the years of residency. It is a breath of fresh air to finally see a public report on how the NO Accountability/ Do What I Please ( because no one is looking) Highway works. My compliments on the factual and detailed reporting. A Soap Opera could not begin to equal the truth of this twisted tale. The next chapter, unfortunately, will be either final justice or sadley Status Quo.