Hunter928
03-28-2008, 05:52 PM
Former Seminole High Teacher Has Faced Massage Allegations Before
By STEPHEN THOMPSON
The Tampa Tribune
Published: March 28, 2008
LARGO - The Seminole High School teacher who resigned this week amid allegations a female student gave him a massage at his house had been previously accused of giving several female students massages almost 10 years ago.
A 16-year-old girl claimed Thomas Anderson, 59, suggested she skip a class on Feb. 7 and leave campus with him. Anderson picked the girl up off campus and took her to his home, where, she said, he took off his shirt and she gave him a massage in a bedroom.
Investigators said Anderson denied the accusation. He told school district officials he left school early that day to see a doctor. He told authorities he saw the girl walking off campus and knew she had personal problems, so he offered to take her to his house to talk.
School Superintendent Clayton Wilcox had recommended Anderson be fired before he resigned.
In 1999, two female students told school administrators they were uneasy with what they called inappropriate massages Anderson gave to female students, according to documents released this week.
One student said he rubbed her shoulders and massaged her lower back, a case report states.
The case report also says he would put his hand up, as if he were about to grab her buttocks, but did not do so.
Anderson denied giving female students massages then. He said the only time anything he did could be remotely construed as giving a student a massage was when he says he comforted a young lady who was upset over some family problems.
"You … offered your promise that there would be absolutely no touching of any female in any way that could be interpreted as inappropriate," Principal Richard D. Duncan wrote Anderson after an Oct. 8 1999 conference on the matter.
Reporter Stephen Thompson can be reached at (727) 451-2336 or spthompson@tampatrib.com.
By STEPHEN THOMPSON
The Tampa Tribune
Published: March 28, 2008
LARGO - The Seminole High School teacher who resigned this week amid allegations a female student gave him a massage at his house had been previously accused of giving several female students massages almost 10 years ago.
A 16-year-old girl claimed Thomas Anderson, 59, suggested she skip a class on Feb. 7 and leave campus with him. Anderson picked the girl up off campus and took her to his home, where, she said, he took off his shirt and she gave him a massage in a bedroom.
Investigators said Anderson denied the accusation. He told school district officials he left school early that day to see a doctor. He told authorities he saw the girl walking off campus and knew she had personal problems, so he offered to take her to his house to talk.
School Superintendent Clayton Wilcox had recommended Anderson be fired before he resigned.
In 1999, two female students told school administrators they were uneasy with what they called inappropriate massages Anderson gave to female students, according to documents released this week.
One student said he rubbed her shoulders and massaged her lower back, a case report states.
The case report also says he would put his hand up, as if he were about to grab her buttocks, but did not do so.
Anderson denied giving female students massages then. He said the only time anything he did could be remotely construed as giving a student a massage was when he says he comforted a young lady who was upset over some family problems.
"You … offered your promise that there would be absolutely no touching of any female in any way that could be interpreted as inappropriate," Principal Richard D. Duncan wrote Anderson after an Oct. 8 1999 conference on the matter.
Reporter Stephen Thompson can be reached at (727) 451-2336 or spthompson@tampatrib.com.