Former Charles D. Owen Middle School math and science teacher and coach Kevin Mark Calloway, 41, pleaded guilty last week to child pornography charges in federal court and now faces a litany of fines and up to 70 years in prison, according to a report in the Asheville Citizen-Times. Both a principal and assistant principal at the Swannanoa school submitted their resignations prior to his plea.
At the end of March, Carolina Public Press submitted a set of public records requests to Buncombe County Schools and the Buncombe County Sheriff’s Office requesting further information about how and when the school system and law enforcement responded to and started their investigation into allegations against Calloway.
The public records requests were developed during a CPP Full Disclosure workshop held at UNC Asheville and in collaboration with attendees, which included area students, several community members and journalists from Carolina Public Press, Mountain Xpress, (Hendersonville) Times-News and VERVE Magazine, WCQS and WLOS TV. The workshop taught and updated participants about the N.C. Public Records Law, the Freedom of Information Act and how the public can use these laws to gain access to public information.
A set of documents made public following the request are collected here. Among the new disclosures, made public in search warrants:
- Detectives were given original handwritten, signed statement by four male students at the school.
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