Local woman's courage sheds light on "Dirty Little Secret"

I've been communicating with Tricia Green off and on for months .. but we hadn't met face-to-face until last night. While her name was never reported, Tricia was the young lady who came forward in 2006 telling police that Randall Crane, a music teacher at Jennings Middle School, had molested her for several years beginning in 2001 when she was 14.

Police took her statement .. then set up a sting phone call to see if Crane would admit to the relationship. After recording the call, Crane was arrested and later plead guilty to sexual battery, serving six months of a two-year sentence.

Back in 2006, I gave Tricia her space as the story progressed. If she'd wanted to talk to the media, she would have let us know. Meanwhile, I dug into Crane's teaching record and found that he'd been investigated for allegedly crossing the line with young girls in the Manchester Schools in the mid 1990's .. but none of that information was shared with Akron Schools when Crane applied for his new job. Instead, Manchester wrote Crane a letter of recommendation .. and the district's "Dirty Little Secret" stayed hidden until we uncovered the truth.

Tricia was still coming to grips with telling her story of abuse when she saw our story about Crane's past. She was stunned. After Crane went to jail, Tricia told me that she would someday give me an interview about what really happened .. and about how upset she was that a school district that could have kept Crane out of her school failed to take action.

Last night .. that day arrived. I was amazed at the story I heard.

Tricia's story aired tonight on Channel 3 and the Akron-Canton News.

I can't imagine how tough it's been for Tricia to get her life together after going through an experience like this. She told me that she was an easy target for Crane .. because she came from a broken home and was raising younger siblings at age 14. She showed me her middle school report card. She missed 31 days in one grading period because she was home watching siblings. She says no one from the school district ever called or inquired as to why she wasn't coming to school (a troubling statement in itself) -- no one noticed, except Randall Crane.

She was forced to grow up quickly and without needed support .. so Crane tried to fill that void and filled her mind with flattery until he lured her into a relationship.

For years, she blamed herself. Crane was married .. and she felt like an adult ... so she must be at least half responsible. She knows now that she was used.

Crane continued to call Tricia all through high school. She kept telling herself that "this is what relationships are like." Eventually, she confided in a close friend who convinced her to go to the police and get counseling.

In Ohio, it's always illegal for at teacher to have a sexual relationship with a student .. regardless of whether the sex is consensual or if the child has reached the age of 18. Legally, Tricia was not at fault.

I can't imagine how may sleepless nights Tricia must have endured trying to make sense of all of this. She told me of having to duck down in Crane's car so no one would see her as he drove her to his home. She told me that other teachers knew Crane was "close" with students but didn't stop it.

"People a) don't' believe you because he was such a great teacher or b) or they don't want to believe you because he was such a great teacher," Tricia said. "It's embarrassing .. it's sad .. unbelievable that a teacher would do something like that. I think it's disgusting."

I told Tricia that I didn't need to know the intimate details or make her relive the hell she endured .. but rather, I wanted to give her the opportunity to tell other districts to get their act together when it comes to reporting suspicious activity by teachers .. and to motivate others who've endured similar abuse to get help and come forward.

That part was really important to Tricia.

"It takes a really strong person to tell someone (that you were molested) and if you can just do that, that would make a difference," she said. "And for them to tell someone, that's the world to me, I've changed the world in one person's eyes and that's all that matters."

Tricia had also watched a story I did in February in which another local teacher -- with his identity concealed -- talked openly about how easy it was to target students for sex. That man gave the advice that parents should get to know their kid's teacher because that will deter predators from striking.

Tricia told that that couldn't be further from the truth. She said that Crane liked meeting her parents .. because it gave him information about her life at home .. information that he could twist to show that he was caring for her while turning her against her family.

We spent about an hour together last night ... only 15 minutes of it on-camera .. and only one minute and 47 seconds of that made the air.

Yet, her openness really touched me. To see the pain in her eyes .. all these years later .. makes me want to dig deeper every time someone is arrested for this type of crime. Just to make sure that leaders were taking action if they knew that a person was dangerous to kids and that hopefully the person wasn't just moved from place to place.

To this day, Tricia still fears retribution. She still has bad dreams. A lot of them. She says she'll never be able to full trust men. Still, she is attempting to move on with her life.

Going public on the evening news was a major step .. one aimed at putting a real name and face behind such an awful story.

"Kids can't be forgotten. And even though I'm 21, I'm still a kid. And I shouldn't be forgotten for what he did to me."

I thanked Tricia for trusting me with her story ... and for sharing so openly. I sense that she felt relieved that she'd finally conquered the last hurdle of this story -- going public. it's an interview I'll never forget.

Hopefully .. someone else whose buried their own abuse ... will see her story and then draw from Tricia's courage and come forward. If that happens, Tricia may never know that it was her risk on the evening news that paid off.

Still .. it was a step Tricia courageously took last night ... and for that, I hope she finally can sleep in peace.

$20 per hour jobs? Yeah, sure ... there's lots of em ..

The high gas prices -- and high everything-else prices because of the high-gas prices -- have a lot folks reconsidering their careers right now.

Should I find a job closer to home to save on gas? Should I stop feeding my 401K so that I have more in my paycheck? Should I get aggressive and find a new job that pays more so I can reclaim my budget?

MSN recently posted an article about 20 jobs that pay $20 per hour or more and are expecting job growth in the coming years; the same article quotes the Dept. of Labor as saying the median household income is $48,201, which for a 40-hour work week means a job paying $27 per hour.

It's an interesting list in that some of those careers -- casino gaming supervisor and subway car operator -- would require moving out of Akron and possibly to an area where the cost of living is higher ... so what would you really gain?

Quite a few of the jobs are in the health industry, which is expected to grow in Ohio as the state's population gets older (and the younger folks follow jobs and better weather out of state).

Zoologists and wildlife biologists make $26.98 per hour; not bad if you can handle the great outdoors and the animal waste that needs cleaned up. Still, might not be enough gorillas and sea otters here in Akron to keep folks gainfully employed.

My favorite is the encouragement for folks to become a special effects animator. $27.90 per hour to create action sequences for big-time movies sounds like the beginning of a beautiful relationship for many men. I'm just not sure that there's that enough folks who could focus on making "Indiana Jones and the search for 23-cent pizza" instead of just sitting and watching it.

All kidding aside, we need local jobs that allow people to do whatever skill they do best and pay a salary that lets them pay their bills .. and $20 per hour ain't what it used to be.

Pizzas almost gone .. Akron Police respond to fights

Statement moments ago from Papa Johns HQ:

"May 8, 2008
The response to the 23-cent pizza offer in Cleveland, Columbus, Toledo, Youngstown and the surrounding areas has been terrific. We salute Cleveland fans for coming out in incredible numbers and showing their support for their hometown team.

As a mid-day update, even though we prepared our stores to make more than 75,000 pizzas today, this great response may mean we'll run out of product and if we do our restaurants will close for the balance of the day. If we do run through the supply, by then we will all have helped raise a lot of money for the LeBron James Family Foundation.

If you are calling our restaurants and receiving a busy signal or no answer, we apologize and appreciate your patience. The call volume is tremendous. Papa John's
appreciates the positive response."

Later .. this statement was sent out:

"Good afternoon all! Wanted to send a quick update letting everyone know that we are expecting supplies to last through dinner tonight and will continue serving customers and taking orders until we have run out of product. Stores will likely
close at differing times based on when they run out of product this evening. If you have any questions, please contact me at 517.256.6648. Have a wonderful evening! Hope everyone has a chance to pick up their 23-cent pizza too!!"

Akron Police have been called to both the East and West Market Street locations for possible fights ... not sure if anyone's been arrested.


Here's a suggestion: Local police should try this again in a few months .. but instead of announcing free pizzas publicly, send letters to people with outstanding arrest warrants telling them they're getting a pizza on a certain day/time .. and then just sit and arrest them as they show up.

Can't be any dumber than offering 23-cent pizzas .. right?

Breaking News: Papa Johns might be running out of pizzas

Note from a member of our newsroom moments ago: "corporate suit says pizza running out get ready for a big mess."

Considering the number of phone calls we've received from angry drivers today ... and the number of police calls we've heard go out of arguments and fights ... if the stores really do run out, it's going to be a major pie in the face. (Here's a shot from my camera phone of the West Akron store .. the crowd extending over towards Acme #1)

A gentleman from Cuyahoga Falls tells me that traffic near the state road store is backed up across the high level bridge. He fears that emergency crews won't be able to get through if need be. He says "it's just crazy out there."

Another friend of mine actually got a pizza and tells me "My dad, mom, and I waited for 2 1/2 hours at the store in Stow (it's on route 91). It was fun but people called ahead and got to go before us. That wasn't fair in my opition, but oh well."

Stay tuned .. the calls are still coming in . this could get ugly by dinner time .. Eric

Akron mom quits job ... but isn't a quitter

A friend of mine is quitting her job .. a job "Mary" truly loves that provides a paycheck she desperately needs.

The problem is that Mary lives in Akron but the job is in social work in Medina County. With gas prices, Mary can no longer afford the drive back and forth to work .. so she's turning in her two-week notice.

It's the sad reality of today's high gas prices .. yesterday hitting $3.79 here in Akron.

I not only hurt for Mary and her family ... but I wonder how those families she was helping in her job will cope with Mary no longer there to guide them through the system.

Anyone who thinks the high gas prices aren't having an exponential impact on our community needs to stop sniffing the fumes at the pump.

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Mayor Don a superdelegate?

Reporter Vic Gideon asked me today if Mayor Plusquellic is a superdelegate for the National Democratic Party. I told him that I started to check that very issue a few weeks ago, but I couldn't recall the outcome.

Anyway .. I emailed Mark Williamson at the Mayor's office tonight ... and he told me:
"Hasn't been determined in ohio yet. I think this weekend."

Based on the current lay of the land, it might be better for Mayor Plusquellic to not be selected as a SD this time around. He clearly backed Hillary Clinton in her campaign, and Clinton ended up winning the Akron area and the state. It would only seem right that as a SD, DP would cast his vote for HC. Yet, now that Obama looks like he's sealed up the nomination, buckeye SD's could be in a tough spot.

As I recall, U.S. Representatives Tim Ryan and Betty Sutton have already pledged their support behind Clinton. Of course, the vote is still many weeks away ... so a lot can change.