Stephen Buitenveld isn’t sure he will ever be allowed to work with children again, but right now he’s just relieved he’s got his life back.
That happened on the day before Christmas when a Kitsap County Superior Court jury found the former para-educator for the Bainbridge Island School District not guilty of a felony indecent liberties charge involving a 17-year-old developmentally disabled girl last June 11.
“I thought all long this would never reach trial because I did nothing wrong,” Buitenveld said Monday. “Right now, I’m just thankful that I’m free. I can’t imagine going through this without all of the support I received from my family and friends in the community.”
Buitenveld and his attorney, Peter Camiel, insisted that the teacher and health-care provider was falsely accused by a 15-year-old boy, who attended special education classes at BHS, because he may have had a grudge against the defendant. The boy, now 16, accused Buitenveld of touching the girl “in a sexual nature” while they were in the hot tub and later the swimming pool of the Aquatic Center complex on the school campus.
Buitenveld’s son, Jeff, and another student were sitting in the hot tub at the same time, until Steve and the girl went to the deep end of the pool for a few minutes.
The girl was interviewed by police following the incident, but because of her disability she was not called as a witness in the trial. The only other piece of evidence that related directly to the alleged crime was a video tape, which, according to Camiel, showed the four people talking for several minutes but revealed no evidence of what the boy told police and prosecutors had occurred.
During his testimony, contrary to previous statements, the boy said he wasn’t sure Buitenveld touched the girl because he couldn’t see under water. But, he said, he was sure about what he saw when they were in the swimming pool.
Buitenveld said this week that he thought his lawyers would get the charges dropped when they talked to the prosecutors about the evidence. Buitenveld said the prosecutor’s office sent his lawyers a copy of the video and a note saying they would offer a plea bargain in exchange for a guilty plea.
Buitenveld said the last six months have been difficult.
“Things like I couldn’t see my granddaughter without my son being there, and not being able to be around minors even when they’re family members,” he said.
He and his wife, Deb, were forced to live apart because he couldn’t be around her 25-year-old daughter, who is developmentally disabled and needs constant care.
“I just had to take myself out of the community,” he said. “Obviously, my reputation was harmed. I was accused of doing something heinous and now that that’s behind me, I’m going to work to restore my good name. It’s hard, but I try to keep a good attitude.”
He has found a few jobs as a “handyman” just to keep busy, but he isn’t sure how he’ll be able to pay the more than $20,000 in legal fees he owes.
“My family has really stepped up, paying for the bail ($15,000) and other things, too. And friends also set up a legal fund for me. They’ve been great.”
The teacher is currently on unpaid administrative leave from the school district through the 2009-10 school year.
“They sent me a letter saying that it’s their right to do their own investigation on me and they’ll let me know whether they want to rehire me or not,” he said. “Generally, I guess, I’m unemployable right now in that regard.”
He said he has considered leaving Bainbridge.
“It’s a thought, but my mom is still here and I have a lot of support, too,” said Buitenveld, who grew up on the island. “We’ll see how it works out.”
