NK, CC drop charges lodged against teacher

Commonwealth’s attorneys in both New Kent and Charles City counties have dropped all charges, including seven sex counts, lodged against a veteran New Kent Middle School teacher.

Both New Kent prosecutor Linwood Gregory and his Charles City counterpart, Rob Tyler, say there is insufficient evidence for going to trial.

Last Wednesday, five felony charges and one misdemeanor involving special education teacher Bruce Flanders were dropped in Charles City General District Court at Tyler’s request. Yesterday (Tuesday), Gregory entered an order in New Kent General District Court to drop one felony and two misdemeanors.

Flanders, 61, of 19701 The Glebe Lane in Charles City, was arrested on Jan. 4 in connection with charges stemming from an alleged sexual relationship with a 22-year-old female teacher at New Kent Middle School.

In Charles City, Flanders faced three felony counts of sodomy and two felony counts of aggravated sexual battery along with a misdemeanor assault count in connection with alleged incidents that took place inside the woman’s Charles City home between late November and early January.

In New Kent, he was charged with one count each of aggravated and misdemeanor sexual battery and misdemeanor assault in connection with alleged incidents at the middle school over the same time frame.

Flanders was jailed without bond, but hearings in New Kent on Jan. 8 and in Charles City on Jan. 16 resulted in judges setting bond at $20,000 in each jurisdiction. The suspect, subsequently, was released from Riverside Regional Jail in Prince George County after spending about two weeks behind bars.

At the time of Flanders’ arrest, New Kent Sheriff F.W. “Wakie” Howard Jr. said information supplied by the alleged victim to Cpl. Kevin Watkins, a resource officer at the school, sparked an investigation. Charles City authorities, meanwhile, acted after being contacted by New Kent sheriff’s personnel.

Preliminary hearings, during which prosecutors ask for charges to be certified to a grand jury, were scheduled for last Wednesday in Charles City and for March 18 in New Kent. But last week, both Tyler and Gregory announced decisions to not prosecute.

“At this time, we don’t have enough evidence to go forward,” Tyler said on March 4.

When contacted by phone, Gregory echoed Tyler’s reasoning saying, “I did not feel the evidence was sufficient to go forward to trial.

“I had no reason to believe going to trial would lead to a conviction,” he added. “We considered all the evidence from the New Kent charges and the Charles City evidence, and we made the determination to drop charges.”

When contacted last Wednesday, Flanders’ attorney, Sam Simpson, said, “This was the kind of case where I’m thankful the prosecution took a close look and made a conscientious decision not to proceed in court.”

Simpson said there was never any dispute about sexual contact taking place, but added his client maintained any sex acts were consensual.

“The lady came forward and made a complaint, and as they should, law enforcement took it seriously,” Simpson said. “But we started looking into it and saw inconsistencies in what she was saying.”

The defense attorney said the alleged victim never changed her story, but waited for what he termed “a long period” before coming forward. She had ample opportunity to do so earlier, he said.

The woman, he said, then claimed one incident took place on a day when Flanders had traveled outside the state and was in Boston, Mass.

“The commonwealth’s attorneys took a practical view of it,” Simpson said. “There was no forensic evidence, just the word of a person who claimed to be the victim. The prosecution saw she was going to have some issues and saw major problems in court.”

Simpson said the next step is to try to get Flanders’ record expunged. Legal measures exist so that his client can file to have the charges removed, the attorney said.

Following his arrest, the school system suspended Flanders. The alleged victim, meanwhile, left her job. Simpson said his client, who is married and the father of two, has no plans to return to New Kent.

“He will not go back to New Kent,” Simpson said, although adding his client did receive support from coworkers at the school.

“Mr. Flanders lost his job,” his lawyer said, “and he does have some explaining to do at home.”