Paying for Sex in a Pinellas County School
You’d think that if a teacher paid a student for sex, someone would fire him or her immediately. That’s not the case here in Pinellas County, though. The District took the time to conduct an investigation and then came back with a rather convoluted conclusion: Seminole High School teacher Gerald DiPanfilo’s effectiveness has been “diminished” due to the fact that he allegedly met a 17-year-old male student at a bar, took him to his apartment, and paid him for sexual acts.
DiPanfilo, 55, admitted he had sex with the student but denied that he knew the student was a minor. He also said he MAY have given the kid money, but really does not remember because he had too much to drink.
The student said DePanfilo gave him money to buy crack and for sex.
This happened last summer. Last. Summer. It took that long to figure out that the situation was bad. The police referred the case to the State Attorney who did not file formal charges, but rather gave the case to Pinellas County School’s Office of Professional Standards. He was not fired during the investigation. Instead, he was reassigned to the district’s warehouse.
Pinellas school superintendent Clayton Wilcox has since recommended that DiPanfilo be fired for “inappropriate sexual conduct including but not limited to lewd and lascivious behavior, indecent exposure, solicitation of prostitution, sexual battery, possession or sale of pornography involving minors and sexual relations with a student.”
DiPanfilo wants an administrative hearing. I suppose that he honestly believes he has the right to keep working for the school system after this disgusting behavior.
And get this! He was still working for the school system even after being charged in April 2007 with DUI and possession of drugs without a prescription.
Florida is full of amazing people just begging to be hired as teachers, yet people like DiPanfilo are still teaching our children. I hope this guy sees the inside of a jail cell. And, to all who may wonder if I know what I am talking about, I AM a teacher. I *understand* the Code of Ethics we are supposed to take. I know that a teacher’s job, first of all, is to protect the children.
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