Former parent liaison at Warren school pleads no contest to assaulting student, 11

By Ed Runyan

runyan@vindy.com

WARREN

Jill Sweet, mother of a girl, 11, assaulted by then-parent liaison Marcus Crum at the STEAM Academy, 261 Elm Road NE, Oct. 22, 2015, says Crum’s no contest plea Thursday to misdemeanor assault means he had to “answer for what he did.”

Sweet said the assault occurred as a result of her daughter’s putting a headband back on in the school cafeteria after Crum had asked her to remove it. Sweet says such conduct should have been referred to her and her husband.

“As a parent, we deal with our child as best we can, but violence is never the answer,” Sweet said.

A spokesperson for the school said in an email Thursday that the STEAM Academy “cooperated closely with both the student’s family and local law enforcement to immediately review and address the isolated incident on the same day it occurred.”

The statement said Crum was “swiftly terminated,” adding, “Our focus is on, and remains on, the safety, privacy, well-being and education of all students.”

Crum entered the plea before Magistrate Dan Gerin in Warren Municipal Court and received a 25-day jail sentence that will be served with 15 days in the Warren Alternative Sentencing Program and 80 hours of community service in place of the other 10 days. He is fined $100 and court costs.

Police said school surveillance video showed Crum as he slammed the girl into a door in the hallway at the school.

Sweet said Crum led her daughter from the cafeteria into the hallway, where he took hold of her shoulders and forced her backward into a door or wall, causing her to hit the back of her head on the wall when she came to a stop. Crum then “dragged” her up three flights of stairs to the school office, she said.

Crum began anger management counseling at a local agency in the weeks after the incident occurred and has been “doing so successfully,” Gil Blair, the Warren prosecutor who handled the case, told Magistrate Gerin in court.

Crum will be on three years’ probation, but if he completes the counseling program successfully, he could be released from probation in 18 months, Gerin said.

Crum did not speak at the hearing, but Crum’s attorney, Rhys Cartright Jones, apologized to the girl on Crum’s behalf.