NORTHWEST ARKANSAS — A Lavaca Middle School teacher, whose teaching license was revoked by the state Department of Education, was charged with a felony after police said he set up a video camera in a teachers-lounge bathroom.
Michael Arlie Clark, 44, who taught science at the school, has pleaded innocent to the charge of video voyeurism, a class D felony that carries up to six years in prison and a $10,000 fine.
Clark was arraigned June 1 before Sebastian County Circuit Court Judge Stephen Tabor and released on $5,000 bond, court records show.
Lavaca police arrested Clark on May 20 after being contacted by school officials who had discovered the video camera that was placed in the bathroom. Clark told police he didn’t have anyone in mind when he placed the camera in the single-stall bathroom earlier that day, but was simply acting on a “whim,” according to a police report.
The state Education Board permanently revoked Clark’s teaching license Nov. 14 for violating Standard 4 of the ethics code for teachers, according to Seth Blomeley, spokesman for the Education Department.
Lavaca Schools Superintendent Jared Cleveland said Tuesday that the camera was in place for about 30 minutes before it was discovered in a basket that holds soap by a janitor, who immediately turned it in to administrators.
Cleveland said he turned the camera over to the Lavaca Police Department, who brought in Arkansas State Police investigators. He also reported the matter to the state Education Board, which initiated an investigation that resulted in the license revocation.
Lavaca Police Chief Phillip Beshoner confiscated the camera and had the video copied on a thumb drive.
Beshoner said in a report that the camera recorded three people goingto the bathroom - one man and two women. The video also captured Clark’s school identification card while he was positioning the camera, which hung from a lanyard around his neck.
The photo from the ID was confirmed by several people, and Clark was subsequently arrested, according to the report.
Clark initially denied wrongdoing and had returned to campus after classes were dismissed to tell Cleveland that the camera had been stolen from his desk in his classroom, the report states.
Clark resigned shortly after his arrest, Cleveland said, adding he hadn’t heard the results of either investigation or anymore about Clark.
“At the time he was a good teacher, but he made an incredible mistake,” Cleveland said.
Cleveland said he hopes Clark was being truthful when he told investigators this was the only time he’d planted the camera.
He said the school district endeavors to hire the best teachers it can and provide a safe work environment, butit can’t predict what people may do.
“You can’t ever tell what a human’s going to do,” he said. “That’s why we have laws; that’s why we have prisons.”
Northwest Arkansas, Pages 7 on 11/23/2011