69° CLEAR, Teacher facing charge over girl
Last Modified: Thursday, December 4, 2008 at 1:02 a.m.
SARASOTA - A Sarasota Military Academy teacher tried to seduce a 16-year-old student by sending her text messages, taking her to the mall and offering her alcohol, a school official and deputies say.
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Math teacher Steven L. Panitch, 48, was fired and arrested Wednesday on a felony charge of interfering with child custody, essentially accusing him of taking the girl from school without her parents' permission.
The girl, now 17, complained to another teacher at the school last month, saying she was uncomfortable around Panitch because he repeatedly sent her text messages.
As they investigated, sheriff's detectives learned that one day in March 2007 the girl skipped school with Panitch, spent the afternoon at Prime Outlets at Ellenton and went to his home on Aventura Drive, sheriff's reports say.
At the time, Panitch was not working for the academy.
He met the student during the 2006-07 school year, when he was first hired. But he left the following year to take a job with a local nonprofit. He returned to Sarasota Military Academy in 2008.
While he was gone, though, he kept in contact with the girl and asked her to skip school so they could go shopping. He picked her up in the afternoon and they went shopping, the arrest report says.
Panitch bought himself some shoes.
Then he took the girl to his home and invited her in. At first, the student refused. But Panitch, who is married, said he wanted to show the girl his home.
After a bit, Panitch offered her alcohol, deputies say. The girl took a Smirnoff Ice, she would later tell detectives, but only pretended to drink it. Panitch then leaned in and asked for a kiss, according to the reports. The girl refused.
Later that night, Panitch sent her an e-mail:
"I TRUST YOU! And THANK YOU
For all three things 'we' did (or did not do) ...
a) skipping with me :)
b) sipping with me ;)
c) saying "no" to me!
Two out of three is not bad!
THANK YOU and I Trust You!
'Capt' P"
Panitch could not immediately be reached for comment and it was not clear whether he had hired an attorney.
He denied the episode when confronted by the principal, Dan Kennedy, but later during an interrogation admitted the attempted kiss, according to reports.
It was Kennedy who reported the girl's allegations to sheriff's detectives, the school district, and state education officials.
"I have to say he was an excellent teacher," Kennedy said. ""But I absolutely will not tolerate this.
"This type of behavior is over the top -- and any time you hear of something like it, you have to go full tilt to have it investigated."
This story appeared in print on page BN1
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Comments
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December 4, 2008 11:53:39 am
RE: Link
wow thats freakin scary as hell i really trusted cpt.panitch with like everything
i told him every thing when i needed to talk to someone.
alot of kids looked up to him.
and it shocks the hell out of you when you here something like this from someone like him
he was a good teacher, well thats what i thought but that doesnt really mean anything now i guess now does it................
December 4, 2008 12:19:14 pm
he was a cool guy and i would never think e would do such a thing...but there was times whenhe would kinda scare me but he is wrong for what he did and should deffenitly pay the consequnces...also at school he seemed very different than out side of school...i pray for him but asfar as feeling bad for him...nope...
December 4, 2008 3:29:32 pm
students should not know what teachers are like "outside of school.
Teachers should not be your freind
December 4, 2008 4:26:37 pm
I certainly hope he didn't also teach English.
December 4, 2008 5:20:38 pm
I must not be the only one who saw the error (whatever its origin) in this article... I have called the reporter and left him a message regarding this. In the summer 2005 USF term, I was in a graduate class with "Capt. P" - I even have 2 Sarasota Military Academy business cards that Steve gave me that year. Steve had already been working at the school during the 04-05 school year, and I thought he told me he had just finished his second year there, and was taking his last class to complete the alternative certification requirements for Florida teacher certification. Is the Military Academy saying his first year was 06-07 when it was at least 04-05, and possibly even 03-04?: He met the student during the 2006-07 school year, when he was first hired. Troubling. Is this an error in the story, or is the Sarasota Military Academy hiding the fact that Steve had already been teaching there several years before this incident? What led to him leaving for a non-profit? Have any other improprieties occurred?
- A concerned for "my students" (read that "all students") teacher.
December 4, 2008 8:38:00 pm
He was an amazing teacher. and i went to him to talk about anything. he was always there. i would never think of him doing this. but you dont always know people as well as you thought you knew them. but i do know a couple things.
First things in this article though are not accurate. and i think that this girl is just striving for attention. yes mayb he did some of these things, but not all.
and also he had an exchange student with him for about 3 months. and she doesnt have any problem with him. and she was living with him! so obviously all of the things said are not true. Else the exchange student would've said something about him trying any of those things on her, which she didnt.but whenever an accusation is made the papers are the first to jump on them and exagerate them.
i just pray that everything works out for the best in the end.
December 5, 2008 9:40:33 am
Is this an example of the writeing skills are schools are producing?
December 5, 2008 11:14:37 am
be careful 130.... someone may correct you too. *L*
But the jest of what you're saying ... I agree 100%. Reading the younger writers makes we shudder. The lack of capitalization, the misspelling and no puntuation. Very scary if this is an example of who will be entering our workforce in a few short years! A total lack of education due to "teaching to the test" mentality.
December 5, 2008 11:31:31 am
Remember when the Sarasota Herald Tribune ran a series of articles on teachers who molested their students. Some people complained because
it seemed to denegrate the entire teaching profession for the acts of demented individuals that somehow got into our profession. I on the other hand applauded the efforts of the Trib to shine a light on those heinous teachers and also those that swept their criminal acts under the carpet. Obviously-predatory teachers exist all over this nation if not in the world. I spent 35 years of my life educating the young of Maine and I can tell you that when a teacher breaks that code of trust given to us by students and taxpaying parents-it really hurts. Teaching is a tough enough job as it is without these yahoos dragging us down. Self respecting teachers everywhere are filled with revulsion and yes perhaps even hatred for these degenerates. Can you blame us? Teachers are human beings with kids too.
December 5, 2008 12:30:32 pm
Is this an example of the
writeingwriting skillsareour schools are producing?Good question 1307939, do you have you an answer?
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