Sex with Teen Alleged, Teacher Faces 7 Counts, by Gary V. Murray, Telegram & Gazette, April 4, 2008

Sex with Teen Alleged
Teacher Faces 7 Counts

By Gary V. Murray
Telegram & Gazette
April 4, 2008

http://www.telegram.com/article/20080404/NEWS/804040615/1116

WORCESTER— A Seven Hills Charter Public School music teacher and elder at a city church has admitted carrying on a five-month sexual relationship with a 15-year-old boy, according to authorities.

The boy is not a student at the school, which yesterday told the teacher he was barred from school grounds.

Tyrone D. Forbes, 49, of 84 Chatham St., Apt. 2, was arrested after he and the boy were found together about 1:30 a.m. yesterday in a pickup truck in the parking lot of Bennett Field on Main Street, police said.

Upon seeing Officer Robert Molinari's cruiser, Mr. Forbes began to drive off, but was stopped a short distance away, according to the Police Department's spokesman, Sgt. Kerry F. Hazelhurst.

Mr. Forbes

Officers interviewed the 15-year-old after Mr. Forbes gave Officer Molinari conflicting reasons for being in the closed parking lot with the boy, and both agreed to meet with Detective Donna Brissette of the special crimes unit at police headquarters, Sgt. Hazelhurst said. Charges were lodged against Mr. Forbes as a result of those interviews.

Mr. Forbes was arraigned yesterday on seven counts of statutory rape. The sexual assaults allegedly occurred on various dates from Nov. 2 to March 31 in Worcester.

Police said Mr. Forbes is an acquaintance of the teenager's family.

At the request of Assistant District Attorney Joseph J. Reilly III, Judge Paul L. McGill set Mr. Forbes' bail at $5,000 cash and made GPS monitoring a condition of release in the event bail was posted. The judge also ordered Mr. Forbes to have no contact with the alleged victim, identified by police as a friend of Mr. Forbes' family.

Mr. Reilly said the 15-year-old had known Mr. Forbes for several years and that the suspect had acted as a "mentor" for the boy. The prosecutor said their relationship turned sexual in nature in November.

Mr. Reilly told the court that Mr. Forbes was involved with the Mount Sinai Church of God in Christ and that church members acquired information that led them to question Mr. Forbes' relationship with the teenager. Police said Mr. Forbes is an elder at the Wellington Street church.

The prosecutor said another of the church elders suggested to the alleged victim that he have no further contact with Mr. Forbes, advice he said the boy apparently followed for a time.

Mr. Reilly told Judge McGill Mr. Forbes admitted under questioning by police that he had been involved in a sexual relationship with the 15-year-old.

His lawyer, E. Jeffrey Newcombe, said Mr. Forbes was an active member of Mount Sinai Church of God in Christ who had been serving as pastor of a fledgling sister church in Nashua, N.H., at the request of his bishop.

A woman who answered the telephone at Mount Sinai Church of God in Christ yesterday said Mr. Forbes had been a member of the church, but that she did not know the name of the church in New Hampshire at which he was reportedly serving as pastor. Bishop Robert L. Webbs, pastor of Mount Sinai Church of God in Christ, was not available for comment.

Mr. Newcombe, who was appointed to represent Mr. Forbes for his arraignment, said his client did not object to GPS monitoring, but wished to be released on personal recognizance without being required to post bail.

Mr. Reilly conceded that Mr. Forbes had strong ties to the community, but said $5,000 cash bail was needed because the strength of the prosecution's case might otherwise make him a risk to flee.

A statement issued by the school said Mr. Forbes had been placed on leave and instructed not to return to school grounds.

"It's just unbelievable," said Brunilda Rivera, a parent of a Seven Hills student in one of Mr. Forbes' music classes. "It's not cool. It's nasty." Ms. Rivera said a friend called her on her cell phone to tell her about the arrest as she was on her way to pick up her son. Her son, Juan Cartagena, is a fifth-grader who has attended the school since kindergarten, Ms. Rivera said.

"He was a good teacher," the boy said as he left the Gage Street School with his mother yesterday afternoon.

Seven Hills Charter Superintendent Krista Piazza didn't return a call yesterday, but the school issued a statement on the events.

"At this time there is no evidence that the teacher was engaging in the alleged behavior at our school," the statement reads. "Seven Hills is nonetheless fully committed to ensuring the safety and security of our student body and has immediately launched an internal investigation to ensure that this incident was an isolated one."

A Seven Hills annual report from the 2004-2005 school year listed Mr. Forbes as a highly qualified teacher with, at the time, three years on the charter school's faculty and seven years' experience as a teacher.