How a Relationship with "Young, Hot" Teacher Ruined a Life

By Maury Glover
Fox 10
November 4, 2014

http://www.fox10phoenix.com/story/27261097/former-cretin-derham-hall-student-files-suit-after-sex-scandal

[with video]

By his own account, Cameron Clarkson's senior year at Cretin-Derham Hall should have been the best of his life. He was captain of the football team, and with players like Seantrell Henderson, the Raiders won their second state title in 10 years. However, the All-American teenager was carrying a devastating secret, one that would eventually derail his dreams of playing college football and test his faith, both in the institution that was his home for 4 years, and in himself.

Clarkson went to the Catholic high school because it was supposed to be a safe and spiritual place to learn, but it put him on a collision course with another Cretin grad who abused her position as a substitute teacher and weight room supervisor to have a sex with the then 16-year-old boy. Gail Gagne is the granddaughter of legendary Minnesota wrestler, Vern Gagne, and the daughter of his equally famous tag team partner and son, Greg, but to the boys at Cretin, she was a young, hot teacher.

In never-before-seen depositions, Gagne describes how the two began bonding over their sometimes absent fathers. They would talk as she gave Clarkson rides home from the weight room where he worked the summer before his junior year.

'She really likes me'

"I just said that my dad was a former athlete and that sometimes they are not always in your life and that's part of the job, and it's maybe not the best situation, but you can overcome,” Gagne said during the deposition.

At 25, Gagne was only nine years older than Clarkson, and as the summer went on, he says the two grew closer, going to lunch, becoming friends on Facebook. Gagne even opened up about her fiance in Florida.

"She said there was one problem. I said, ‘What?' She said, 'You.' I was like wow. She really likes me. I was blown away. I was excited. I felt special,” Clarkson said.

Eventually, Clarkson said things turned sexual; the two hooking up at her parents' home in Bloomington and a motel near the Mall of America, but within a couple of months, keeping quiet about the relationship began to take its toll.

"It got to the point where I didn't like sneaking around or feeling like I was doing something wrong, as much as I found her attractive. Getting food, rides home, feeling like the cool guy; it didn't feel right,” he said.

Rumors fly at school

After it was over, he told a few classmates about what happened, even showing off a couple of suggestive pictures Gagne had send him as proof, but it wasn't until after they called it quits that Gagne went through training for teachers at the school on how to maintain proper boundaries with students.

She said she learned in training that it is against the law for a teacher to engage a student under his or her control in any sexual contact, but before that, she claimed she didn't know it was against the law. Soon, rumors about a teacher sleeping with a student spread through the halls and a girl Clarkson was interested in dating finally went to police.

"It was hard. It was a bombardment of mixed messages all day long. Guys trying to dap me up. What's up? It's the teacher f---er. Girls who clearly had conversations with their families. ‘Stay away from that young man. He's a trouble maker, a sex addict.' People looked at me like I was a pervert, someone who really messed up,” Clarkson recalled.

Students respond

By the time news of their relationship made headlines that spring, Gagne had been removed from the school.

"I was crying because of having to leave. It was the spring. I had a lacrosse game that night. I couldn't even tell my team,” Clarkson said. He would soon find out just how far his fellow students would go to show their disapproval when his mother's car was covered in foam and peanut butter, which he is deathly allergic to, and Gagne's name was bleached into their front lawn.

"I thought maybe they meant it when they say things like all are welcome, they really mean it. When they say they believe in a god that forgives and this is a space for kids to come and find themselves. They really mean those things. But I would learn over the course of my senior year that wasn't the case for me. That blanket of kindness wasn't extended to me,” he said.

After that, Clarkson threw himself into the theater department and marijuana to numb the pain until he graduated and left for Howard University in Washington, D.C.

"I had to get away from Minnesota,” Clarkson said. "I had to get away from this life, from this Cameron."

'I don't look like a victim of sexual abuse'

He couldn't run away from his past. Even though Gagne eventually pled guilty to fifth-degree criminal sexual conduct and must register as a sex offender, he is now suing both her and the school for not doing enough to protect him.

"They are betting on the fact that the jury won't be able to empathize with me because I don't look like a victim of sexual abuse. I look like a sexual abuser, in terms of what society says an aggressor looks like. I don't look like someone who could be attacked or have feelings or go through anything. The fact that they are banking on that -- don't think there's a jury of my peers who would emphasize with me rather than this woman who had her career ruined. It's very sobering, there are a lot of double standards,” Clarkson said.

However, that won't keep Clarkson from doing what's necessary in order to keep the same thing from happening to anyone else.

"My story is a story of a survivor, not a victim. Part of that is reminding myself of that. That is how I cope now, as opposed to how I used to cope. I'm not beaten by this,” he said.

Statement from Cretin Durham Hall attorney Tim Thorton

The important thing to emphasize is the school is not affiliated with the archdiocese. None of the activities complained about took place on campus. CDH had no knowledge anything inappropriate was going on and the staff who worked around the weight room had no knowledge anything was going on. CDH has a sexual harassment policy in place and it vigorously enforces it. The plaintiff never complained about anything and despite being aware of sexual harassment policy, never invoked it. Despite that, some months after relationship ended for whatever reason, plaintiff bragged to fellow students about what happened and one of those students reported that situation to the administration. The administration took immediate action including suspending Ms. Gagne and immediately removing her from the property pending investigation, conducting a thorough investigation of the situation and in that investigation, the plaintiff was interviewed, admitted knowing about the policy, admitted not complaining and not being injured or harmed in any way and declined any assistance or support the school offered him. Ultimately Ms. Gagne was terminated after the investigation and Cretin denies any wrong doing and intends to vigorously defend the lawsuit.