Abuse of Power or Authority / Child Molestation / Child Rape / Grooming

1254: Lillie Bowman

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Lillie Bowman was a high school English teacher and trap team coach in Norris, Nebraska. In early April, a student told the school administrators about a sexual relationship between the trap-shooting coach and one of the students she was coaching. The school “investigated” and determined there was nothing amiss and warned the student who had come to them to stop talking about the teacher and the student she victimized or risk suspension. The also informed the school resource officer that the rumor was unfounded and called the mother of the student who reported the rumor.

A parent called the police who investigated and discovered Bowman had spoken with the studen more than 300 times. They also interviewed Bowman’s roommate who confirmed that Bowman said she had a relationship with the student and had the student at their apartment though Bowman tried to avoid doing that while her roommate was home.

Bowman was arrested in May 2023, and pleaded no contest in a plea deal in January 2024. She pled no contest to third-degree sexual abuse by a school employee, a class 4 felony, and was found guilty. She was originally charged with first-degree sexual abuse by a school employee, which is classified as a 2A felony. She may get up to two years in prison at sentencing.

America's News – Historical and Current Change Databases NewsBank home New Search A-Z Source List Session Folder Share Feedback Grand Island Independent, The (NE) September 27, 2023 Back to Results Previous 19 of 205 Next Text Size Cite Email Print Download Save to My Folder Copy Link Share to Google Classroom Norris school board investigates after teacher is accused of having sexual relationship with student September 27, 2023 | Grand Island Independent, The (NE) Author/Byline: JENNA EBBERS Lincoln Journal Star | Section: News 649 Words Read News Document The Norris Board of Education is conducting further internal investigations into the hiring and, ultimately, firing of the high school teacher who was arrested for an alleged inappropriate relationship with a student in May. Per a district policy, a temporary committee was created and approved at a July board meeting in response to the May 19 arrest of Lillie Bowman, a high school English teacher and assistant trap coach at Norris High School, about 15 miles from Lincoln. "We felt this policy was the best way to be sure we were doing everything we could to mitigate the possibility of ever having an event like this again in our district," Board President Jim Devine said in an email. Bowman, 23, was charged with first-degree sexual abuse by a school employee after concerned parents reported a relationship between her and a student athlete to the Lancaster County Sheriff's Office on May 14. In an interview with deputies, the student, who was on the trap team, revealed that he and Bowman had been in a relationship since March and had sex about 10 times. The day before her arrest, deputies obtained Bowman's phone records, and on the day of the arrest searched the south Lincoln apartment she shared with a roommate. Investigators discovered Bowman had spoken on the phone with the student more than 300 times since the start of April and found used condoms in her apartment — at least one was believed to have been recently used. Another Norris student first told Norris administration that rumors were circulating of a relationship between the two in early April. But, after interviewing Bowman, the student said to be involved and another student who was thought to have started the rumors, administrators determined there was no truth to them. The rumors and the results of their investigation were then relayed to the school resource officer, but no further action was taken. More than a month later, the Sheriff's Office began investigating the relationship, leading to Bowman's arrest. Now, a temporary committee, consisting of Devine and board members Gary Kubicek and Aaron Wubbels, is conducting its own investigation into the incident, beginning with Bowman's hiring and ending with her arrest. "This was a horrible incident in the history of our district," Devine said. "In full cooperation with the Lancaster County Sheriff's Department, I am confident we have taken this very seriously and will be ever more vigilant to be sure it never happens again." The group held their second meeting at the start of September and interviewed Superintendent Brian Maschmann about the details of Bowman's hiring, who was a first-year teacher and Norris alumna. The board members told Maschmann that the process is meant to fill in gaps of missing details because they had received a lot of information from community members from emails, public comment and investigations, but had not received much from him, according to meeting minutes published in the board's meeting agenda in September. After going over the hiring of Bowman, the committee asked Maschmann questions regarding trap team events, the investigation process used by the administration when rumors surfaced, what the superintendent learned from the investigation and concerns of student safety. Committee members were left with more questions in regard to the arrest of Bowman, which they will have the opportunity to ask at the next meeting, but ultimately Maschmann's answers were "helpful to better understand the big picture," according to the minutes. So far, Devine said he believes the committee has served its purpose to understand every detail of this incident in order to prevent anything like it from happening again. The committee is hoping to have a final report from its investigations to present at the November board meeting. "I am also confident that no person on the administrative team, teachers or employees of the district would ever compromise their personal integrity, ethics, professional careers and honor in the protection of our most valued responsibility — the safety of our students," Devine said. © Copyright, 2023, The Grand Island Independent, All Rights Reserved. ©2024 NewsBank, inc. Help Contact Customer Service Privacy Policy Terms of Use Listen Dictionary
Omaha World-Herald (NE)
September 29, 2023

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