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The Pueblo Chieftain reports:
Pueblo County Sheriff Kirk Taylor said Oringdulph's hire was not a decision by his department, but by a commission made up of representatives from Pueblo, Custer, Huerfano, Fremont and Las Animas counties.
Taylor described the job as an annual contract position with the South All-Hazards Region and, essentially, a conduit for the federal homeland security funds that get passed through the state and into counties to be used for various projects.
"Eighty percent of the position is grant writing and 20 percent is operational," Taylor said.
He said Oringdulph's job will be to take the recommendations and a priority list created by the South Region and work with state officials to get the federal funds necessary to pay for those projects.
Sheriff Taylor says that all those on the board that hired Oringdulph knew her past before her hiring.
Oringdulph was involved in sexting and kissing a student at South High School. However, her sexting wasn't just comprised of text.
The teacher sent fully nude self-photos of herself to the seventeen-year-old student, as well as several photos of her in her underwear to several male students, according to a video report by KRDO (See Video At)
http://freedomoutpost.com/2015/01/scandalized-sexting-teacher-named-homeland-security-coordinator/
According to the school board's policy, "Staff may not communicate with students through personal social media platforms or by texting without prior authorization from an administrator."
KRDO added:
In October, police found cellphone pictures that Oringdulph sent to several male students of her in her underwear. She also told police that she kissed a 17-year-old student outside a gym.
Oringdulph has declined to comment. Her husband told KRDO that she resigned for personal reasons.
Superintendent Lopez has not commented on whether she contacted the Department of Education on the matter. As for the Department of Education, it couldn't confirm or deny whether an investigation is ongoing. A spokesperson added, however, that investigating whether a teacher should lose his/her license is a lengthy process.
Oringdulph was never formerly charged by police with a crime, but she did resign over the scandal. Her teaching license continues to be valid through 2017, and according to Michael Westword, "District 60 has taken no action to have it revoked, perhaps due to the wording of another district policy cited by the Chieftain."
In my day, this woman would have been charged with contributing to the delinquency of a minor at the very least. Because the police viewed Oringdulph's actions as unlawful and never charged her, it seems that local politicians and school board members were just fine with letting the entire incident fade away, considering that the teacher had resigned.
That was 2013. This is 2015 and we are now faced with a person taking a federal position, who is now understood to be one that knowingly preys upon minors and still has the potential to teach America's children. With this new found authority, is anyone guessing that Mrs. Oringdulph will not be engaging in the same behavior, apart from any true repentance on her part? I'm guessing not.
The Pueblo Sheriff's Department told Freedom Outpost that they do have laws that deal with those that contribute to the delinquency of a minor, but that would have been the jurisdiction of the Pueblo Police Department.
Sgt. Gonzalez of the Pueblo Police Department told me that Oringdulph was never arrested, but was investigated and the district attorney never brought charges against her. When questioned as to whether or not the officer would perform an arrest on an adult providing pornography to a minor, we were told that a report would be written up, and investigation performed and then the district attorney would have the final say as to whether or not there would be an arrest.
Calls to the District Attorney's Office have not been returned as of the writing of this article.
Remember the days when crime didn't pay?
In 2014, 54-year-old George Hristovski, an Inspector at the US Department of Homeland Security, was arrested by the Federal Bureau of Investigation in California after he solicited a mother and her 13-year-old daughter for sexually explicit pictures on several occasions via Craigslist.
Former head of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano also came under fire and had a discrimination lawsuit filed against her as a male employee claimed that she had presided over a female "fraternity house"-style department which routinely humiliated males.
If you are a parent in the Pueblo area, perhaps you would like to make your voice heard in this matter.
You can contact Sheriff Taylor at 719-583-6125. You can also contact the Pueblo Police Department at 719-553-2538 and demand to know why criminal charges against Mrs. Oringdulph have not been filed and she continues to hold a teacher's license while now receiving tax dollars. To follow up with the local District Attorney, you can call 719-583-6030. You can also contact Pueblo City Schools and ask them why they have not revoked Oringdulph's teaching license at 719-549-7100.
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