OP/ED Willis Matter: Who. Knew. What. When?

Detectives say the initial reporting of when and how Kamiak staff learned of Willis' misconduct was untrue and off by five months. Students and taxpayers need to know what's being done about this.

Initial information provided by Kamiak High School officials to law enforcement and media cited a March 31 tip from an unidentified community member as the source of the investigation that would lead to the firing and criminal investigation of Julian Willis. 

However, this turned out to be untrue. Police say staff knew much earlier, which would’ve triggered state and district mandatory reporting requirements.

And by now serious, unanswered questions should be addressed by administrators regarding who exactly knew what when, and why the public, police and media were initially misled.

Kamiak students and Mukilteo tax payers should be demanding a clear explanation of who exactly knew what when regarding Willis’ crimes.

Why?

Because you were lied to. That’s not me saying that, it’s the police. And this lie covers up a five month gap of inaction during which legally-required action could’ve prevented four sex crimes against a minor from occurring.

So just what kind of internal soul searching and external outreach is occuring at MSD and Kamiak to investigate and address these lapses in responsibility and honesty? And if you don’t know the answer to that question already, it’s an answer in itself.

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To be clear, detectives straight up say that the initial timeline offered by a Kamiak official was untrue and off by five months.

Law enforcement documents obtained by J425 state that the initial report naming Willis wasn’t anonymous or external in nature as we were intially told; and didn’t occur in March 2023 but instead came during the football season in 2022, emanating from a named assistant football coach… who’d verified his information with players before passing on a report to then head football coach Bryant Thomas. 

“Although initial reports noted that a community member reported the allegation of inappropriate relations with a student to the school, interviews confirmed that Damon Terry, another assistant coach on the football team, reported the allegations to Bryant Thomas, Dean of Students and head football coach,” Mukilteo Police Detective Eric Ofori stated in investigative documents filed June 28 in Snohomish County Court.

“Damon (Terry) had overheard rumors throughout the football season¹ from players of some potentially inappropriate relationship between Julian and a student,” Detective Ofori told the court. 

Police say that before reporting, Terry confirmed the Willis rumors with a player who’d spoken directly to the victim.

The player “suggested something was likely happening between Julian and a known female student.” 

According to police, Terry then passed on the information to former Head Football Coach and Dean of Student Bryant Thomas, forming the basis for Thomas’ forwarding a report to law enforcement and district administrators, launching the Willis investigation. 

This is a significant departure from previous reports that linked the information to a tip from an unnamed community member.

As a result, school personnel in receipt of this information knew enough by mid-November 2022 to trigger the state’s mandatory abuse reporting law — which requires school personnel to report information about abuse to authorities within 48 hours — or face criminal penalties. So were these reports made? If so when? If not, why not? If not, has a criminal referral occurred?

So with regard to the above? Who knew what when. And why did staff initially provide a materially misleading explanation? Given that both failure to report sex crimes against a student within the mandatory reporting window… and the act of providing misleading information regarding the source of the Willis tip — well these both would qualify as acts of professional misconduct…if students and taxpayers are getting the basic answers to these most important questions, it may be time to get familiar with the steps necessary to get some external help in getting to the bottom of this matter.

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With respect to the Willis matter, a staff member’s duty to report is governed by state law (RCW 26.44.030) and MSD policy (Child Abuse and Neglect Prevention, 3421-P).  

Mukilteo School District policy states that all school personnel with “reasonable cause” to believe a student has experienced sexual abuse by an adult or student are required to make a report to Child Protective Services and/or law enforcement within 48 hours.

Reasonable cause is further defined in district policy. At the state level, according to Attorney General interpretations of the law, reasonable cause basically means if there’s a possibility that the information could be true.

MSD policy requires any information about the possible sexual abuse of a student to be greeted with immediate action, requiring “all school staff members and volunteers to promptly notify a supervisor” upon learning of a possible issue. From district policy:

Staff members should not wait before reporting suspicious behavior or try to determine whether there is an innocent explanation. Staff need not verify a report that a child has been abused or neglected. Legal authorities have the responsibility for investigating each case and taking appropriate action under the circumstances.

Staff should not attempt to investigate or discuss the matter with anyone else, instead staff is told to report the information immediately, while documenting for their own records that they notified an administrator, including to whom and what was reported.

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Previously:

Protecting the State's Most Valuable Resource: Mandatory Reporting Requirements

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