Sex offender? Former Catholic school employee tells his story

By Donna Gundle-Krieg

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Are school employees always guilty when children tell stories of sexual abuse?

Take the case of Shaun Webb. A few years ago, Webb was accused of sexually abusing a young teenage girl at St. Patrick's Catholic school in White Lake, Michigan, where he was employed as a trusted and respected building custodian.

Webb has now written a compelling book called A Motion for Innocence, attempting to convince readers of his claim that the teenage girl who accused him had an overactive imagination and parents with a motive to influence her story.

Why do I care about this particular story?
The book really hit home for my family and many of our friends.

We knew Webb, as my daughter was attending St. Patrick's school while Webb worked there and at the time he went through his trial.

In addition, Webb's wife was (and still is) an elementary teacher at St. Pat's. She was my daughter's drama coach, and Webb often helped his wife with the after-school drama duties.

Also, at the time of the incident, I was working out daily at the Highland Curves with Webb's first wife. During our workouts, I found out that she was his childhood sweetheart and on good terms with him, and that they shared parenting their adolescent daughter.

Webb's former wife told me that despite the charges, she would absolutely still allow her daughter to see Webb regularly.

Because of my concern for the school, the family, and for the truth, I did an investigation of this case for a local newspaper. In fact, the newspaper story that I wrote about the case is referenced in Webb's book.

What did my investigation reveal?
After examining hundreds of pages of court records and talking to the many people that were involved, my conclusion is that only two people really know what happened.

However, while I don't know for sure, I am very convinced that the system failed Webb, causing him jail time and the requirement to be labeled as a sex offender for the rest of his life.

Researching the trial's documents shed a lot of light on issues that were not presented in court. Reading the book made me feel even more passionate about Webb's innocence.

While written as a fictional work, the book mirrors the true story in many ways. In fact, anyone from the Detroit metropolitan area who follows local news will remember some of the stories and relate to many of the characters.

Judge rudely rushed trial and did not allow witnesses
One of the key characters who determined Webb's fate was Judge Deborah Tyner, who was ousted from the bench shortly after Webb's trial.

Tyner resigned after a television camera crew caught her spending her afternoons shopping, getting facials, dining and working out while attorneys and their clients waited for her. In fact, she usually started late and left at noon, even though the court was open for business between 8:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m.

According to Webb's book, Judge Tyner, as usual, was late for Webb's trial and rudely rushed his case.

Therefore, many of Webb's witnesses were not allowed to testify. In fact, his wife was made to stand in the hallway during the trial since she was supposed to be a witness. Yet because of the rushed trial, she and others never testified on Webb's behalf.

Tyner also pressured the jury to hurry and make a decision on Webb's fate. They found him innocent of the two major charges, but guilty of a third charge.

In addition, many of the documents that were not allowed to be presented in Webb's trial suggest that the case may have had a different outcome if the time would have been taken to give him a complete and fair trial.

Book raises issues related to our system of justice
The book raises many issues related to our system of justice.

The book also sheds light on the many problems related to the Michigan Sex Offender laws. Being a sex offender in Michigan is a lifetime label with many stigmas attached, including where one lives and works. Some of these sex offenders are teenagers who had sex with their underage girlfriends.

More importantly, the book raises the difficult question of how often we assume that a school employee or other person is guilty of something that a child accuses him of, when often there is no evidence beyond the child's word.

It is a disturbing dilemma, as a child's concerns should be taken seriously. On the other hand, after reading A Motion for Innocence, it is obvious that we as a society must also be careful not to judge when we do not know all of the facts.

For more information, see:

A Motion for Innocence: About the Book

Efforts to Oust Judge Deborah Tyner Successful

Michigan Public Sex Offender Registry