In light of the recent violence in schools across the nation, the Dearborn Educators’ Association has taken action after they were apprised of a situation involving a student, who has pled guilty to violent crimes, and been allowed to continue to attend East Central High School.

On August 21 Richard (Ricky) Oldfield appeared in Ripley Circuit Court to plead guilty to two counts of Battery with a Deadly Weapon. These charges stem from a stabbing on April 9, 2005, where Oldfield admits he stabbed two 20-year-old men at an apartment in Penntown.

First published in the Osgood Journal on April 12, 2005, the suspect’s name was not released due to his age. He was 16 at the time. Later, he was waived into adult court by Judge Carl Taul due to the nature of the crimes and the defendant’s past criminal history.

At the September 25 hearing, the defendant’s high school principal, Donel Criswell, testified on behalf of the defendant. This testimony has prompted a response from the Dearborn Educators’ Association. In a letter to Prosecutor Ric Hertel’s Office, the group describes themselves as “concerned teachers,” who “find the testimony of our principal for a self-confessed, soon-to-be convicted felon, unacceptable and extremely disconcerting.”

The letter begins by saying, “Recent safety and security issues within our school, as well as our nation, have prompted our association to address a pending case within your court.” The group notes that the principal was not subpoenaed by the prosecuting attorney, Ric Hertel, or the defense attorney, John Watson. The group requested a meeting with the prosecutor saying, “it is imperative that the school board is aware of the current events going on in our schools so that the best and safest possible learning environment can be achieved.”

Of concern to the organization was the fact the Oldfield was placed back in the school system after the violent acts of April 9 that he has admitted to doing.

At the September 25 hearing, Criswell took the stand saying he had been in education for 40 years, having been a principal at North Decatur, and football coach at Ben Davis in Indianapolis and Milan. He is currently the principal of the East Central High School that has a student body of about 1400 to 1500 students according to the testimony of Criswell.

Criswell testified that his duties include making sure the students get an education, are safe, and deals with disciplinary matters.

He said he knew Oldfield because he talked to him at lunch. He said he was polite when he passed him in the hallways. He testified that while he was aware of the stabbing incident, it was only vaguely. He said there was a lot of rumors at school. Criswell said he always looked at what happens out of school as sometimes not being the school’s responsibility. He said there was a lot of controversy about Oldfield returning to school following the stabbing incident, mostly concern from teachers and aides who were “concerned for safety.” The principal said he was concerned, but felt he could handle Oldfield.

Saying a decision was made “above his head” Criswell testified that Oldfield had been removed from the school and taught at home for the remainder of the Spring of 2005. In the fall, Oldfield returned to school and the principal said “everything seemed to be fine.”

When questioned about any disciplinary problems Oldfield might have had, Criswell said the only thing he knew of was the defendant might have had a cell phone, or been tardy to class. Oldfield is a senior this year and Criswell said he wasn’t aware of any problems. He further noted he doesn’t see any problem with him continuing his high school education there at East Central. When asked what the staff thought about him being at school, he said he couldn’t answer for the 72 teachers.
Under cross examination, Prosecutor Hertel questioned Criswell saying, “Ricky wasn’t exactly a model student before this happened now was he?”

Criswell replied that he didn’t know exactly what was meant by a “model student.”

Prosecutor Hertel went on to ask the principal if he was aware Oldfield had been on probation when he was 14-years-old. The principal said he didn’t know that. He further questioned if he knew he was on probation for battering his mother. Criswell said he didn’t know that and said it did surprise him. Hertel went on to say Oldfield had an in-school suspension for the use of tobacco, had been reprimanded for making offensive remarks to another student and was assigned to Friday school in 2003 for pushing another student. Then he was suspended for two days for failing to attend a Friday school. The principal said he was probably aware of it but couldn’t exactly remember the situation. The prosecutor said those incidents are what he was referring to when he said he wasn’t exactly a model student.

The principal testified he was surprised that Oldfield has pled guilty to stabbing two people. The prosecutor asked Criswell if it concerned him down the road if Oldfield would be permitted to be back in school or out on the street. Criswell noted that it would concern him, but he felt he could control him (Oldfield).

The prosecutor asked Criswell if knowing Oldfield was a convicted felon would change his mind about allowing the defendant back in school. Criswell said “whatever happens I will go along with the decision and whatever we have to do.”

Under redirect examination by Attorney John Watson, Criswell testified that there are other students in the school that have committed crimes, such as speeding tickets or “whatever.” He said there were “probably” students he’s had in school who were on in-home incarceration and were wearing bracelets.

In the end, he testified that while he doesn’t have a problem with dealing with Oldfield at school, he will go by whatever the school policy is on that sort of thing.

Under recross examination, Prosecutor Hertel asked Criswell if he was drawing any comparison between speeding tickets and a double stabbing. The principal’s answer was “no.”

The prosecutor’s sentencing recommendation for Oldfield is for him to be sentenced to 14 years incarcerated with two years suspended. The Probation Department’s recommendation was for 12 years incarceration and four years suspended.

Prosecutor Hertel noted that Oldfield has a prior record that he feels indicates he will not stop his violent behavior. He had a battery charge that was pled to a disorderly conduct in Dearborn County, multiple probation violations, fighting in school, and failing a drug test while on probation. He had only been off probation six months when the stabbing incident occurred. Hertel’s concern is that he has had several occasions to change and hasn’t. He doesn’t feel that a suspended sentence would be justice to the victims who were critically injured from the incident.

Oldfield’s uncle, who is employed with the Cincinnati Police Department, his high school principal and Oldfield took the stand at the hearing for the defense. Both victims also took the stand and testified.

A sentencing date has been set in Ripley County Circuit Court for October 25. Oldfield will know what the future holds for him at that time.