Guilty Until Proven Innocent: Teachers and Accusations of Abuse

Crimes against children are unspeakable. The natural instinct of our society is to protect our children at all cost. In the process, collateral damage has been done to teachers wrongly accused of abuse. Colorado Education Association Attorney Greg Lawler has been fighting for teachers' rights for fifteen years. Guilty Until Proven Innocent examines thirteen of Lawler's cases in detail and explores the societal pressures that led to the persecution of innocent teachers. Using real cases that Lawler has litigated, Guilty Until Proven Innocent explains the role of legislators, the media and the public in the growing phenomenon of teachers being falsely accused of abuse against students.

Matthew D. Olson has worked as a reporter since he was 16 years old. His stories have run in the Greeley Tribune, Gillette News-Record and Denver Post. He and his wife currently reside in Aurora, Colorado.

Greg Lawler was instrumental in the creation of the Criminal Defense Program of the Legal Services Department of the CEA in 1986. Currently, the CEA is one of only three state teachers’ unions with such a program. Lawler has defended over two thousand teachers accused of abuse. To date, he has never lost a case of a school employee accused of child abuse at trial. He currently resides in Denver, Colorado.