Southeast
North Carolina Catholic school can legally fire gay teacher who announced his wedding online, court rules
A Catholic school in North Carolina was legally allowed to fire a gay teacher who announced his marriage to another man on social media a decade ago, according to a federal appeals court ruling, reversing a judge’s earlier decision.
A panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Virginia, on Wednesday reversed a 2021 ruling stating that Charlotte Catholic High School and the Roman Catholic Diocese of Charlotte had violated teacher Lonnie Billard’s federal employment protections against sex discrimination under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act.
The school said Billard was not brought back as a substitute teacher because of his “advocacy in favor of a position that is opposed to what the church teaches about marriage,” according to a court document.
U.S. District Judge Max Cogburn ruled that Billard, who worked full-time as a teacher for a decade until 2012, was a lay employee for the limited purpose of teaching secular classes. The judge said a trial would still need to be held to determine appropriate relief for him.
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A Catholic school in North Carolina was legally allowed to fire a gay teacher who announced his marriage to another man on social media a decade ago, according to a federal appeals court ruling. (MediaNews Group/Boston Herald via Getty Images)
A 2020 ruling by the Supreme Court also found that Title VII protected workers who were terminated for being gay or transgender.
Circuit Judge Pamela Harris, however, wrote in Wednesday’s ruling that Billard fell under a “ministerial exception” to Title VII that courts have taken from the First Amendment that protects religious institutions in how they treat employees “who perform tasks so central to their religious missions — even if the tasks themselves do not advertise their religious nature.”
Billard, who primarily taught English as a substitute after returning from retirement as a drama teacher at Charlotte Catholic High School, fell under this exception because Charlotte Catholic expected teachers to integrate faith throughout the curriculum, Harris wrote, adding that the school’s apparent expectation that Billard be prepared to teach religion as needed speaks to his role in the school’s religious mission.
“The record makes clear that (Charlotte Catholic) considered it ‘vital’ to its religious mission that its teachers bring a Catholic perspective to bear on Shakespeare as well as on the Bible,” Harris wrote. “Our court has recognized before that seemingly secular tasks like the teaching of English and drama may be so imbued with religious significance that they implicate the ministerial exception.”
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Circuit Judge Pamela Harris wrote in Wednesday’s ruling that Lonnie Billard fell under a “ministerial exception” to Title VII. (REUTERS/Axel Schmidt)
Billard began working at Charlotte Catholic in 2001, the year after he met his now-husband. He announced their decision to get married shortly after same-sex marriage was made legal in North Carolina in 2014, and he filed a lawsuit challenging his termination in 2017.
The American Civil Liberties Union and a Charlotte law firm that helped Billard file his lawsuit said Wednesday’s ruling was “a heartbreaking decision for our client who wanted nothing more than the freedom to perform his duties as an educator without hiding who he is or who he loves.”
The joint statement said the ruling threatens to infringe on the rights of LGBTQ+ workers by “widening the loopholes employers may use to fire people like Mr. Billard for openly discriminatory reasons.”
An attorney for a group that defended the Charlotte diocese praised the ruling, calling it a “victory for people of all faiths who cherish the freedom to pass on their faith to the next generation.”
Lonnie Billard announced his decision to get married shortly after same-sex marriage was made legal in North Carolina in 2014. (iStock)
“The Supreme Court has been crystal clear on this issue: Catholic schools have the freedom to choose teachers who fully support Catholic teaching,” Luke Goodrich of The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty said.
Attorneys general from nearly 20 Democrat-leaning states and lawyers from Christian denominations and schools and other organizations filed briefs in the case.
Circuit Judge Paul Niemeyer joined Harris’ opinion, while Circuit Judge Robert King wrote a separate opinion saying he agreed with the reversal but also questioned the use of the ministerial exemption. King wrote instead that Charlotte Catholic fell under a separate exemption in Title VII for religious education institutions dismissing an employee.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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Southeast
Disgraced teacher accused of using Google Docs to groom underage student before alleged sex crimes
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A Palm Beach County, Florida, science teacher is behind bars after investigators say he used a shared Google Doc to secretly communicate with a student before engaging in sexual acts with her at school and inside his apartment, according to an arrest affidavit.
Elias Gordon Farley, 26, a former teacher at Donna Klein Jewish Academy in Boca Raton, was arrested after the student reported the alleged abuse on Nov. 18.
The teen told detectives the interactions began as casual conversations during the previous school year, but over the summer, Farley allegedly created a shared Google Doc in which the two wrote messages back and forth.
Investigators said the file later contained explicit entries describing sexual activity and planning when they would meet privately.
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Elias Gordon Farley, a former teacher at the Donna Klein Jewish Academy in Boca Raton, is facing felony charges after police say he engaged in a months-long sexual relationship with a student. (Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office)
According to the affidavit, the student said the relationship became physical in mid-September inside Farley’s office, where he touched her beneath her clothing. She told detectives the encounters continued for weeks in both his office and a classroom.
By late September and into October, she said the pair were engaging in sexual acts, including oral sex and, at one point, intercourse inside a classroom on campus.
The student also described visiting Farley’s apartment twice in early November after recognizing details he had mentioned about its location and layout. She told deputies that several sexual encounters occurred during those visits.
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A teacher was accused of using Google Docs to talk to an underage student before sexual encounters. (Google Maps)
Detectives later executed a search warrant and said they found bedding, condom wrappers and furniture matching her description. Farley’s roommate confirmed he had not been home on the dates the teen said she visited.
School surveillance video reviewed by deputies also appeared to support her account, showing Farley and the student entering his office together on Nov. 7 and later entering a classroom for about an hour.
The situation came to light after the student confided in an art teacher on Nov. 14 and showed her bruises and bite marks she said came from Farley. Administrators were informed the next day, suspended Farley immediately and reported the matter to child welfare authorities.
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A former science teacher at Donna Klein Jewish Academy in Palm Beach County was arrested after allegations of an inappropriate sexual relationship with a student, according to the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office. (iStock)
Farley refused to speak with detectives after being read his Miranda rights, according to the affidavit.
Farley was booked into the Palm Beach County Main Detention Center Dec. 4 and is being held on $500,000 bond, jail records show. He faces charges of unlawful sexual activity with a minor and offense against a student by an authority figure.
In a statement provided to Fox News Digital, Donna Klein Jewish Academy said it is cooperating fully with the investigation and called the situation “a difficult time for all of us at Donna Klein.”
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“We are approaching this serious situation with the utmost care, keeping the well-being of our students, faculty and families at the forefront,” a spokesperson said.
The school said it is working closely with families, teachers and staff to ensure they have the support they need, adding that its priority is maintaining “a safe, compassionate and educational environment for all.”
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The spokesperson said no additional details would be released “out of respect for the privacy of our community” but that Farley is no longer employed at the school.
The investigation is ongoing. Anyone with information is urged to contact the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office at 561-688-3000.
Stepheny Price covers crime, including missing persons, homicides and migrant crime. Send story tips to stepheny.price@fox.com.
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Southeast
Florida teens in custody after 14-year-old girl found shot to death, burnt: sheriff
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Two teen boys in Florida are accused of fatally shooting a 14-year-old girl and setting her on fire along a wooded walking trail last week in what authorities are calling a “horrific” killing.
Santa Rosa County Sheriff Bob Johnson told reporters Thursday that the body has been identified as Danika Troy. He said Danika’s mother reported her as a runaway on Monday.
“Unbeknownst to the mother, Danika was murdered the previous night,” Johnson said.
A passerby discovered Danika’s body along a wooded area off Kimberly Road in Pace, a town about 16 miles northeast of Pensacola, and called 911, Johnson said.
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Santa Rosa County Sheriff Bob Johnson told reporters that the suspects were supposedly friends with the victim from school. He said investigators were still working to determine a motive. (Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Office)
Investigators quickly identified the suspects as 14-year-old Kimahri Blevins and 16-year-old Gabriel Williams and took them into custody.
“This is where it gets really horrific,” Johnson said.
Kimahri Blevins, 14, is facing premeditated first-degree murder charges. Authorities are seeking to charge him as an adult. (Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Office)
Williams allegedly stole his mother’s handgun and shot Danika.
“It’s bad enough you kill a 14-year-old. You’re 14. You’re 16,” Johnson said. “Shoot her multiple times, and then they set her on fire.”
Gabriel Williams, 16, is facing premeditated first-degree murder charges. Authorities are seeking to charge him as an adult. (Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Office)
Johnson said investigators are still working to determine a motive.
“They have been interviewed, but the motive that they’re giving doesn’t fit the forensics or any facts of the case, so we don’t have a legit motive,” he told reporters.
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Blevins and Williams supposedly knew the victim from school, according to Johnson. He believed the two teens have had previous “run-ins” with law enforcement, though he could not immediately say if they had earlier arrests.
Blevins and Williams are being held at the Department of Juvenile Justice on premeditated first-degree murder charges.
“You don’t want to go out and see a burnt child with bullet holes,” Johnson said. “That’s not something you sign up for.”
Johnson said no parents have been charged at this time, though investigators are “looking into it.”
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The sheriff’s office is working with the State Attorney to charge both teens as adults.
“If you do an adult crime, you gotta do adult time,” Johnson said.
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Southeast
Florida college student who allegedly shipped 1,500 rounds of ammo to dorm had AR-15 under bed
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A Florida college student who allegedly ordered 1,500 rounds of ammunition to his dorm room also had a semi-automatic rifle under his bed, according to authorities.
Constantine Demetriades, a 21-year-old senior at Rollins College, was arrested by Winter Park police on Wednesday and charged with possession of a weapon on school property after the ammunition order was reported to police by the school’s assistant campus safety director, according to an arrest affidavit, WKMG reported.
After the purchase was flagged, the assistant safety director searched Demetriades’ dorm and allegedly discovered an unloaded AR-15 under his bed inside an unsecured black carrying case with one loaded magazine and five empty magazines, as well as a tactical vest, knives, a black security vest and ear protection.
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Constantine Demetriades, 21, was charged with possession of a weapon on school property. (Winter Park Police Department)
Demetriades, who said he likes to shoot as a hobby, told police he had the rifle on school property because he had recently returned from a Thanksgiving trip to New Jersey, where he said the guns were purchased and registered legally, according to the affidavit.
He said he did not have ill intentions and that he usually stores the firearm at a friend’s home off school property, the affidavit stated. He also said he only brought the gun to campus on one other occasion.
Constantine Demetriades said he did not have ill intentions. (Getty Images)
While Florida allows open carry, Rollins College bans all weapons on campus. Demetriades allegedly said he is aware that weapons are not allowed on campus and that his New Jersey concealed carry permit does not apply in Florida.
The college said in a statement obtained by Fox News Digital that he is banned from campus until the situation is resolved, adding that an internal investigation has been opened.
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While Florida allows open carry, Rollins College bans all weapons on campus. (Getty Images)
“On Wednesday, the College received a report indicating a violation of our weapons policy,” Rollins College said in a statement. “After receiving this information, we immediately initiated an investigation.”
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“We quickly identified and contacted the student, who cooperated fully with College officials and local law enforcement as we investigated the matter further,” the statement continued. “The student was arrested and is not permitted to be on campus while the College proceeds with the student conduct process.”
The school said Demetriades was additionally charged with a violation of the college’s weapons policy, and will go through the on-campus conduct process.
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