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Sarah Dallof reportingThe case of a first-grade teacher convicted of molesting his own students has taken a new twist. The school's principal is now accused of knowing about the abuse and not reporting it.
Frank Laine Hall is currently serving a 15-years-to-life prison sentence for molesting students in his Riverton classroom. Now, the school's principal is charged with one count of failure to report abuse, a misdemeanor that could destroy her career.
Parents of Hall's victims have mixed emotions about this new charge. Shelly Nordick is a well-liked principal, who one parent says helped the children heal after Hall's conviction. But could she have stopped the abuse earlier?
"I think it's sad. It's hard to have things come up again when we've closed the book," said Emily, the mother of one of the victims.
Emily says Nordick is an excellent principal who was brand new when the case against Hall came to light. She doesn't blame her for what happened. "Even though my daughter was a victim, I don't hold her responsible. I hold him responsible," Emily said.
Hall was known for rewarding his students' successes with Happy Meals and getting them interested in science, math and reading. But court documents state he was also hurting them -- molesting several of them sometime between July 1, 2006, and March 9, 2007.
As for Nordick, charging documents don't detail how long she allegedly knew about the abuse or how much she knew about it. Her lawyer declined to comment on those aspects but said he's confident she'll be fully exonerated and that school administrators shouldn't be expected to serve as attorneys or judges.
"She's fantastic! A wonderful principal," said Rebecca, a mother of two of Hall's students who weren't abused.
Rebecca also has mixed feeling about the charges and, like Emily, points the finger back at Hall. "It wasn't her fault. She wasn't the abuser. We've taken the abuser to the court, and he's serving for that," Rebecca said.
Eyewitness News attempted to talk to the prosecutor in this case to learn more about the accusations about Nordick, but he said he was unable to comment on an ongoing case.
E-mail: sdallof@ksl.com
