 |
Atypical case works something like this: A potential crime comes to the attention of a law enforcement agency, which launches an investigation. Officers interview the people involved. They talk with witnesses. They check backgrounds and research records. They scour computers and the internet looking for clues. They send off for bloodwork, fingerprints and any other forensic evidence.
Only when all of that is done does the law enforcement agency confer with the District Attorney’s Office to consider whether to file charges. Yet, in the case of former Murphy High School principal Tom Graham, it looks like law enforcement officials and the DA’s office arrested him first, then attempted to build a case, which came to an inglorious end when all charges were dropped on July 10.
Graham had been accused of twice making lewd statements to a female sophomore when he was principal of Hiwassee Dam High School in early 2016. He was arrested in February 2018, but his transfer to Murphy High had nothing to do with this case. From the beginning, Graham was adamant that he was innocent and refused to accept any plea deal, including one offered in December 2022.
Over the next 5½ years, the prosecution asked for the case to be continued a staggering 16 times, which should have violated Graham’s constitutional right to a fair and speedy trail, but timeliness never seems to matter in these parts. Meanwhile, the former Cherokee County Principal of the Year was suspended and could only watch helplessly as the life he built through years of education and experience was ripped from under him.
This was not a case with a bunch of moving parts; it was basically one person’s word against another’s. There’s no reason why this matter shouldn’t have gone to court within six months; if Graham had been found “not guilty” when he was still under suspension, he could have gone back to work the next day. And while the prosecuting witness may not have been available last month, they certainly could have testified at many other times over the last half-decade.
Instead, Graham must have had to go into hock to pay mounting legal bills and for things like a lie detector test, which he passed. Fortunately, with the charges dropped, the N.C. Department of Public Instruction’s insurance plan for administrators should reimburse him for those expenses. After his suspension, Cherokee County Schools couldn’t prove his guilt and allowed Graham to draw from his accumulated annual leave and sick days until he resigned, which may have prevented a lawsuit against the county.
Personally, I think the school system should offer Graham another job. With all that has happened, I doubt that he would take it, but it would be nice gesture anyway. What do you say to someone when “I’m sorry” just doesn’t cut it?
Over the years, Graham has never acted like a guilty person. To his credit, he didn’t lash out nor attempt to blame the victim, a young woman who likely had external influences pressuring her into pressing on with the case.
To be clear, child abuse in any form or fashion is horrible and should never be accepted nor tolerated. If I learned anything from serving seven years on the HAVEN Children’s Advocacy Center Board of Directors, it’s that the penalties for these crimes should be stronger, and any person who violates a child mentally, physically or sexually never deserves to have a free moment again.
The “Me Too” movement started in 2017, with thousands of women logging online and sharing that they had been put in a horribly compromising sexual situation with someone in a position of authority. We should believe women when they say something has happened, but due diligence should always be done before making an arrest and destroying someone’s life, as this is the kind of charge that leaves a stain long after the paperwork ending the case has been filed.
If this can happen to Graham, who had a sterling reputation before his arrest, it can also happen to you. When one person’s rights are violated, everybody’s rights have been violated.
David Brown is publisher of the Cherokee Scout. You can reach him by phone, 828-837-5122; email, dbrown@cherokeescout.com; or Twitter @daviddBstroh.