I just caught this story in the Pierre Capital Journal, and had to highlight it because it takes a crazy number of twists and turns, as an employee of the Board of Regents – who also coaches track – reportedly assaulted a student under his purview. Not to mention the story notes that this state employee was convicted stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars and is still paying restitution.
A Stanley County High School student was “slapped in the face” by Buffaloes head coach Scott Van Den Hemel during a track meet in Todd County on April 14, according to witnesses and the student’s mother, who said she saw videos of the assault.
and…
In 2004, Van Den Hemel was found guilty on two counts of forgery and one count of embezzlement and served five years in prison. He was working as the comptroller at Wegner Auto and stole $284,000, according to court documents. He was ordered to repay the auto dealership; his most recent payment of $500 was docketed April 20, according to court records.
After being released from prison, Van Den Hemel was hired by the South Dakota Board of Regents as a financial compliance officer and is paid $93,504 per year.
and..
In a follow up phone call to the Capital Journal, Baldwin said there was no assault to report and the incident had been resolved by the school. He then said the Capital Journal should not report on the incident, then stated, “You want to have a positive relationship with the school.”
You have to love the fact the superintendent claims “there was no assault,” despite the fact he’s not an attorney. I think that’s up to a State’s Attorney to decide, not him. But it sounds as if there’s pretty some witnesses.. and video.. that might speak to the contrary. That’s bad. But then the story goes off the rails.
What the hell? Here’s someone who stole a little under $300,000 from a business, and as a convicted felon is paying it back at $500 a month, yet has the privilege of a fairly well-paying state job, making just under $100k a year with the State of South Dakota.
So many things to unpack here.
Aside from the assault of a student, and the School District’s light slap on the wrist; How does someone making $93,504 a year with the privilege of a job with the State of South Dakota – and has court ordered restitution for embezzlement – get away with only paying 6.4% of his salary to his victim?
I’m sure Stanley County athletics can find someone to coach who is less prone to use that kind of discipline with children.
And I know the state can do better for crime victims than requiring one of the State of South Dakota’s highest paid embezzlers to pay less in restitution than what’s charged for sales tax.
(Update – I did add the part in the article about the Supt. telling the paper they shouldn’t report on it, and making the thinly veiled comment about how the paper wants “to have a positive relationship with the school.” I’m sure that’s going to work well for him.)
Was his family connected to a previous administration?
Not that I’m aware.
I can tell you that this restitution is the same kind of shameful arrangement that many crime victims experience in SD.
The justice system is predicated on its validation of payment of debt to society.
If we do not hire rehabilitated people, we do not believe in our justice system fundamentally.
Tough pill to swallow, and living in a meritocracy requires that if this guy can do the job better, he deserves the job.
As for his victims, I would like to hear the entire story, and even thereafter would hesitate to pass judgement .. that’s a dangerous and difficult job with no room for error that is not in my wheelhouse.
They should garnish this fellow to the gills.
You can’t get blood out of a turnip, but if you’re making over $90k in South Dakota, you should be paying more than 6.4% of your salary in restitution.
This case says something about the difficulty of finding competent employees who want to live and work in Pierre and the difficulty in finding qualified applicants for teaching and coaching jobs in our public schools. It should not cast discredit on those who work in state government or in the teaching or coaching professions.
Maybe in prison, a smack across the face says “I like you” whereas a smack across the ass says “I love you!”
Scraping the bottom of the barrel for employees with the severe workforce shortage? Our extremist super majority legislature and Governor are driving talent out of South Dakota which really limits who would want to move and live here.
So, the highest paid employee of the school district does not have any idea how the First Amendment works? And then appears to threaten a newspaper?
It would seem two school employees should be under scrutiny.
“allegedly slapped an athlete”
Reminds me of someone else who I know regularly visits this blog.