Former Study alternative school teacher charged with child molestation

A recently retired Springfield teacher — and the husband of Springfield's Child Advocate — was charged this week with a sex crime that allegedly involved a young girl.

Danny Carroll, 71, was interviewed by a Greene County Sheriff's deputy this summer after a 12-year-old girl told authorities he "touched her vagina inappropriately with a vibrating personal massager," court documents say.

The girl was visiting the home and was not a relative.

According to a probable cause statement filed in the case, the girl told an investigator Carroll made her breakfast early on June 22 and asked if he could "vibrate" her.

The girl told the investigator she was lying on the floor in front of the fireplace in the living room, watching television, while Carroll allegedly placed the massage tool on her breast and vagina over her clothing.

According to court records, she told authorities she tried to move away from Carroll, but he pulled her back and did not remove the massager from her vagina until a relative came down the stairs at the home.

The girl described the massager. Court documents allege investigators found a device matching that description in the living room at Carroll's house.

In an interview with a sheriff's deputy, Carroll allegedly said he did hold the massager to the girl's vagina.

Court records allege he told the deputy that the girl was complaining of a headache, so he offered to use the massager. He said the girl laid on the floor, on her back, and he used the massager on her body and it "slipped."

"He stated he turned around to look at the television and when he turned back around, the vibrator was on (the girl's) vagina. He said he should have pulled it away but did not know why he could not," according to court records.

In the documents, prosecutors said Carroll "reported he had used the vibrator on the victim's body several times in the past." Court records also say the girl told investigators Carroll "touched her butt and made sexual comments to her" at some time prior to the June incident.

Carroll was charged with two counts of first-degree child molestation. If convicted, each count carries a possible sentence of five to 15 years in prison.

A warrant was issued Tuesday for Carroll's arrest with a recommended bond amount of $50,000, electronic monitoring of his movement, and a series of special conditions, including that he cannot have contact with any child under age 17 or enter a park, school, day care, playground or other place where children gather.

At the time Carroll was interviewed by a deputy, in late June, he allegedly said he "is employed with" Springfield Public Schools. The district provided information that he was employed from Aug. 15, 2005 to May 19, 2016, the last day of the school year.

A database managed by the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education shows that since 1985, Carroll has been certified to teach health and physical education; serve as an elementary and middle school principal; and work with students who have disabilities.

The records show Carroll has 31 years experience in public schools and 11 in Springfield. They do not specify where else he worked, but he has been described in previous News-Leader coverage as retired from the Greene Valley State School on Pythian Street.

Carroll, who was a teacher at SPS's Study Alternative Center until late May, has a history of working with students who have special learning needs.

He is married to Dana Carroll, who has worked on children's issues in the Springfield community for decades.

In 2013, she was hired as Springfield's Child Advocate by the Every Child Promise initiative, a community effort to significantly improve school readiness. It grew out of a public service journalism series by the News-Leader.

Rob Fulp, chair of the Every Child Promise, said he learned of the charges late Thursday because he'd been out of state on business. Fulp, a Springfield banker, has been part of the initiative since it started.

"Until all the facts are known, it would be inappropriate of us to say anything," Fulp said. "The board is appreciative of the work of Dana in serving the children of our community."

Reached by phone midday Thursday, Dana Carroll acknowledged that her husband had been interviewed by a law enforcement officer in June but was unaware that charges had been filed or that an arrest warrant was issued.

A short time later, she said her husband was calling the sheriff's deputy to turn himself in.

She said she had not seen the charges but that her husband "denies" the allegations and has never been accused of inappropriate behavior in the past.