OFF PAGE ONE
Tuesday, April 6, 2021
East Oregonian
A9
Bill: ‘I spent my life staying away from old men that I didn’t know’
touching, she felt paralyzed.
She’s stronger now.
“I sort of don’t associate
myself with myself a year ago,”
Munck said. “I feel like I’m a
completely different person.”
Continued from Page A1
playoff match on a road trip.
That night in their Rose-
burg hotel, popular teacher and
scorekeeper Andrew DeYoe
crossed that line. The next
day on the bus, teammates
pried the story from the obvi-
ously distressed Munck and
persuaded her to tell an adult.
She did, but it would take
six months for DeYoe, who
taught freshman and sopho-
more English at the school, to
be put on administrative leave.
In the meantime, inappropriate
behavior continued. It would
be almost a year before DeYoe
pled guilty to harassment that
included sexual touching.
DeYoe, 31, in the plea deal,
forfeited his teaching license,
terminated his housing lease in
Athena and agreed to have no
contact with minors who are
not family members. He spent
a night in the Umatilla County
Jail and will serve five years
probation. He wasn’t required
to register as a sex offender.
If DeYoe had been a coach,
he might have been convicted
of a Class C felony, a crime
that carries sentences up to five
years in prison and a $125,000
fine. But DeYoe wasn’t techni-
cally a coach.
Pushing for change
During the hearing, Munck
urged the senators to amend
existing law to include teach-
ers.
“What is the significant
difference between a teacher
and a coach? Do coaches
somehow carry more author-
ity than a teacher might?” she
asked the senators. “Coaches
and teachers should be prose-
cuted equally as they both have
responsibility for students’
safety and they both have posi-
tions of authority and power
over their students and play-
ers.”
Others speaking in favor
of the bill included Taylor and
Hansell, Umatilla County
District Attorney Dan Primus
and retired Weston Middle
School teacher, coach and
athletic director John Bartron,
who originally urged Hansell
to consider sponsoring a bill
Predators aren’t
always strangers
Kathy Aney/East Oregonian
Seventeen-year-old Bailey Munck listens as retired Weston Middle School teacher John Bartron testifies remotely on March
25, 2021, for Senate Bill 649, known as Bailey’s Bill, which increases penalties for criminal sexual contact with an underage
victim when the defendant is the victim’s teacher. Munck testified after Bartron.
that would fix the discrepancy.
Primus testified that sexual
abuse in the third degree is a
misdemeanor that involves
“touching of an intimate part
for sexual gratification.” If
the defendant is a coach, the
charge is elevated to sexual
abuse in the second degree,
which is a felony. He said the
addition came during the 2009
legislative session. Legislators
discussed including teachers,
but ultimately didn’t.
Primus, whose office
handled the prosecution,
expressed frustration at not
being able to charge DeYoe
with a felony the same as a
coach.
“The relationship between
a teacher and a student is really
no different than a coach and
an athlete,” Primus said. “It
should not be treated any
differently.”
In preparing to testify,
Primus said he reviewed
reports in DeYoe’s file. One
comment from a law enforce-
ment officer’s interview with
Munck struck him.
“He asked Bailey why she
could tell a boy her age ‘no,’
but she was unable to tell the
defendant ‘no,’” Primus said.
“Bailey’s answer was simple
and profound — because he
had power and authority over
her.”
During Hansell’s testi-
mony, he pushed the commit-
tee to send the bill, which adds
teachers to the existing Oregon
statute, to the Senate floor for
a vote.
“We as a state need to be
consistent in protecting our
vulnerable high school girls
and boys with consistent
sanctions, be the perpetrator
a coach or a teacher,” Hansell
said. “It’s a simple fix.”
Abuse brought shock
Bartron sat in the East
Oregonian conference room
next to Munck, testifying after
Hansell. He said has known
Bailey since she was small,
both as a family friend and
student. When he learned of
the abuse, he felt gut shot.
“I was absolutely stunned,
saddened and angered on so
many levels,” Bartron said.
“My greatest concern of
course was Bailey.”
Bartron said he started
researching Oregon’s sexual
abuse statutes after learn-
ing more about how the case
against DeYoe was proceed-
ing.
“I was absolutely shocked
to learn that within those stat-
utes there appeared to be that
loophole that held coaches to
a higher consequence than a
teacher,” he said. “I was beside
myself.”
With the blessing of Bailey
and her parents, he approached
Hansell about creating a bill to
fix the loophole. Hansell prom-
ised to look into it.
“One way I am apprised of
needs is when people come to
me and say this doesn’t make
sense,” Hansell said after the
hearing. “To be in a posi-
tion where you can attempt
to correct something is very
rewarding and fulfilling for
me.”
Munck has spent a lot of
time thinking about what
transpired with DeYoe. If
she could have warned her
younger self, she might have
identified classic signs of
grooming behavior in DeYoe.
“He just wanted to be
the fun teacher,” she said
several weeks ago during an
East Oregonian interview.
“DeYoe’s classroom was the
hangout spot.”
She knows now she should
have been more alarmed
when DeYoe often texted
her about non-school things,
simply to say good morn-
ing or good night or ask what
she was doing as late as 3 in
the morning. Screen shots of
texts bear this out. She would
have avoided being alone with
him in his classroom. During
moments of inappropriate
Rodeo: Whisky Music Fest still set for July 10 Preschool:
Continued from Page A1
Continued from Page A1
between now and Septem-
ber, so the Round-Up wasn’t
ready to commit to anything.
Before canceling last
year’s rodeo, the Round-Up
submitted a plan to the state
that would have included
aud ie nce t e mp e r at u re
checks, sanitation stations
throughout the Round-Up
Grounds and personal
protective equipment for
some volunteers and employ-
ees.
But by July, the Round-Up
made the decision to cancel
the rodeo for the first time
since World War II.
The association quickly
committed to holding the
rodeo in 2021, the Round-
Up’s 111th year, and Reay
said the Round-Up has main-
tained correspondence with
the governor’s office on hold-
ing the event this year.
Reay said committee
meetings are being held at
least twice a week to figure
out the logistics of holding
the rodeo this year, including
a committee that is address-
ing tribal participation in the
Round-Up.
The Round-Up is still five
months away, but Umatilla
County’s current situation is
mixed.
Although the raw number
of cases is down significantly
dent that we’ll start recruit-
ment in April, essentially,
which aligns with what
Head Starts oftentimes do.
We’ll get a lot bigger jump
on it this year and have a
lot of those pieces in place
already.”
Both Gomez and
Burnette stressed that
while Preschool Promise
has a specific set of crite-
ria in order to qualify, it’s
important to remember
that the Blue Mountain
Early Learning Hub will
assist any family looking
for a quality preschool
for their child and works
with Head Start, private
p r e s cho ol p r ov id e r s ,
community preschools,
school district preschools
in order to find the one that
fits best for a family.
“(Preschool Promise) is
a relatively new program
and income can be a chal-
lenge,” Bur nette said.
“There are families that
still need the preschool, but
if they don’t qualify, with
coordinated entry, we try
to work with Child Care
Resource and Referral to
find them something that
does work for them. We try
not to just say, ‘Sorry, we
got nothing for you.’”
Burnette said one of
Ben Lonergan/East Oregonian, File
A plastic cup sweats after being left behind in the Pendleton Round-Up Arena on Sept. 18,
2020.
from the summer and winter
surges the county endured in
2020, the case positivity rate
recently ticked up. Addition-
ally, Umatilla County contin-
ues to have one of the lowest
vaccination rates in the state.
Umatilla County’s data
could be critical not just for
the Round-Up but for Pendle-
ton’s other major events.
While some smaller
events like Jackalope Jambo-
ree and Pendleton Cattle
Barons are gearing up for
2021 with some added health
precautions, others are still in
a holding pattern.
The Pendleton Whisky
Music Fest is still set for
July 10 with headliners Eric
Church and Macklemore, but
co-organizer Doug Corey
said a recent meeting with
the governor’s office didn’t
create enough clarity to make
organizers certain that it will
happen.
Sponsor List:
NIE
Newspapers In Education
A & G Property Management &
Maintenance
Barton Laser Leveling
Blue Mountain Community College
Blue Mountain Diagnostic Imaging
CHI St. Anthony Hospital
CMG Financial
CMG Financial
Columbia Point Equipment Company
Corteva Agriscience
Davita Blue Mountain Kidney Center
Desire For Healing Inc
Duchek Construction
Hill Meat Company
Jeremy J Larson DMD LLC
Kirby Nagelhout Construction Co.
One of the Whisky Fest’s
concerns is seating capacity.
If the state restricts seating
too low, organizers might not
be able to afford to hold the
concert for a second year in
the row.
Corey is hoping to get
more definitive word from
the state in April or May, but
he was certain that Whisky
Fest would not wait until a
couple of weeks before the
concert to make a decision.
Kopacz Nursery & Florist
Landmark Tax Services
McEntire Dental
McKay Creek Estates
NW Metal Fabricators Inc
Pendleton KOA
RE/MAX Cornerstone
Rob Merriman Plumbing & Heating Inc
Starvation Ridge Farming, LLC
Sun Terrace Hermiston
Tum-A-Lum Lumber
Umatilla Electric Cooperative
Umatilla Electric Cooperative
WalMart
Munck said she realized
that she once assumed she
could easily identify and avoid
predators.
“I spent my life stay-
ing away from old men that
I didn’t know,” she said.
“Looking around and under
my car before getting in. That
protected me during my 16
years, but what didn’t was
the knowledge of groom-
ing by somebody that I know
already.”
Munck said she doesn’t
blame the justice system for
not securing a harsher sentence
for DeYoe and going for a plea
deal that would keep the case
from dragging on for months.
“Ultimately I think the
assistant district attorney
involved (Jaclyn Jenkins), she
helped us settle the best situ-
ation,” Munck said. “There
were just a lot of factors that
I feel like people outside look-
ing in just don’t see all that.
They’re quick to judge the
sentence, but that was really
all we could do with it. It was
a misdemeanor. You can’t do
a lot with a misdemeanor. It
was the best that could have
happened.”
During the court hearings,
the teen observed Jenkins
with fascination. So taken was
Munck that she has decided
to study criminal justice in
college and become a prose-
cutor like Jenkins.
Sen. Hansell said he is
hopeful Bailey’s Bill will reach
the Senate floor for a vote this
session.
“Senate Bill 649 will close
a loophole in Oregon statutes
so that other daughters and
their families will not have to
endure what Bailey Munck
and her family have had to go
through.”
———
Former East Oregonian
reporter Alex Castle contrib-
uted to this report.
TO QUALIFY FOR
PRESCHOOL
PROMISE
To qualify for Preschool
Promise programs,
children must be 3 or 4
years old on or before
Sept. 1 of the program
year and must live in
Oregon. The annual or
previous 12 months
income of the child’s
family must be at or be-
low 200% of the Federal
Poverty Line. Children in
foster care are automat-
ically eligible.
the goals early on is to
get the word out about
the program and try and
coordinate with all exist-
ing programs as much as
possible, so families don’t
have to know the differ-
ence between the different
preschool providers.
“We can do all of that
stuff to figure out what’s
the best fit for the family
based on what they’re
asking for,” he said. “A
lot of these are state or
federal funded programs,
and they have a lot of regu-
lations that go with them.
So our goal is to really not
have to expect the family
to know the differences,
but that just based on their
individual situations, then
we start that out for them.”