Earlier this year 17-year-old Jackson Manning told a room full of strangers that a Central Bucks School District teacher sexually abused him and he asked district leaders to change policies to prevent it from happening to someone else.
On Tuesday, one day after that teacher, former Choir Director Joseph Ohrt, was sentenced in Bucks County court, the school board unanimously approved changes the Doylestown Township teen requested at the March school board meeting.
The changes to the educator misconduct and maintaining professional boundaries policies were approved in a blanket motion and without board comment.
“Clearly these are changes to policies that needed to be made and we’re very pleased that Jackson had a big part in it,” his father, Jim Brexler said. “We’re glad they got done.”
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The changes clarified in both policies that employees should first reach out to Pennsylvania Child Line, the state’s abuse and child welfare reporting system, and make a report if they have concerns about a relationship or interaction between an adult and student.
The district removed language in the professional boundaries policy that permitted educators, staff or coaches to be alone with a student behind closed doors for a “legitimate educational reason.”
Under the change, those employees now can only meet in a setting that is “interruptible and observable.”
Kelly Brexler, Manning’s mother, who attended Ohrt’s sentencing, said the policy updates were the result of individuals, like her son, “shining light on the darkness that had been ignored by this district for decades.”
“The brave men who came forward, who stood up in the courtroom face-to-face with Dr. Ohrt,” she added. “I can only hope that now we have started the conversations and paved the way for the ultimate protection of the students in this district and this community.”
The rise and fall of Joseph Ohrt
Manning was not among the three victims in the criminal complaints brought against Ohrt last year. But after he and another student made allegations against Ohrt, the veteran educator was placed on paid administrative leave in October, 2021, the Brexlers said.
Manning is one of two “John Doe” students whose families are suing the district for allegedly failing to protect their children from Ohrt, the Brexlers and their attorney previously confirmed.
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The 58-year-old Ohrt was sentenced to 2½ to 5 years in state prison and another five years of probation. He will also be a registered sex offender under Megan’s Law for 15 years.
Ohrt taught in the district for 35 years, where his musical talent was respected and celebrated locally and nationally. His choir had repeat performances at the White House and he counted rock superstar Pink among his former students.
At his sentencing, though, the prosecution said that during his tenure, the district received “countless” reports about Ohrt’s questionable behavior with students, but criminal charges were not brought until last year.
In February 2002 he was charged with invasions of privacy and other offenses for secretly filming a former student, now an adult, undressing and trying to destroy the evidence when he learned authorities were investigating.
It was later revealed the victim was a former student who was the subject of a ChildLine abuse report and criminal investigation involving Ohrt in 2016, when he was a senior at Central Bucks West.
The arrest prompted two more now adult men to come forward with allegations that Ohrt had molested them in the 1990s when they were 11 and 13 years-old, resulting in additional charges.
The youngest victim and his parents had reported the allegations to school officials at the time, but the only action taken was to transfer Ohrt from Linden Elementary to Central Bucks West, where he remained until he resigned last March.
Jim Brexler called the changes in the district policies an important next step, but that a language change alone won’t make a difference.
“That won’t happen if there isn’t some coaching and dialogue,” Brexler said.
Expert explains why sexual abuse training is important
Last year Doylestown Health System, where Brexler is president and CEO, brought in specialized training for employees in recognizing grooming behaviors, recognizing abuse and what to do about it as mandated reporters, who have a legal obligation to report suspected abuse.
It then offered the training in local school districts including Central Bucks, which had roughly 60 guidance counselors attend in April, weeks after Manning’s school board appearance.
But this type of training is critical for everyone who works around children, said Patricia Dailey Lewis, the CEO of the Beau Biden Foundation for the Protection of Children. The foundation funded the Doylestown Health training.
Everyone in school environments should be trained in recognizing sexual abuse and how to report it because they all come into contact with children, Dailey Lewis said. If training is limited, children can fall through the cracks.
“That is how you ensure blanket protection of children. Every community has people who fill roles and interact with kids and everyone should know exactly what that means,” Dailey Lewis said. “If only one group knows and the word never gets to that one group we have failed the children.”
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