Update on News Story about Sequim (Washington) Adventist School

April 19, 2016:    Douglas Allison, the church school teacher in the State of Washington charged with four counts of first-degree child rape and eight counts of child molestation, has been terminated from employment by the denomination’s Washington Conference, according to the Peninsula Daily News. His wife was the other teacher at the two-room, eight-grade school and she has taken a leave of absence for the rest of the current school year.

Adventist Today has previously reported on this story. Among new developments, Allison has entered a plea of not guilty and a trial is scheduled to being May 9 with a pre-trial hearing set for April 22. It is common practice in criminal proceedings for trial dates to be changed as the attorneys involved work with the judge on scheduling.

Allison is 55 years of age and if convicted of all 12 counts with which he has been charged, he faces the possibility of life in prison. He was principal and teacher for the upper grades at Sequim Christian School in a small town at the north end of the Olympic Peninsula across the sound from Canada.

Angie Campanello has been hired to teach the rest of the school year. She is an experienced Adventist educator who has taught all subjects in grades one through eight. She has a master’s degree and was currently teaching university-level classes to prepare students to become teachers, according to information that the newspaper quoted from a statement from the denomination’s Washington Conference.

The newspaper also reported that a workshop for parents was held at the school by family counselors and individual counseling sessions have been offered to the families. Not all of the students have returned to the school, the newspaper quoted the statement from the Washington Conference; “We respect the right of our school families to determine the proper timing if/when their children are to come back.”