Roy Roberts Jr.
Roy Roberts Jr. , who was the former emergency manager for the Detroit Public Schools from 2011-13, has a lot of nerve, considering it could be argued that he can shoulder some of the blame for the Charles Pugh mess.
The other day -- one day after a trial began -- the school district decided to abandon the civil case and reach an out-of-court settlement with an ex-student suing Pugh for sexual harassment. Pugh remains a defendant and closing arguments are expected to begin on Monday.
The school district agreed to pay the ex-student $350,000 to make it all go away. Roberts, who earned $225,000 a year as the emergency manager, was a defendant until the settlement ended his role in the case. The suit claims the school system didn't do enough to protect the student from Pugh.
After this week's settlement, Roberts told the Detroit Free Press:
"Anytime somebody needs some money, they sue the school system or the city. They can be about crazy kinds of issues that make no sense. And quite often if you do it, you can get paid, and that's quite tragic."
Tragic, yes. But the real tragedy is his nerve to issue such a statement.
His flip remark minimizes the seriousness of the ex-student’s predatory allegations about Pugh. Secondly, Roberts could have helped prevent this from happening, according to school board members and the lawsuit.
Pugh, who was city council president at the time, ran a mentoring program at the Frederick Douglass Academy in Detroit. He had a sexual interest in the male student in question, who was 17 when they met. By the time graduation came, the student was 18.
Pugh peppered the student with sexual texts. He tried to convince him that he could make money off his body. Pugh assured him he would take care of him financially if he let Pugh perform oral sex on him. The student, though initially reluctant, finally gave in and made a video of himself masturbating. Pugh paid him $160. The student used the money to take a date to the prom.
Board members point a finger at Roberts, saying they warned him about Pugh.
In court affidavits, three Detroit School Board members said they expressed concerns about Pugh's mentoring program at Douglass, citing his reputation for dating "underage boys."
Board Member Tawana Simpson's affidavit says she saw Pugh with a young date at a 2009 concert.
"I was . . . in the box seats when I saw Mr. Pugh with a very young man. I asked the boy how old he was, and he said he was 15,16 years old. The boy said his boyfriend, Charles Pugh, bought the tickets for them," Simpson wrote. "I told the board about what I had seen."
The board said it reported concerns to emergency manager Roberts, noting that having Pugh "at a boy's academy was dangerous."
But they say he did nothing.
Board member Ida Short's affidavit notes: "Mr. Pugh was thought to date underage teenage boys and we made sure the emergency managers — Roy Roberts and Robert Bobb — were aware of our concerns and the reasons behind them. We wanted the emergency manager to not allow the mentorship program to proceed or continue as planned. We thought it would be better if Mr. Pugh were placed at another facility, perhaps a girls facility. Unfortunately, the emergency managers both ignored our concerns."
I spoke to school board member LaMar Lemmons on Saturday and he told me he spoke more than once to Roberts in 2011 about the board's concern about Pugh mentoring teens. He said Roberts was dismissive of his concerns, saying he only answered to the governor, who appointed him.
In a court deposition, Roberts denies being warned. The board members can’t be lying, I say.
I also say, next time, Roberts wants to blame people for trying to shake down the school district, he needs to look in the mirror and remind himself how he could have saved the district $350,000 by doing his job.
