[LM_NET] Librarian fired for reporting Child Porn viewer to police

[Liz Frame <fourefs@SBCGLOBAL.NET>]

So, which side of the fence is ALA on?
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  Employment records of fired librarian show she was solid employee   Allie Martin 
- OneNewsNow - 4/7/2008 6:00:00 AM
   

    Christian attorney Mat Staver says the employment records of a librarian who 
was fired after reporting a patron who was viewing child porn to police show she 
had solid performance evaluations.
  
   
    In January, Judy Hill, the supervisor at the Lindsay Library in Tulare County, 
California, stated librarian Brenda Biesterfeld was performing satisfactorily. But 
last month, Biesterfeld was fired two days after police arrested Donny Chrisler at 
the library. Biesterfeld had reported Chrisler to police after she caught him, on 
two occasions, viewing child porn on library computers.
 
Biesterfeld's supervisors claim her firing was related to her job performance. But 
Mat Staver, founder of Liberty Counsel, says employment evaluations -- given by 
Hill -- tell a different story.
 
"The fact is when she gave the review, she said [Biesterfeld] was performing 
satisfactorily, [and] she said she had a training for [the librarian] that was 
going to be available in March," the attorney explains. "And then just a few days 
later, the situation with the child pornographer arose. When [Hill] found out it 
was Brenda who turned in this child pornographer, two days after that she 
terminated her."
 
It is clear to Staver that Biesterfeld was fired because she turned in Chrisler for 
being involved in the illegal activity of viewing child porn. The attorney calls 
the actions of library officials in terminating his client "horrendous and 
inexcusable."
 
"She should be immediately reinstated [and] compensated for the injustice done to 
her, and the library ought to adopt clear policies informing their staff of the 
duty to report child pornography to the police authorities," argues Staver.
 
According to Staver, there is a chance the case could be settled through mediation. 
 If that does not work, he says legal action is a strong possibility.
 
Police found more images of child pornography on Chrisler's home computer. He is 
still being held on a $100,000 bond.
   
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  Liz Frame
  Librarian
  San Antonio Christian Elementary School
  fourefs@sbcglobal.net 

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