Local

College makes changes after coach convicted of sex abuse

By Tina Terry, wsoctv.com
By Tina Terry, wsoctv.com

SALISBURY, N.C. — Catawba College is sharing some of the steps it has taken after a former coach was convicted on child sex abuse charges.
 
Ralph Wager was sentenced Tuesday to life in prison.

Eyewitness News reporter Tina Terry spoke to two former employees about the case and how they think the college handled what happened.

Past coverage:

Patsy Duncan worked in the college bookstore when Wager was sexually abusing little boys he met as a soccer coach on campus.
 
"He'd spend lots of money on one of the victims and it didn't seem right," Duncan said. "He could come in the bookstore and get anything (the victim) wanted. We kept a running tab for him and Ralph would come in and pay for it."
 
Some of the sex acts happened at Wager's home and office on campus, according to court documents.
 
His employment ended in 1990 when someone told administrators about "allegations" that he had "improper contact with a minor," records showed.

The college athletic director wrote the president of the school saying Wager had to go, the district attorney said.
 
Sylvia Chillcott was director of safety at the time and said employees thought Wager resigned for health reasons.
 
Now 22 years later, a detective investigating the abuse allegations called Chillcott.

"Something that should have been done 20-something years ago is finally taking place now," she said.

They've made changes to keep children on campus safe, school officials said in a statement.
 
They also require background checks for everyone working with minors.
 
The former employees said if this happens again, they hope the school's response is different.
 
In 2008, the college added Wager to a sports hall of fame. 
 
Leaders said they'll work to remove his name.

Statement: Catawba College 

Catawba College has cooperated fully with the criminal investigation involving Mr. Wager.  We want to express our deepest sympathy to the families and individuals whose lives were so dramatically affected by his actions.

More than 25 years have passed since Mr. Wager worked for Catawba College. When allegations concerning Mr. Wager were brought to the attention of the College’s leadership in 2012, we closely examined best practices and our policies to see what additional steps we could take to protect children involved in activities on our campus. From that review came several changes in the way we train and sensitize our employees and operate programs serving children on our campus to provide a safe environment for minors and all constituents at Catawba.

• Catawba College has cooperated fully with the criminal investigation involving Mr. Wagner. We want to express our deepest sympathy to the families and individuals whose lives were so dramatically affected by his actions.

• Catawba College has initiated the removal of Mr. Wager from its Sports Hall of Fame. We expect that action to be completed in the next few days.

• Mr. Wager has not been employed by the College in about 25 years so many practices have changed over the years.  More recently in 2012, when the allegations concerning Mr. Wager were brought to the attention of Catawba College leadership, we closely examined best practices and our policies to see what additional steps we could take to protect children involved in activities on our campus. From that review came several changes in the way we train and sensitize our employees and operate programs serving children on our campus to provide a safe environment for minors and all constituents at Catawba.

Even prior to that internal review, the college had been running background checks on all our full-time employees.  Those include state and national criminal checks as well as clearance through the national sexual predator database. In 2013, all our employees were connected to NCAlert so that if they’re charged with any offense, the college receives an email warning within 24-36 hours.

That same year, we instituted a Minors Policy that requires employees and all volunteers working with minors to have background check as well. The Minors Training Program can be found at http://catawba.edu/about/our-campus/offices/hr/policies/minors-policy.

All summer camps fall under the Minors Policy guidelines and all volunteers must have background checks and complete the Minors Training Module before they’re allowed to work with minor children.

WSOC

Most Read