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Preschool In Shock Over Accusation Toward Teacher

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By LISA A. DAVIS | The Tampa Tribune

Published: June 6, 2008

HUDSON -- Owner Colleen Wolfe unlocked and opened the front door at Sugar Plum First Class Preschool on Friday afternoon.

"Come on in. I want to walk you around and show you that we're set up to prevent something like this from happening," she said.

"Something like this" was Thursday's arrest of 29-year-old preschool teacher Brian Michael Lane on allegations he fondled a 4-year-old boy during nap time.

Wolfe could barely make eye contact as she spoke. Her head hung heavy on her shoulders, making it clear she never expected something like this at her school.

She walked ahead, noting that the hallway is a circle with classrooms on each side. Each room has a large interior window, giving a clear view of the children – and the teachers – inside.

In one classroom, attentive children sat with their teacher around a table. Across the hall, teachers were nearby as infants rocked in swings. In another room, toddlers played.

Wolfe also pointed out security features such as the alarm system and the cameras in each room and on the playground that fed video directly to her front office.

"I don't know what else we could've done," she said.

Wolfe said she notified parents about Lane's arrest and that as of Friday, none had withdrawn their children from the school, which is licensed for 120 children.

She shook her head at one point and said, "It's been quite a day."

Lane, of 7751 Deerfoot Lane in New Port Richey, was being held on a charge of lewd and lascivious molestation Friday evening at the Land O' Lakes Jail, with bail set at $10,000.

Pasco sheriff's detectives say that from August through December, while employed at Sugar Plum, Lane inappropriately touched the boy on several occasions when no other teachers were in the room.

The allegations surfaced in May after school officials notified the boy's parents that he was found playing naked, with another child who was clothed, beneath a makeshift tent, according to authorities.

Concerned, school officials told the parents he would have to attend counseling before being allowed to return. During counseling, the boy disclosed the abuse, said sheriff's office spokesman Doug Tobin.

The counselor called Florida's child abuse hot line, as required by law, and that sparked an investigation.

The boy reportedly told a Pasco detective that "Mr. Brian" had reached under a blanket and touched him while he was dressed.

"Mr. Brian told me not to tell anyone," the report quotes the boy as saying.

After being read his legal rights Thursday at sheriff's headquarters in New Port Richey, Lane reportedly said he touched the boy once for "less than a minute" and didn't know why he did it.

At least one marked and one unmarked sheriff's cruiser sat outside the preschool, at 7800 New York Ave. just west of U.S. 19, on Friday morning.

A native of Long Island, N.Y., Lane worked at Sugar Plum for nearly six years and, a couple years before that, as a preschool teacher elsewhere. Details of that employment weren't available.

"Brian was a good teacher. I guess he just had a bad side to him we didn't know about," Wolfe said, declining further comment on the allegations.

Sheriff's officials aren't aware of any other victims.

"Nobody else has come forward with abuse allegations," Tobin said.

Reporter Lisa A. Davis can be reached at (727) 815-1083 or ldavis@tampatrib.com.

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