(TeaParty.org Exclusive) – An anti-gun Denver school board member and Black Lives Matter activist has stepped down from performing his duties for the school district after dozens of victims have stepped forward alleging he sexually assaulted them.
On Sunday, Tay Anderson said that he was going to step back from “everyday board functions” until a full investigation by an outside firm hired by the school district is complete.
The school board seems to be giving Anderson the benefit of the doubt and in a separate statement said that Anderson will still vote on key matters such as the selection of a new superintendent, which is set to happen this week on June 3.
The stepping back from “everyday board functions” apparently just means that Anderson will no longer be attending school or district meetings with staff or students.
Anderson maintained his innocence on Sunday when he wrote on Twitter that the allegations are “unsubstantiated” and “false.” He asserted that they have “caused a great deal of trauma to our entire district” and claimed that the “students deserve better.”
He also said that the “false claims have put my family and I in harm’s way, and now as a father and son, I must protect those I love first,” and that’s the reason for his stepping back from school board duties and functions.
The school board announced they were aware of the allegations against him and two days later Anderson announced his decision to step away from his duties, though these are serious accusations and involve victims as young as 14-years-old. The decision should never have been his to make. He should have been told he was stepping away and his voting privileges suspended.
Anderson is now under investigation by an outside firm hired by Denver Public Schools which was launched after the civil rights group Black Lives Matter 5280 reported in March that a woman came to them and alleged Anderson had sexually assaulted her.
Rapist in Denver Public Schools, Testimony on SB21-088 https://t.co/eSI5pr1qsv
— Coach MK
/Your Protest Mom
(@CoachMKFleming) May 26, 2021
Statement from Director Anderson: pic.twitter.com/xafuE8YJwB
— Tay Anderson (@TayAndersonCO) May 29, 2021
Other accusers from an anti-gun violence group called Never Again Colorado have come forward, alleging Anderson engaged in inappropriate behavior when he was the group’s president in 2018.
Then this week things took a dark turn when Denver parent Mary-Katherine Brooks Fleming testified before a Colorado legislative committee “that 62 young people, nearly all of them current Denver high school students, came to her starting in August seeking help and protection from a specific man ‘in a position of trust.’”
She claimed that they had experienced a range of sexual impropriety from unwanted touching to violent rape.
While Brooks Fleming did not actually name Anderson in her testimony, the Denver school board announced on Friday that they were aware of the allegations and confirmed that they were against Anderson.
The Denver Police Department says that they have spoken to Brooks Fleming but have not spoken directly to any of the alleged victims.
On Sunday, the Colorado High School Democrats called for Anderson to resign from his position on the school board. Anderson once served as the group’s chair.
In a statement the current High School Democrats Chair Spencer Wilcox said that “Anderson has lost the confidence of the students and families of his school district,” adding, “Students, including our many members in DPS, should not have to be afraid of one of their school board members. He must resign.”
Anderson is not likely to do that, however, as he has consistently and vehemently maintained the allegations are false and insists he will be cleared of all wrongdoing.
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