Ramsey's suspect's Napa connection

Karr taught briefly in Napa; Sheriff's probe ended stint here

By MARSHA DORGAN
Register Staff Writer

The man arrested Wednesday for the infamous 1996 murder of JonBenet Ramsey worked briefly as a substitute elementary school teacher in 2001 in Napa, where law enforcement officers interviewed him in relation to possible efforts to make inappropriate contact with others on the Internet.

While John Mark Karr was arrested on child pornography charges in Sonoma County around the same time, according to press accounts, Karr was not linked to any misconduct involving Napa residents.

Karr was taken into custody in Thailand Thursday and charged with the decade-old murder of Ramsey at her Boulder, Colo., residence.

More than four years later, as suspicion swirled around Ramsey' s parents and law enforcement authorities in Colorado were accused of bungling the investigation, Karr worked as substitute teacher in Napa and Petaluma.

According to Napa Valley Unified School District Superintendent John Glaser, Karr worked at Pueblo Vista Elementary School in north Napa from January to April of 2001. Karr was working on getting a teaching credential from Sonoma State University at the time, Glaser said.

According to reports on the Web sites of the Petaluma Argus-Courier and the Santa Rosa Press-Democrat, Karr moved to Petaluma in 2000 and taught at several school districts in Sonoma County, as well.

The end of his stint as a substitute teacher in Napa coincides with a visit from Napa County Sheriff' s deputies, who contacted Karr at Pueblo Vista for an interview.

"At that time we had no idea what law enforcement wanted with him," said Glaser, who was not superintendent of the school district in 2001. "But he left the next day and we had no further contact with him. We believed his departure had to do with his detainment by law enforcement."

Napa County Sheriff's Capt. John Robertson said his department contacted Karr at the request of the Sonoma County Sheriff's Office. Sonoma officers were seeking assistance in an investigation they were doing on Karr.

We were advised he was a teacher at Pueblo Vista Elementary School," said Robertson. "Mr. Karr was never arrested in Napa County for any crimes. He was the subject of an investigation in Sonoma County of a person who was communicating over the Internet. (Sonoma sheriffs) had information that made them suspicious he was engaged with deviant behavior with children.

"We responded to Pueblo Vista school and Mr. Karr consented to do an interview with us. He admitted to communicating with people over the Internet, but never admitted to any crimes. He was released with the understanding not to return to school district properties in Napa County. We related our information back to Sonoma County law enforcement."

According to the Argus-Courier and other reports, Karr was charged with five misdemeanor child pornography counts in Sonoma County in April 2001. He failed to appear in court in relation to that case, according to the reports, and a warrant was issued for his arrest.

Sonoma County schools chief Carl Wong told the Press-Democrat that after Karr stopped work as a substitute, she was notified by the Sonoma County Sheriff's Department that Karr was being investigated for a non-school related incident. In June 2001, Sonoma authorities declared Karr ineligible to teach, and in 2003 state school officials revoked Karr's credential, according to the Press-Democrat.

Robertson said Napa deputies looked closely at whether Karr committed crimes here.

"We interviewed parents, teachers, students and school administrators in Napa County and found no evidence of any crimes against Karr. We have never had any victims come forth accusing Karr of any crimes," Robertson said.

Glaser said no evidence ever surfaced to suggest Karr acted inappropriately while he worked for NVUSD.

After Karr was questioned, Glaser said, "and we discovered the questioning involved an alleged inappropriate behavior-related issue, we contacted Sonoma State University and asked that he be relieved from his student teaching assignment in Napa.

"No disciplinary action was ever taken against him. We had no idea he had any connection with the JonBenet Ramsey case until today," Glaser said late Wednesday.

Glaser said the school district is concerned to learn than anyone accused of this type of crime was teaching in Napa County classrooms "even on a temporary basis."

Meanwhile, Glaser is gearing up for a possible crush of media attention in the wake of Karr' s arrest.

" I'm afraid it's going to be a media frenzy. School won't even start until next Monday, but we will do the best we can to keep our focus on getting school started and keeping this issue from distracting us from teaching the kids."

Glaser said he is concerned with the message it the community may interpret from Karr's arrest.

"When a student teacher is placed anywhere in the California school system, it's my understanding that the state takes every precaution to make to ensure that anyone certified to teach kids is beyond reproach. Mr. Karr had a background check done, which was run through the state Department of Justice and given clearance."

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