Polk Times

Tampa-based radio host David Gornoski is concerned that a former Illinois principal who directly oversaw a child abuser in an Illinois school district is being promoted at Polk County Public Schools while a trial is ongoing at her former place of employment.

Gornoski is concerned that Lindsay Sharp was hired as the school district’s senior director of digital learning despite an ongoing criminal case involving her former employee, alleged serial child rapist Carlos Bedoya.

Bedoya worked under Sharp at Golfview Elementary School in Carpentersville, Illinois where he is accused of sexually assaulting 12 children.

“The point of my article is just trying to raise attention to the idea that if these children's testimonies were strong enough to put Bedoya away for life, the strength of a criminal court case has to be stronger than even a civil matter to convict someone of something like that. Then I think that they should have their day in civil court before Fred Heid hires Lindsay Sharp to be the senior digital director of learning for 110,000 students here in Polk County," Gornoski told Polk Times. “It makes sense in any other context that you would let this system play out, especially when you have allegations of that serious level where the plaintiffs, the civil cases, the plaintiffs being the families of the children who were victimized by Bedoya, they're saying that these assaults on their kids wouldn't have happened if it wasn't for the mistake. That's what they're alleging, that these assaults would have happened if it wasn't for the mistakes made by District 300 and Lindsay Sharp as their principal at the time that they did do a proper background check.”

Gornoski said they would have seen that Bedoya had outstanding warrants.

“They didn't do proper vetting of his information. If they did, they would have seen that he was lacking the driver's license and a passport,” he said. “These are the allegations being made. They're saying that it was inadequate supervision of him while he was on the premises where he was able to do things.”

The abuse took place while Polk County Public Schools Superintendent Fred Heid was superintendent of Kane County-based Community Unit District 300.

He hired Sharp to be the principal of Golfview Elementary School where the abuse occurred.

The 67-year-old Bedoya is currently 66 years under a plea deal for aggravated sexual abuse of 12 Golfview Elementary students in addition to another 112-year sentence for a single incident of abuse.

The abuse at the school – where Bedoya was employed as a para-teacher, soccer coach and substitute teacher – spanned form August 2015 to June 2017.

Sharp was reassigned from her role as principal at the school after being named in a lawsuit stemming from the abuse.

In a piece on his website, A Neighbor’s Choice, Gornoski questioned the Polk County Public Schools school board for selecting either candidate who have still not emerged from such a scandal.

“Has the Polk County School Board looked into the Bedoya criminal cases and lawsuits against Heid’s former district and Sharp? The board is elected by the taxpayers of Polk County to hire individuals of the highest integrity and competence for the job of educating their children. A Google search for the words 'Lindsay Sharp Polk' generates a Chicago Tribune story about the lawsuits against Sharp as the second listed link. It does not take a seasoned sleuth to find this story. Did anyone at the school board take the time to look it up? If not, why not? Is it not their job to protect the interests of the people of Polk County and their children?” Gornoski wrote.

“The matter begs further questions. Was the board aware of Heid’s involvement in this ongoing lawsuit when they were conducting their hiring process? Do not the allegations of the ongoing lawsuits merit consideration in the hiring of Heid for superintendent of Polk schools? Good stewards of basic educational safety should be above reproach. Surely an ongoing lawsuit by several families making such serious allegations would be disqualifying for the role of superintendent of Polk County Schools. Even if the lawsuits are eventually dismissed, the mere suspicion of negligence or incompetence in management of school officials involving horrific serial crimes against children seems to be a risk too audacious to consider.”

Heid joined Polk County Public Schools in 2021.

His base salary is $255,000 per year, according to The Ledger.

Sharp was named in a lawsuit and alleged to have lapsed in her role as the supervisor and in the hiring of Bedoya.

The lawsuits allege Bedoya was not subjected to a proper background check that would have turned up instances of past criminal behavior that would have disclosed from the role.

Gornoski noted he was “smeared” by the school district for going public about the connection between Heid, Sharp and Bedoya.

“Victims of childhood sexual assault take lawful allegations surrounding serial abuse serious. The victims of Bedoya already sent him to prison for the rest of his life for his predation in Heid and Sharp’s former district. They deserve to have their day in court for their further civil allegations before Polk citizens are told to move along,” Gornoski wrote in a follow up.

Gornoski also questioned Heid’s statement that he was not involved in Sharp’s hiring despite their extensive work history together.  

“According to The Ledger, 'The district said Heid had ‘no involvement’ in the hiring of Sharp and did not learn of her application until she was a finalist.' What are the odds that Heid and Sharp worked together in Illinois’s District 300 for several years, where they both are mentioned in extensive media coverage of the Bedoya case, as well as Duval County Public Schools, but Heid had 'no involvement' in her hiring for Polk Schools?” Gornoski wrote.

Gornoski hosts his show out of home station WHBO 1040 AM NewsTalk Florida in Pinellas Park.

"Polk County Public Schools is one of the largest school districts in the nation, encompassing more than 150 schools and serving more than 110,000 students through both traditional K-12 schools and a variety of other programs," Polk County Public Schools notes on its website.