Cops: Principal Made 1,000 Threatening Calls

by Paul Bass | Dec 23, 2010 2:34 pm

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The calls to the women came in the middle of the night. The man on the other line breathed heavily. In blunt language, he repeatedly invoked oral sex. It turned out he was allegedly their school’s principal. Such is the sordid tale that unfolded Thursday in court files made available at the state courthouse on Elm Street. (Advisory: This article contains graphic language from police reports, in order to convey the gravity of what the victims allegedly experienced.) The files—containing arrest warrant affidavits—describe how a New Haven school principal allegedly made more than 1,000 nighttime phone calls repeatedly sexually harassing six different women. Three of the women were teachers at the school he previously ran as principal. One other worked as a clerk at the school. A fifth was a school parent. The sixth he met a mosque. Police Wednesday arrested the alleged caller, Kevin Muhammad, and charged him with harassment in the second degree. Muhammad, who’s 38, appeared in court Wednesday. His case was continued. He was released on bond. Det. Wendy Barrett led the investigation. Det. Cindy Shaw also played a key role. Barrett used Comcast phone records to allegedly tie the long trail of threatening calls to Muhammad’s phone. One victim reported receiving more than 1,000 threatening calls from Muhammad. Barrett discovered the five other alleged victims by noticing bunches of calls made at similar times to their numbers. Muhammad served as principal of Wexler-Grant School from 2008-2010. This year he was transferred to Cooperative Arts & Humanities High School as an assistant principal; school officials said he hadn’t performed up to expectations at Wexler and he needed mentoring. The school system has put Muhammad on administrative leave for two reasons, according to Chief Administrative Officer Will Clark: Because of the police charges. And because of a separate ongoing Department of Children and Families (DCF) investigation into allegations that Muhammad had made “inappropriate comments” to a female student. Muhammad had been suspended for a month earlier this school year amid a DCF probe into whether he mistreated a male student while breaking up a fight, according to Clark; DCF cleared Muhammad in that investigation. Clark said the school system learned of the police investigation in November and immediately removed Muhammad from the school Muhammad couldn’t be reached Thursday at the phone number contained in the police reports. He denied wrongdoing when he submitted to a voluntary interview with detectives last month, according to police reports. “I have never harassed any women and no one has ever told me to stop calling,” the reports quote him as saying. “He stated he is married but has had ‘relationships’ outside of his marriage. Upon asking him to describe his ‘relationships’ he stated” that they involved the women who have complained. “Again when asked if he ever harassed anyone during the night he again stated, ‘I have never harassed any women and no one has ever told me to stop calling,’” the detective’s police report continued. “Muhammad stated, however, [that] if I tell him a number to stop calling he will. Muhammad stated that he was going to get a lawyer because he never harassed anyone. The interview ended.” “I Could Fuck You All Night” The six women interviewed in the reports told a much different story. All declared that they had “never” (their word) engaged in any sexual or romantic relationships with Muhammad. All described terrifying months of being awoken by heavy breathing and lewd, threatening talk that they only eventually linked to him. One woman—let’s call her Jane—first told police about receiving the harassing calls in October of 2008. “An unknown male” calling from a blocked/restricted number, she said, was “breathing heavily into her phone and mak[ing] comments such as, ‘I want to eat your pussy.’ “I want to eat your poom poom.’” The woman had worked at Wexler Grant as a clerk under Muhammad. She said the calls began shortly after she was laid off. “I want to eat your pussy! Sweet Pussy!” she quoted him saying. “I could fuck you all night! I know you could deep throat! Touch that wet fucking cunt! I want you to suck my dick!” The calls continued, four to five times a week, she reported. At one point the caller addressed her by her name and cited conversations they had had at work at Wexler. He told her he “missed her at the front desk.” She said she asked him to stop—which he would for months, then resume months later. “She would hang up and he would continue calling,” according to the police report. “At one point she put her boyfriend on the phone with Muhammad and told him they reported him to the Board of Education. Muhammad gave a gasp and hung up the phone.” Only, according to the complaint, to resume months later. Three other women telling similar stories were Wexler-Grant teachers. A fifth told of meeting Muhammad in Bridgeport. “I asked [her] if she knows Kevin Muhammad,” one of the police reports reads. “She started to cry and told me that her mother ... is a devout Muslim and Muhammad goes to the same Mosque in Bridgeport as her mother. ... “Math was always her weakest subject. She learned that prior to Muhammad becoming a principal of a school he taught math. Approximately two years ago her grandmother died. Muhammad attended the funeral. A conversation ensued in which she asked if he could tutor her in math.” The woman gave Muhammad her cell number, according to the report; he said he was “too busy to tutor her.” Then, allegedly, “the harassing phone calls started. A sixth complainant works at Yale-New Haven Hospital and had a son at Wexler when Muhammad served as principal. She said he first called her to report that her son had been “acting up” in school. He requested a meeting. She, too, reported receiving a stream of anonymous threatening sexual calls after that. The woman “stated she has been scared to leave her house because of the phone calls,” the police wrote. She did not know if someone was outside waiting for her and was afraid of being raped.”

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posted by: wait a minute on December 23, 2010 2:54pm Wait a minute..He doesn’t perform up to expectations at Wexler so u give him a job in another school???!!! R u kidding me??!! Like giving a crack addict a job in a pharmacy!

posted by: robn on December 23, 2010 3:07pm What the f@#&! Fairly salacious stuff. Maybe the NHI should, in cases such as these, use symbolic cartoon language to take the edge off… [Editor: Thanks for the feedback. We wrestle with the language question. We generally avoid profanity or upsetting language—except when quoting it to portray accurately the gravity of a situation. Even then, we try to keep the language off the home page and give readers a head’s up. The argument is that using cartoon symbols or euphemisms is inaccurate, downplays the seriousness of the use of the language.]

posted by: anon on December 23, 2010 4:10pm The 2010 NHPS “school climate” survey results for Wexler Grant School, with Kevin Muhammad as Principal, can be found at

http://www.nhps.net/sites/default/files/Wexler-Grant.pdf. This may give you some indication of the problems at this school with this particular administrator. Over 96% of teachers at Wexler Grant school participated in the NHPS survey. Here are a few comments from the survey that the teachers were asked if they agreed or disagreed with: “I would recommend this school to friends and

colleagues.” Less than 4% of Teachers agreed with this statement, probably the lowest rate of any NHPS school. “The principal makes the school run smoothly.” Less than 25% of Teachers agreed with this. “The school environment is conducive to learning.” Less than 4% of Teachers agreed with this. “I trust the principal.” More teachers disagreed than agreed with this statement, indicating a high level of distrust among the teachers. At most other schools, teachers generally trusted their principal. “There is inappropriate physical contact or gestures among students.” Over 96% of Teachers at Wexler Grant agreed. By comparison, at Hooker, Edgewood, Bishop Woods, Mauro-Sheridan and other elementary schools, less than 20% of Teachers agreed. Was the principal was setting a bad example?

posted by: taxpayer on December 23, 2010 4:47pm “he hadn’t performed up to expectations at Wexler and he needed mentoring” yet he is still employed by the New Haven BOE and getting a regular check. He is getting paid over $120k plus benefits while learning on the job. Why is he still employed? If I did not fulfill the requirements of my job I would be fired. Why does the BOE just shuffle these people around who are not able to do the job and keep them in high paid positions. Enough is enough. It is time to review all school administrators in New Haven and eliminate these people that can not do their jobs. Now we know why our taxes keep going up and the education our children are getting is below average.

posted by: Truth Avenger on December 23, 2010 5:21pm All that’s missing is Chris Hansen coming out from behind the curtain…

How such an unbalanced predatory type made it into the School system raises serious issues about the vetting process. The man needs some serious therapy and needs to feel the full weight of the law brought upside his head.

posted by: Name withheld on December 23, 2010 5:48pm My daughter wants me to put her name in the lottery for the school for Arts and Humanities for next year. After reading this there is no way her name is being submitted to attend any school in New Haven.

posted by: Gary Doyens on December 23, 2010 5:48pm I miss the “School Reform” logo on this story. The language while shocking to see in an official NHI story, it does provide a fascinating insight into the nature of the harrassment and the mindset of Mohammad… After reading the post about the Wexler reviews, I fail to understand how in NHPS wildest imagination, Mohammad was ever ready to be a principal and having miserably failed, be transferred to another school where he can be equally destructive. He didn’t need mentoring. He needed firing. So once again, we are paying lousy, self absorbed people huge salaries for poor performance. Mohammad should be Exhibit #1 in the NH BOA’s rejection of the overly applauded proposed contract for Principals and Assistant Principals. Did the Union require Mohammad be protected? Is he one of the people union President Peggy Moore was thinking about when she said her members are routinely at their desks at 630 at night with no overtime, having suffered through some tense days? Please.

posted by: Chester on December 23, 2010 7:13pm It’s nice to see the actual words instead of the cartoon language. It leads to a better understanding of how severe he harassed these people. Besides, if you had typed f*uck, EVERYONE would have figured it out anyway.

posted by: Ellis Copeland on December 23, 2010 7:48pm 1) Stop being crybabies. Any adult has heard these words a million times. The point is to report what happened and the advisory noted the quotes came off the police reports. These reports will be read in open court if there is a trial. 2) I’d like to know why he is being charged with the statute about prank calling (which itself is ludicrous as it makes a simple high school prank a C misdemeanor) instead of being charged with some degree of sexual harassment.

posted by: Cedarhillresident on December 23, 2010 9:19pm OMG!!!!!! This is for real! Who else is the BOE protecting? What a crock. You gotta be kidding me….The golden cow of the city has a very large crack in it and I can see that it is hollow and made of tin! I can IMAGINE the calls that have been made today! (not by this guy of course). TIME FOR MORE RECORDS TO BE MADE PUBLIC! AND It is time for the BOE to clean house. If this loser was being protected, I fear who else just needs some mentoring?? Ha really who else. Who else was moved to another school? ANGER and disappointment. Why was this man protected who did he know? I just am not getting it??

posted by: Cedarhillresident on December 23, 2010 9:24pm ps Robn,

I agree with the need for the language. My kids had a teacher that allowed it in creative writing, if it was needed to express a feeling appropriately. I think this story did need to let us feel a bit of what this man was doing to these women. Society has growen so numb to so much, with cable, internet ect. that we move on to the next thing a day later. This can not be forgotten. And school reform now needs to add one more thing….stop protecting over paid un-needed staff. Time for a staff review…..ALL STAFF!

posted by: steve on December 23, 2010 11:56pm i learned two things via this article: 1) NHPS has no performance management program, they shuffle administrators around

2) poom-poom

posted by: cecilia proto on December 24, 2010 6:37am Our these women for real, if I got phone calls like that, my ass would be down the police dept. in 30 seconds. You would call the phone company,change your number and let the police do their job.Thousands of phone calls, not making any excuses for the ...principal because if it were me when I found out, he would be .... There is more to this story!!

posted by: Snoopy on December 24, 2010 8:59am Seems if Minister Kevin was rewarded for his failure at Wexler. Thanks to Mayo and Destefano for their neglect. Without changes from the top our school system will never change.

posted by: robn on December 24, 2010 10:06am Hmmmm. I would either do a extra jump to the actual article (an interim page with a warning that is the link) or just give the sailor talk the heave ho.

posted by: citysavior on December 24, 2010 1:44pm to Ellis Copeland

sexual harassment can be covered under harassment,breach of peace or disorderly conduct. The simple term sexual harassment is not a crime ...

posted by: Ellis Copeland on December 24, 2010 4:51pm Citysavior—sexual harassment is in fact a crime. It starts at rape and rolls downhill through the varying degrees of sexual assault

posted by: $.02 on December 24, 2010 9:49pm Ellis citysavior is correct. rape

is sexual CONTACT not HARASSMENT; there is a

legal difference when applying charges.

posted by: streever on December 25, 2010 5:42pm I’m sorry, but what the hell is wrong with NHPS that this guy was ever hired or kept on? What is his background? How did he get a job which he was completely unqualified for, that resulted in such abysmal results from his staff? Is the BoE asleep?

posted by: Teachergal on December 25, 2010 7:58pm posted by: steve on December 23, 2010 10:56pm i learned two things via this article: 1) NHPS has no performance management program, they shuffle administrators around

2) poom-poom Not only do we see with type of behavior with moving around poor performing administrators, it is frequently done with poor teachers. Instead of counseling them outnof teaching, teachers are moved from onecschool to another. Many on improvement plans in one school and then transferred into another school doingbthe exact same things that must have gotten them placed on improvement plans ton begin with. And did you know that poor performing administrator who prove not to be able to do their jobs effectively are sometimes put back into the classroom where they get to keep their same administrative salary. Are you kidding me? And did you know that vice principals in schools spend their days walking around telling kids to take their hats off and spit out the gum. Then they do lunch duty screaming at kids over a microphone, then they do it again as the

children are waiting for their buses to go home. I bet we could find bouncers to do that job for a lot cheaper. I’m sure their are some wonderful VP’s in New Haven, I just haven’t met them. I would compare them to pitbulls, intimidating, bossy rulers whom rule through fear. That goes for many NH principals as well. ... My sympathies to the victims. It is so unfortunate that you have had such an experience with someone you should have been able to trust. I am glad you are filing charges a…

posted by: ShirlRavenlock on December 25, 2010 10:36pm I am glad that we moved from New Haven! I cannot believe that he was kept on after failing at one school to be sent to another. As a teacher and a parent (translates also to taxpayer), I would seriously question the NH BOA and their policies.

posted by: sees the truth on December 26, 2010 9:12am don’t you people get it? the school system is following the example of the catholic church in the 50’s thru 70’s. move them around so that they can hurt a wider group of young people

posted by: Edison on December 26, 2010 4:02pm @robn: good idea but I do think NHI was correct in printing the language so we could all understand just what kind ...we are dealing with here. Perhaps a warning and then a link might be appropriate in cases like this? Why is the man still employed and allowed to interact with children?

posted by: nero on December 26, 2010 11:22pm Adam Bessie wrote an OpEd a few months ago, “The Myth of the Bad Teacher.” Bessie said: “This myth is ... seductive in its simplicity. It’s much easier to have a concrete – though vague – villain to blame for problems the school system faces. The fix seems easy, as well: all we need to do is fire the “Bad Teachers.” The myopic focus on eliminating the “Bad Teacher” obscures the greater problems in the socio-economic fabric – the fabric torn by the super rich – that bear directly on student achievement.” It’s a compelling story, but administrators like Kevin Mohammad—if these allegations are true—add fodder to simplistic arguments that blame the public school system and hope to tear it down. It’s tragic. On another note, it’s good to see adult language used to clarify an adult subject. Thanks.

posted by: A REAL TRAGEDY on December 27, 2010 2:50am This is truly one of the saddest stories I have read in 2010. It is so disheartening; it is a real tragedy. The Kevin Muhammad with whom I am acquainted is perceived to be an upstanding young Muslim minister. He is hard working and committed to education and to the academic and social uplifting of students. He has been very committed to being a positive role model for young black men; he is a proud husband and father. As an assistant principal at Warren Harding High School in Bpt., and as a former minister at Mosque 41 in Bpt., he appeared to be extremely hard-working, very diligent, a dedicated husband, a proud father, and (to the best of my knowledge and belief) a dignified young man. When he got the position as principal at Weaklier-Grant, he immediately enrolled in a Ph.D. program and seemed determined to be successful as an education administrator. He seemed to toe the line in NH. I am confident in saying Dr. Mayo must be as shocked as I am to read this account of his behavior. It is stunning! Truly shocking and really unbelievable! Even reading that he has allegedly admitted to having affairs outside of his marriage is very surprising because he had always conducted himself in a principled manner. Where did the person portrayed in this article came from? Who is he? What went wrong with the Minister Kevin that some of us knew? There has to be much more to this story. Dr. Mayo does not need me to defend him; however, I am confident that he would never have placed this person described in this article in any school in NH. Recognizing earlier that this young man needed mentoring as an administrator, and putting him over at Coop as an assistant principal, was a logical thing to do. People on the outside reading this story are making some major assumptions based on the information provided here. This is not the information Dr. Mayo or the NHPS/ BOE had about Kevin Muhammad. I have known this young man for at least 10 years, and I am STUNNED. I do not know this person who would behave in this manner. If what is written here is true, then somewhere something went terribly wrong for the Kevin many of us knew. This is a REAL TRAGEDY. I hope that for the sake of everyone involved we will get to the bottom of this VERY sad tale. If any of this is true, I hope that he will get the help he needs. I hope that no one in the NHPS system suffered any significant damage, and I hope that his child, wife and mother will be able to find the help they will need to go through this family tragedy. I will pray for all involved. To the NHI, while I appreciate your perspective on the need to convey the gravity of the situation by using the language from the police files, I do not believe it enhanced the story, or that any good was achieved in doing so. The English language is rich with metaphors that can effectively convey anything we wish to convey. I have always appreciated that the NHI rose above.

posted by: steve on December 27, 2010 5:01pm Hey Teachergal? Why on earth does any school have a Vice Principal? That seems to be a colossal waste of $$‘s to do the functions you’ve outlined. Granted, I went to a Parochial school in New Haven…the custodian performed those functions, as well as cleaned up. And guess what? The school is still standing after 60 years and has not been rebuilt. You can’t say that about Columbus, Robinson, Clemente, who-knows-how-many-others…, and they’ve been done twice. And what about the poom-poom?