University of Wisconsin professor John S. Scarborough, 61, pleaded no contest to his fourth count of domestic abuse since 1993 in a plea agreement reached Aug.19.
But since his actions are not believed to affect his job, he can still be lecturing and grading your papers this fall, according to university policy.
The criminal complaint states that Dec. 11, 2001, a police officer responded to a domestic dispute in the home of John and Yasemin Scarborough. The couple’s nine-year-old daughter had alerted the police when she witnessed her father slap her mother “real hard” across the upper body and push her into a wall during an argument.
The young girl reported to police, “I really thought my dad was really going to hurt my mom.”
According to The Capital Times, Scarborough, a professor in the School of Pharmacy, served four days in jail in December after the latest incident, so his punishment was deemed already served by the courts.
John Dowling, senior university legal counsel, said that Scarborough, a tenured professor, cannot be further disciplined by the university for his actions.
For a professor to be disciplined or dismissed, his or her misconduct must affect job performance. Domestic abuse is considered a private matter.
“Professors are evaluated based on teaching, research and service,” Dowling said. “A professor’s personal life wouldn’t enter into that unless it affected their job performance.”
Previous to the recent ruling, Scarborough pleaded no contest to domestic abuse three times–in 1992, 1993 and 2000.
The complaint filed Dec. 11, 2000, states that a police officer responded to a physical domestic disturbance in the Scarborough home. The couple’s then-eight-year-old child led him to the basement, where the officer reports he heard cries from Yasemin and saw John with his arms wrapped around her, pinning her to the cement basement floor.
Scarborough refused to respond to the officer’s demands that he release her and therefore had to be forcefully removed.
The child said the argument between her parents revolved around John’s drinking and that her parents had been throwing things at each other when she became frightened and called 911.
Radio talk show host Chris Krok of 1670 WTDY AM said he feels the professor should have received more punishment for his offenses. “You can be a consistent wife beater and stay out of jail. It blows me away,” he said. “Where are the domestic-violence groups? Why haven’t they used their political pressure to investigate this guy?”
State Rep. Terese Berceau., D-Madison, a champion for women’s rights, said she understands there is no basis for removing Scarborough from his job.
“What he is doing is unrelated to his job, but he is a poor role model,” she said. “Much like professional athletes, we’d like professors to be leading model lives, but I doubt very much that legislation would help.”
Due to the personal nature of the case, the department of pharmacy declined comment. Scarborough, who teaches the class Greek and Roman Medicine and Pharmacy this semester, was unavailable.
