By Patric Hedlund, TME

Last week we reported that Sasha Horwitz of the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing has confirmed that CTC had revoked credentials for David Allan Whitley. He was previously known as David Allan Deshler. We refer to him as David Allan Deshler-Whitley.

We reported extensively about Deshler-Whitley in 2008, when he was hired by the then-principal of Frazier Mountain High School, Dan Penner.

Penner needed a high school science teacher quickly. He made the hire just days before school was to resume. The employment reports we traced showed Mr. Deshler-Whitley’s previous teaching experience had been with small children, third grade and under.

In 2008 we reported that the weekend after he was hired at FMHS, Deshler-Whitley went to the Pine Mountain Club swimming pool where he played with small children.

When he got out of the pool, he pulled out a camera and appeared to be taking photos of the children. This made parents uneasy. One followed him to his car and saw his New Mexico license plate.

It wasn’t long before the parents contacted The Mountain Enterprise to share concerns about the man’s past. We found an indictment in New Mexico related to inappropriate behavior with small children where he had a teaching job.

The Mountain Enterprise also confirmed he had been released from several teaching jobs for similar reasons in California.
We published our findings. He was eased out of his job at FMHS after two days. In our interviews with (then) Deshler, he said he intended to get an administrative credential to become the superintendent of a school district in another state.

When we called CTC to check on his status, we discovered the commission did not have the data we had about this teacher.

When the charges in New Mexico were dropped because the mother did not want her daughter to have to testify, the CTC restored Deshler’s credentials.

Several years later we were contacted, as we reported last week, with a request to remove our reports about Deshler from our digital archives. We refused.

After being removed from schools abroad, in Europe, the Middle East and Asia, Deshler-Whitley wished to return to the U.S. to work in education again. Our concern about the CTC’s failure to alert districts about Deshler’s past led us to keep our reporting accessible to diligent parents or administrators with concerns.

Just such a family, from Ridgecrest, found our reporting two years ago and vowed to make a difference with the CTC. This is Annamarie Howell’s letter to the state agency.

To Whom It May Concern:

This letter is to formally file a complaint against a teacher, David Allan Whitley, who is currently licensed under the California Commission on Teacher Credentials.

Mr. Whitley became my daughter’s long-term substitute teacher on March 25, 2019, after her regular teacher moved out of state. During dinner on March 28, 2019, my six-year-old daughter reported to my husband and me that Mr. Whitely gave her a neck massage.

My daughter stated that she thought it was a little weird. My husband and I were both alarmed and met with the school principal first thing the next morning.

The principal notified the school district of the complaint and talked with Mr. Whitley, who reported that it was a misunderstanding, that he was “just” fixing her hair.

The whole situation did not feel right to me, and on March 31, 2019, I started doing online research regarding Mr. Whitley.
The information I found is alarming, including the fact he legally changed his name in 2012 to his mother’s maiden name. His birth name was David Allan Deshler. The following is a timeline of the information I found.

•2002 March: David Deshler is the focus of a lengthy investigation into possibly sexually harassing a student in the Santa Rita, CA School District.

•2002 October: David Deshler had several complaints against him in the Konocti School District. The district informed him they intended to dismiss him after a hearing. Deshler resigned and the hearing was never conducted.

•2003 June: Pinon School District has complaints that Deshler had inappropriate conduct with students, including hugging students and having students take candy out of his pants pockets. Deshler is warned that future complaints would result in his termination.

•2004 February: Pinon School District gets a report that Deshler again had inappropriate conduct with a student. He is placed on leave.

•2004 June: Deshler is formally terminated by the Pinon School District. He returns to the school after being terminated to tell students good-bye and give them small presents. Deshler is charged with criminal trespassing and interference with/or disruption of an educational institution.

•2007 October: While in New Mexico, Deshler accused of inappropriate sexual contact with a 7-year-old. She alleged that he touched her butt and rubbed her chest while in the lunch line. Deshler is charged with three counts of criminal sexual contact with a minor.

•2008 June 5: CTC states all certification documents for Deshler are suspended for 120 days, and any pending applications are denied for misconduct pursuant to Education Code sections 44421 and 44345. These code sections include references to moral turpitude and unprofessional conduct.

•2008 August 7 – 8: During the CTC meeting, Deshler suspension is reversed.

•August 15: Deshler is hired by Frazier Mountain High School

•August 16: Deshler is accused of taking pictures of children at a local swimming pool and playing with children on a floating raft. Deshler is escorted out of the pool area and later that day goes to an outdoor concert where witnesses say he moved his chair to face a grass area where children were playing, He takes another picture.

•August 18: Deshler reports to work at Frazier Mountain High School

•August 22: Deshler is placed on leave from Frazier Mountain High School.

•August 29: CTC suspends Deshler’s license again.

•2012 October: David Allan Deshler legally changes his name in Kern County Superior Court to David Allan Whitley.

•2013: [Deshler’s] New Mexico teaching license is revoked.

•2015 October: CTC general session meeting: Attorney General’s Consent determination stipulates that all certification documents are revoked. The revocation is stayed and Whitley is placed on 5 years probation.

•2018 September: Whitley is hired to be a teacher in Estonia. He has also taught in Thailand, Guam, China, and Iraq.

•2019 January – February: Whitley is hired by the Sierra Sands Unified School District to teach in Ridgecrest.

David Whitley has shown to you a pattern that has not been stopped by moving out of state or changing his last name.

I genuinely believe that this man is a predator and will continue this behavior unless stopped. I am asking you as a parent who has been affected by him, that you revoke his California teaching license immediately for the safety of our children.

As a proactive parent, I will follow this complaint through so that the buck stops here.

David [Deshler] Whitley has gotten away with this behavior for too long. I hope that you will take this information and do the right thing for our children. If not, I will have no other choice than to pursue legal action.

Annamarie Howell, Ridgecrest, CA

Photo captions:

David Allan Deshler-Whitley

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This is part of the February 19, 2021 online edition of The Mountain Enterprise.

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