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Attorney: A3 Principal May Have Victimized More Students

Springfield School District

The attorney for a former Academy of Arts and Academics student who’s suing the Springfield school district says there’s a good chance others may have been harmed by its principal.

Barb Long is a Portland attorney representing a woman who endured a decade-long episode of unwanted sexual encounters, stalking, harassment, and grooming by Mike Fisher. A day after being put on administrative leave this winter, Fisher hanged himself in his garage.

Long says she’s pored over police and school reports that show Springfield School District employees knew something inappropriate was going on between Fisher and the then-underage girl, but failed to intervene.

“I haven’t heard anything specifically other than what I have read in the incident report, but I think there’s a great likelihood that other people have been affected," she tells KLCC. 

"I think that his suicide really constitutes an admission, and certainly my client and others would have preferred for him go through the criminal justice process rather than what happened.”

Long is seeking maximum damages for her client. A Springfield Police spokesman says so far, he’s not heard from anyone else claiming to have been victimized by Fisher.

Copyright 2018, KLCC.

Brian Bull is an assistant professor of journalism at the University of Oregon, and remains a contributor to the KLCC news department. He began working with KLCC in June 2016.   In his 27+ years as a public media journalist, he's worked at NPR, Twin Cities Public Television, South Dakota Public Broadcasting, Wisconsin Public Radio, and ideastream in Cleveland. His reporting has netted dozens of accolades, including four national Edward R. Murrow Awards (22 regional),  the Ohio Associated Press' Best Reporter Award, Best Radio Reporter from  the Native American Journalists Association, and the PRNDI/NEFE Award for Excellence in Consumer Finance Reporting.
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