Nicholas Co. Uncensored

07/30/2025

07/27/2025

Editorial: When Silence Protects the Wrong People

In recent days, Scuttlebutt addressed a difficult and disturbing topic that many in our community have whispered about but few have confronted publicly: serious allegations of child molestation involving a well-known local businesswoman.

While our initial post refrained from delving into the specific details, we now feel compelled to speak more clearly, both for the sake of transparency and because silence — especially in matters involving the potential abuse of a child — too often serves to protect the wrong people.

According to information shared with us, the allegations involve the teenage son of the accused woman’s close friend. The incident is said to have occurred during a shared family vacation in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. A source close to the family tells us the boy’s mother was furious upon learning what had allegedly taken place, and confronted the accused with an ultimatum: turn yourself in, or we will go to the police.

But then — nothing happened.

We have now learned that the victim’s parents have reportedly chosen not to report the incident to law enforcement. No public explanation has been offered or expected for their decision.

This leaves the community in a deeply troubling place. Either the mother leveled a false accusation, permanently tarnishing another woman’s name — or worse, the parents believe the abuse occurred and have chosen to do nothing, allowing a potential predator to walk free.

There is no comfortable version of this story. In one scenario, a person has been wrongly condemned in the court of public opinion. In the other, a child’s trauma has been buried, justice has been denied, and a dangerous individual remains unaccountable.

What cannot be ignored is this: If a crime was committed against a child, it must be reported. No friendship, social status, or fear of fallout should ever outweigh the safety of children. Justice is not a private matter to be bartered or buried — it is a societal responsibility.

Let us be clear. There is no excuse for child abuse. And there is no excuse for silence in the face of it.

— Scuttlebutt Editorial Team

07/27/2025

04/11/2025

Nicholas county parents, read the comments on this post. You deserve to know who has contact with your children during school hours. Aides shouldn't be punishing special needs children.

04/10/2025

Nicholas County is a mess. Somebody needs to hold this woman accountable for all of her bad decisions!

03/28/2025

Recently, Nicholas County Schools learned that a substitute service employee had been employed in error. Upon learning this information, the individual was immediately released and has been terminated.

The Board hired the former employee for 2024 summer service employment work and subsequently assigned the employee to maintenance substitute assignments for the 2024-25 school year.

All county employment offers are contingent upon a successful background check by the West Virginia State Police. The employee’s background check indicated a prior criminal proceeding that was “dismissed.” There were no results indicating a “conviction”, “guilty plea”, “plea agreement”, or a plea of “no contest”. Neither Human Resources nor the superintendent were aware that the former employee had any prior plea agreement (no contest plea), nor that he was required to register as a s*x offender. With that said, the former employee did make the disclosure on this application and Human Resources did not thoroughly review that disclosure and instead relied solely on the background check of the State Police. That was clearly an error on administration’s part to rely on the background check and to not thoroughly review the application.

The school system has consulted the West Virginia Department of Education as a resource as it relates to the background check by the State Police. In consultation with the WVDE, it appears that the former employee’s charge was not in his criminal history. As we understand it, at the time (2017), the former employee was not fingerprinted following his plea agreement and so it was not tracked. In addition, the former employee’s s*x offender status was not in his criminal history. While not certain, that could be as a result of the fingerprint issue. Regardless, there is no excuse in administration’s failure to thoroughly review the actual application. While individuals who are on the s*x registry are not prohibited from being on school grounds, the employment recommendation would have never occurred had administration known of the plea agreement terms, which included s*x offender registration.

While the former employee is the step-grandson of the superintendent, the superintendent had no knowledge of the plea agreement terms, and of course was unaware that he was registered as a s*x offender. The superintendent had no involvement in the application, application review, or the background check process. Regardless, the superintendent recognizes that the school system made significant mistakes in the employment process related to the background of the former employee, and that as the superintendent, he bears that responsibility and makes no excuses.

While the school system is disappointed and troubled by learning this information, it renews its commitment to thoroughly review background checks including those in which any remote question of a prior record exists, and to thoroughly review disclosures made by applicants in the application process. We reassure the public there was absolutely no nefarious intent on anyone’s behalf to hire this individual. Instead, once Human Resources was made aware, employment ended immediately. While there was no nefarious intent, mistakes were made and administration recognizes those mistakes. Those mistakes rightfully have caused many emotions from the community, whether disbelief, anger, distrust, etc., and the superintendent recognizes that under his leadership administration failed to meet expectations that it should be held to, and for that, he apologizes. It has been the practice of Superintendent Beam to be as transparent as possible, thus this post is designed for that purpose.