Editor's note:More comment by attorney David Illingworth was added after the original posting of this story online.
An Academy District 20 school board member has threatened legal action against a parent for public statements that the board member believes are slanderous.
Bernadette Guthrie, whose daughter attends school in District 20, recently received a cease-and-desist letter from an attorney representing Derrick Wilburn, who was elected to D-20’s Board of Education in November. The letter, dated April 17, accuses Guthrie of purposely trying to damage Wilburn’s reputation with “false and defamatory” statements.
Written by Woodland Park-based attorney David Illingworth, the letter also demands that Guthrie “immediately retract all false and defamatory statements you have made or published concerning (Wilburn) and that you cease and desist from making any future false and defamatory statements regarding him.”
Illingworth, a former Woodland Park School District board member, confirmed that he represents Wilburn “in the persistent defamation of his reputation by Bernadette Guthrie.”
Guthrie maintains that she has done nothing legally actionable.
“Nothing I’ve said is untrue,” she told The Gazette. “I have said that I think (Wilburn) is dangerous to kids, and that I don’t want him near my daughter.”
Guthrie is one of several D-20 parents who have voiced strong objections to Wilburn’s actions during a student-led school board candidate forum at Chinook Trail Middle School on Oct. 4.
Download PDF
When the candidates were asked a question concerning the banning of certain materials from school libraries, Wilburn reportedly said, “I do not curse. I’m going to speak some words now that have not come from my lips in 30 years, and I apologize in advance, ladies and gentlemen, for what you’re about to hear. These are books currently available in District 20 school libraries. Please forgive me in advance.”
Wilburn then read sexually explicit passages from Push —a novel at the center of an ongoing debate about the availability of adult material in D-20 schools —in an attempt to make the point that such material should not be available in District 20 libraries. The novel, which was made into the motion picture "Precious," is not currently available in district elementary or middle schools.
Several children were in the forum audience, including Guthrie’s daughter, who was 11 at the time.
Guthrie said her daughter was traumatized by the reading and visibly blanched at the sight of Wilburn at a Nov. 19 board meeting.
"She had a panic attack," Guthrie said. "She started hyperventilating. My mother had to come get her from the meeting."
District 20 proposes library review board; 'parent choice is an important value for us'
Since Wilburn assumed his seat on the board, Guthrie has stated publicly —during board meetings and on social media —that reading sexually graphic material aloud in the presence of young children is tantamount to sexual abuse.
“As a parent whose child was traumatized by Mr. Wilburn's decision to read sexually graphic book passages about rape and incest to young children during a student event, I am deeply concerned about his unrestricted access to the 26,000 children across our district,” Guthrie said.
Illingworth said Guthrie’s public statements are part of a “recent tradition of people taking political disagreement and turning it into a license to slander without regard for the truth or the law.”
"Guthrie has specifically accused Wilburn of committing sex crimes against children, reading p*rnographic content to children because it arouses him, performing a lewd act on children, being a sexual deviant, being the biggest criminal in D20, and being a child predator, amongst other things," Illingworth said. "All those statements by Guthrie are specifically quoted in my demand letter, and I have written or video proof of each."
The letter demands that Guthrie retract —and apologize for —her statements about Wilburn.
“Mrs. Guthrie's repeated false accusations have been outrageous and shameful, and she owes an apology not just to Mr. Wilburn, but to all the real victims of sexual abuse that she's stepping on in her disgraceful attempt to smear an innocent man,” Illingworth said.
Guthrie addressed the letter during last Thursday’s board meeting.
“This letter intended to intimidate me and prevent me from speaking about what Mr. Wilburn did to my daughter, (and) threatens that unless I retract and apologize for the untrue statements I’ve made, he will take legal action against me for defamation,” she said.
“Therefore I will spend the next 1 minute and 30 seconds apologizing for the following untrue statements that I have made about Derrick Wilburn.”
Guthrie then stood at the podium, saying nothing, until her time was up.
“As long as he remains on the board, and as long as he refuses to acknowledge that what he did was wrong, I will continue to talk about it,” she told The Gazette.
Appeals court reinstates dress code discrimination lawsuit against Colorado Springs charter school
Colorado Springs education nonprofit loses grant money after debate with county commissioner
