TIMELINE & ANALYSIS OF THE JACK SCHRIBER SCANDAL

By Laura Blackburn

I am offering a review of information as we have learned it over the past few days, in order to aid the public in evaluating the material on this matter and forming individual opinions about the affair.

The “background information” is foggy at best.  What we do know that Jack Schriber had built an illustrious career with EVSC from 1970 for over 30 years, as a teacher and supervisor.  Even after retirement, he and his wife Sue continued to work on the EVSC summer musicals.  The Schribers have been the recipients of numerous awards from local civic groups and were very popular with the public in general. We know that Schriber claims to have had a sexual relationship with a student for about two years, and the student was somewhere between 15 and 18 years old, and that it was not consensual according to the victim.

The following is a timeline of the incidents exposed in a news release made by the Evansville Courier just before noon on October 20, 2015, which revealed that Schriber had admitted to having a sexual relationship with a male student in the early 1970’s.  Schriber’s comments, police reports, the Mayor’s and others’ statements are reported in the hopes of clarifying what took place in the very sad incident.

December 8, 2014 – Schriber announced his candidacy for City Council-At-Large on the Republican ticket.  He was recruited by his longtime friend and former student, Mayor Winnecke, along with other prominent Republicans.  It was anticipated that he would lead the ticket because of the respect he commanded in the community, and he was considered a big asset to the GOP ticket.  In his statement to the Courier shortly after the story broke on October 20, Schriber said that “rumblings” began about the incident very soon after he announced his candidacy.

July 15, 2015 – This date was the last day that it was possible for a candidate to withdraw his name from the ballot for the November City Election.

July 20, 2015 – The investigation of the complaint against Schriber began, according to EPD Sex Crimes Unit Detective Brian Turpin.  The Mayor was informed about the investigation of Schriber by EPD Chief of Police, Billy Bolin shortly after the inception of the investigation. No statement has been forthcoming from Chief Bolin as to the details of his communications with Mayor Winnecke in the matter.

August 8, 2015 – A confession had been obtained from Schriber and he had signed a letter of apology to his victim and turned it over to Det. Turpin.  That is the approximate time when it was announced that Jack Schriber has suffered a heart attack in Orlando, FL, and it was unknown whether he would be able to continue his candidacy for City Council. A few weeks later it was announced that Schriber had recovered and returned to his campaign.  I am unable to furnish exact dates, as I have not been able to access the Courier’s archives in the matter.  We do wonder if the time that Schriber was “out of action’” may have also been used to consider options and the decision to move forward was made.

October 20, 2015 – The Courier website featured breaking news that Schriber had confessed to being a sexual predator, but would not be prosecuted because the Statute of Limitations was expired on his offense.  The breaking news came shortly before noon, and by 2 pm, the Mayor had issued a statement asking Schriber to suspend his campaign and saying that he had been informed of the investigation shortly after it was initiated, but that he had remained silent in order to protect the integrity of the investigation.  Shortly after the Mayor’s statement, GOP County Chairman Wayne Parke also weighed in, echoing Winnecke’s plea for Schriber to step aside.

October 21, 2015 – Schriber released a statement suspending his campaign, reproaching Det. Turpin for not destroying the letter to his victim, and apologizing to his own family and supporters for the anguish he had caused them.  No apology was extended to the victim and his friends and family.

Probably more importantly, Mayor Winnecke’s statement evolved to include his contention that he did not know of Schriber’s confession until the news broke.  He stated that he had been told of the confession by a “non-police source” and had only acted to preserve the integrity of the investigation.  He has never clarified the source of his information about the confession.

October 22, 2015 – Demo County Chair Rob Faulkner released a statement criticizing Winnecke and Parke for failing to make clear to the voters that a “straight” Republican vote will register a vote for Schriber, and in the event that he is one of the top three vote getters, the GOP will caucus to choose a replacement.  He went on to say that he believed Schriber’s campaign funds should be donated to Holly’s House.  Republicans have tried to vilify Faulkner for this statement, saying that he is guilty of “politicizing” the scandal.

October 24, 2015 -  Rep. Riecken made her statement concerning the handling of the incident, in which she pointed out that the Mayor’s credibility is again in question due to  his handling of the scandal.  It is to her credit that she had not spoken out on the issue until she had time to weigh the actions of Mr. Winnecke.   She observed that the “evolution” of his explanation for keeping Schriber in the race for as long as he was is suspect, to say the least.

October 25, 2015 – The Courier quoted Lloyd Winnecke’s reply to Mrs. Riecken’s statement, in which he said called her campaign “desperate” and accused her of “cynically” using the incident to further her own campaign, while holding to his statement about guarding the integrity of the investigation.

No one really wants to delve deeper into the details of Jack Schriber’s behavior toward his victim.  I certainly hope that the victim and his family can move on and that Sue Schriber and her family recover from this pain and embarrassment as soon as possible.  We do, however, need to know the details of who knew what and when they knew it, so far as the investigation goes.  This is a matter of the public trust and the character of those who wish to lead the City for the next four years. I believe we are owed answers that we do not have.  The “defending the integrity of the investigation” defense does not hold up against the information that we have been given.  At this point, we have more questions than answers due at least in part to the repeated “canned” explanation that the Mayor has continued to try to feed us.

Finally, Winnecke and his party need to be more transparent about their plans for the possible replacement for Schriber on the City Council.  The rumors that Wayne Parke will be the replacement if one is needed are disturbing, and I would challenge the GOP leaders to announce who they would encourage their caucus to choose in Schriber’s place in case he wins a seat.

FOOTNOTE: this article was posted without opinion, bias or editing.