On January 23, 1985, Paly’s perennial History teacher Robert "Bob" Shreve, a strict and unforgiving disciplinarian, was called to Principal Jim Shroyer's office and arrested by Palo Alto Police. Shreve, who had worked for the district for more than 17 years, was formally charged on January 24 for having repeatedly molested and sodomized a male student for more than two years, starting when the boy was just 14 years old. The incidents took place on campus, including trips up inside the iconic Campanile Tower, and a single time at Shreve's home during summer school.
Principal Shroyer told reporters that he "had an inkling that Shreve was acting inappropriately.” But he and Assistant District Superintendent Jim Van claimed they were not aware of any other child abuse incidents involving the teacher. The lawyers for the boy’s family later revealed that Shreve had a history of "inappropriately touching and fondling boys" for an untold number of years prior to this scandal and that those acts were reported to the school and the district, only to be covered up.
At the time all of this went down, Robert Shreve's mother happened to be a sitting member of the Palo Alto Board of Education.
The boy and his family moved out of Palo Alto and settled in Los Angeles. Then in September 1985, they filed a lawsuit against the Palo Alto Unified School District for $5 million.
Despite attempts to protect the boy's identity, his classmates at Paly were obsessed and determined to discover his name. Once they learned who he was, they began a cruel campaign of harassment and abuse. He was hounded and hunted down at school, taunted by cries of "fag!" and subjected to unrelenting verbal and physical attacks. On March 8, the boy attempted to hang himself at his family's home.
Shreve, who was facing up to three years in state prison for his crimes, initially pleaded not guilty, but then plea bargained down to one count of molestation. On March 25, 1985, Santa Clara County Superior Court Judge John S. McInerny told Shreve that he betrayed the trust of the student he abused and the community he served. "Every time I start feeling sorry for you," the judge remarked, "I would read through what you did to this boy and how you did it." However, in the very next breath, the judge pointed out the offender’s "valuable contributions to the community" and declared that he had "earned the right to have another chance."
One thing that Judge McInerny specifically praised Robert Shreve for was his many years of contribution and aid given to families that had recently immigrated from Southeast Asia. That fact is quite disturbing, considering that the victim in this child abuse case, and most of Shreve’s targeted victims, were Asian.
At the time all of this went down, Shreve's mother happened to be a sitting member of the Palo Alto Board of Education.
The judge did not sentence the guilty man to state prison. Shreve was given one year of work furlough, enabling him to leave his county jail cell in Palo Alto during the day and only return in the evening in order to sleep. Upon his release, six months into his sentence, Shreve had to register as a sex offender and report to a probation officer for up to five years (at the judge’s discretion).
The boy and his family were forced to move out of Palo Alto and relocate to Los Angeles, where they continued therapy and counseling. In September 1985, they filed a lawsuit against the Palo Alto Unified School District for $5 million. No information could be found on how that lawsuit panned out. It was more than likely settled out of court in order to get it out of the public eye.
Some background info on Robert Shreve:
In 1931, Shreve was elected president of the freshman class at Paly.
In 1933, he was elected captain of the basketball team. He was also
on the all-star football squad. He was a Junior class officer.
In 1934, Shreve, the all-star guard of the Viking football team, and was
elected team captain. He was also elected President of the Boys League.
In 1935 he received the rank of Eagle Scout.
In the April 1935 issue of the Campanile newspaper, a photo of
Bob Shreve was captioned: “... admired for his manly qualities.”
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