Belittling A Brutal Act In a D.C. School

-- Told another 15-year-old girl at the school about his incarceration for murder and that she shouldn't be gay because a good man like himself could make her happy.

-- Told a 14-year-old girl that he wanted to "kidnap" and "have fun" with her.

-- Told a 16-year-old girl that she was cute and that he wanted her to be his girlfriend.

These aren't schoolgirl nightmares. They occurred at Spingarn Senior High School in Northeast Washington this year, according to documents the U.S. attorney's office filed in the case.

On Sept. 4, a D.C. Superior Court jury found the man, Barry Harrison, guilty of five counts of sexually assaulting the Spingarn student.

More truth-telling: Harrison wasn't lying when he told the girls about his incarceration. He spent about 22 years in prison for beating and shooting to death two D.C. men in 1984. That incarceration came after his conviction for armed robbery in 1978. Last year, Harrison pleaded guilty to cocaine possession.

Which raises the question: What was he doing in a D.C. public school?

Harrison also spoke the truth when he told the girls that he was a mentor. He worked with Peaceoholics, a four-year-old group co-founded by ex-offender Ronald Moten. Peaceoholics hires some men with criminal records to work with D.C. teens in trouble. Since its founding, Peaceoholics has raked in $7.6 million in D.C. government contracts and grants.

How did Harrison get inside Spingarn?

Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee told me in an e-mail that the school system's relationship with Peaceoholics predates her tenure. Peaceoholics, she said, signed a memorandum of understanding for work with the public schools in 2007. The agreement expired, Rhee said, but Peaceoholics continued to work in schools where individual principals thought the group would be helpful.