But like 69 other regional superintendents of schools in Illinois, he was expected to be each of those things at times.

Illinois doesn't have any investigators to follow up on misconduct complaints against teachers, but when the State Board of Education does receive a complaint, it refers the matter to a relatively obscure local elected post -- the regional superintendent of schools.

"We are strapped for resources and really don't have the knowledge or the staff to adequately investigate these things," said Matt Donkin, regional superintendent of schools for Franklin and Williamson counties. "It would be great if the state would provide us with an experienced investigator to look into these matters."

State law gives regional superintendents the authority to suspend a teacher's license for up to a year. Not only are these regional offices of education charged with conducting hearings and meting out punishments, but they also are called on to investigate allegations against teachers.

"We really don't have much power as investigators," said Whiteside County Regional Superintendent Gary Steinert. "We don't have the power to subpoena so we can't make anyone testify. I couldn't even get a local court to turn over a local administrator's criminal file several years ago."

Generally regional superintendents are former teachers or school administrators who have had little to no training in conducting investigations.

Placing teachers in charge of investigating other teachers creates a tendency for investigators to look after their own, said Charol Shakeshaft, chair of Virginia Commonwealth University's Education Department.

Educators tend to be more sympathetic to the adult facing the allegations than to the children making the complaint, said Shakeshaft, a nationally known expert on sexual abuse in schools.

In fact, Novotney, who retired recently as La Salle County regional superintendent of schools, assumes an adult is more likely to be telling the truth than a child.

"You get this situation where the child said this, and the teacher said that, and it's just not black and white; it's kind of a gray situation," Novotney said. "Those are the kind of cases where it is difficult to make a decision. You're making a decision on a person's livelihood that they spent a considerable sum of money trying to get."

In the case of Derek Babcock, a Seneca teacher accused by a former student of having sexually abused her over a two-year period, Novotney said he wanted to hold a hearing on whether to suspend Babcock's teaching certificate, but Babcock moved out of state and couldn't be located.

"I didn't think I could have a hearing without him present. So I just called the State Board of Education and informed them about the allegation," Novotney said.

But when Florida officials contacted the Illinois State Board of Education on March 17, 2005, they were told they had no information on Babcock.

Babcock taught for two years in Florida before school district officials there learned of the Illinois allegations. When contacted by Small Newspaper Group, Babcock declined to respond.

Using the Illinois Freedom of Information Act, Small Newspaper Group obtained copies of all suspension orders issued during the last decade from all 70 regional superintendents of schools.