School unions gave $11K to Jeffco candidate who admitted to a sealed juvenile sexual offense

By Jen Schumann | Rocky Mountain Voice

When the Jefferson County Education Association endorsed Michael Yocum for school board this fall, few voters—perhaps not even the union itself—knew the full story.

According to verified audio recordings obtained by Rocky Mountain Voice (RMV), Yocum privately acknowledged a deferred adjudication involving a sealed juvenile sexual offense. 

Yocum received thousands in funding and endorsements from education-aligned groups. 

Now, with ballots dropping in one of the state’s largest school districts, the public is left to decide whether this is the kind of leadership that belongs at the helm of a district serving more than 75,000 students across 145 schools in Jefferson and Broomfield counties.

Two conversations, two answers

RMV obtained two recordings.

In one, Yocum acknowledged: “There was a deferred adjudication… everything’s removed.” He framed the adjudication as a childhood mistake—something he says he’s learned from and moved past.

But in a separate public forum, when asked directly about the allegations, Yocum deflected: “There’s nothing that would preclude me from running for this race.” A man believed to be fellow board candidate Peter Gibbins, who is also an attorney, intervened, stating that if such an incident were real, it would appear in public records. Colorado law, however, automatically seals juvenile adjudications, making them invisible to the public—including voters.

What JCEA said in August—and hasn’t addressed since

On August 8, the Jefferson County Education Association (JCEA) endorsed Yocum and two other candidates, referring to them as the “Cleanup Crew” in a campaign graphic. In its press release the same day, the union praised Yocum for having “experienced firsthand what a failure of leadership looks like” and highlighted his understanding of policy and career pathways.

Whether JCEA knew and looked the other way—or failed to ask the right questions before offering its full support—remains unanswered. JCEA hasn’t rescinded the endorsement. The union has not issued a public comment.

What voters don’t learn until it’s too late

Background checks for school board members in Jeffco aren’t done until after the election—and only once someone is already seated. 

“Each member of the Jeffco Public Schools Board of Education, within 30 days of election or appointment… will submit to a criminal history background investigation,” wrote district legal counsel Julie Tolleson. “Certain convictions will result in a board member gaining very limited-to-no access to schools.”

Until then, voters remain in the dark.

Follow the money: State and local education unions were his biggest backers

Financial records show that the two largest contributors to Yocum’s campaign are rooted in Colorado’s education unions—one local, one state-level.

The Public Education Committee (PEC), which contributed over $3,000 in combined cash and in-kind support, is registered at 1500 Grant Street in Denver—the same address as the headquarters of the Colorado Education Association. That building has housed CEA’s political operations for decades.

The JCEA Small Donor Committee, which contributed $8,000 to Yocum’s campaign, is the local affiliate of CEA.

Taken together, the financial backing of both the JCEA and the PEC, which shares its address and leadership roots with the CEA, made Yocum’s campaign less of an outsider bid—and more of an inside project backed by the state’s largest education power structures.

The timing of their donations matters, too. Records show that JCEA’s endorsement (August 8) and its $8,000 financial contribution (September 11) both occurred before the discovery was made.

And since the candidate himself never publicly disclosed the adjudication, many donors may be seeing the full picture only now. But now that the record and the admission are public, RMV is asking:

Do they still support his candidacy?

Do they believe someone who concealed a sealed juvenile sexual offense—while maintaining that “nothing in his background would preclude” him from “running for this race”—should be placed in a position of leadership and trust over 75,000 children and their families?

If the JCEA has become aware of the candidate’s background, have they informed the CEA about Yocum’s sealed juvenile adjudication?

Does the JCEA still stand behind its endorsement of Michael Yocum, knowing that his possible election could inflict psychological harm on a student or family member connected to the sexual offense? 

And if JCEA is now aware of this sealed adjudication after endorsing him, will they prioritize the emotional well-being of current students and families when deciding to support this particular candidate?

There’s already been a troubling pattern in Jeffco schools—more than 30 known cases of misconduct involving teachers, coaches or staff accused of sexual abuse or crossing serious boundaries. That’s the climate voters are stepping into—and it’s part of what makes this candidate’s sealed record impossible to ignore.

The unspoken risk

“I was born and raised in Arvada, Colorado. I not only attended and graduated from Jeffco Public Schools, I grew up in a family of educators who worked for Jeffco Public Schools,” Yocum stated on his campaign website.

On his campaign website, Yocum points to a lifelong connection to Jeffco. He went to school there as a kid—elementary, middle and high school—and that history makes this moment more than political. It also raises a question that’s difficult to dismiss: could someone involved in the original case still be a student or family member in the district?

It’s not unreasonable to expect that a union endorsing a candidate with this kind of history would first ensure that none of the victims are still enrolled in the schools he hopes to help lead. Because juvenile cases are sealed, and victim identities protected, that expectation may never be addressed. 

For a district that spans 145 schools, the question of who gets trusted with power isn’t academic—it’s personal.

Survivors of trauma often carry their harm quietly for years. 

For survivors of childhood abuse, the trauma doesn’t always end with the event. It can return years later—sometimes abruptly—when the person behind it, or someone tied to it, is placed in a role of public trust.

Researchers who study institutional betrayal have found that the lasting damage is often not just from the abuse itself—but from the silence and protection that follows.

According to PTSD UK, nearly all survivors show signs of PTSD shortly after an assault, and many live with the effects for decades—especially when the abuse began early.

Medical researchers writing in the Australian Journal of General Practice report that unresolved childhood trauma can lead to emotional dysregulation, impaired risk assessment and lifelong developmental effects.

A 2022 NIH study further confirms that when institutions dismiss or invalidate victimization, survivors are more likely to experience shame, dissociation and long-term silence.

Psychological damage, researchers noted in another NIH study, often isn’t caused by the abuse alone—but by the silence that follows when trusted systems refuse to respond.

Shouldn’t school unions—at the local or state level—be responsible for weighing these harms before endorsing candidates for public trust?

Ballots are out. The story is out. The choice is now public.

Ballots start going out October 10. As they land in mailboxes across Jefferson and Broomfield counties, most voters won’t realize that one of the candidates on the ballot has already admitted to a sealed juvenile sexual offense.

That omission may be legal.

Whether it’s acceptable is now up to them.