Honk News (Calhoun County, AL) – A Calhoun County Career Academy teacher is being charged with harassment after a student allegedly engaged in sexual misbehavior.
According to court documents, the instructor was taken into custody last Thursday. The accusation is the result of a report that the teacher repeatedly made inappropriate physical contact with a student and said various offensive or explicit things to the teenager.
Although the case was ultimately reduced to misdemeanor harassment, Calhoun County Sheriff Matthew Wade acknowledged that the original report had constituted sexual assault. According to Wade, these downgrades frequently take place when the more serious allegation is not sufficiently supported by the available evidence.
“The original complaint was that this teacher was touching the student in a way that was inappropriate,” Wade explained. “The student informed the school that she thought it was inappropriate.”
Case documents show that the school system never reported the claims to police enforcement.
According to case documents, after about five days had passed with nothing being done, the child’s parents—rather than the school system—brought the issue to the attention of law enforcement.
On February 4, law enforcement became aware of this case.
Wade stated that a magistrate had examined the evidence, including the student’s statement and the statements of other students, before deciding to issue a harassment warrant.
“We take whatever evidence we have and it goes before a magistrate,” Wade explained. “Then the magistrate approves a harassment warrant.”
The instructor remained in his post until his arrest on Thursday following the student’s initial complaint. After being released from the Calhoun County Jail, it is unknown if he was permitted to resume his job. Additional information is being gathered by police as part of the continuing investigation.
A comment about the incident has not been issued by the school, and efforts to get in touch with Melanie Brooks, the director of the Calhoun County Career Academy, have not been successful.