A shocking number of public educators have been arrested for child sex-related crimes in the first nine months of 2022. These heinous crimes and violations were committed against underage students in the United States, and they ranged from grooming to rape.
According to Fox News, 74% of the alleged arrests were against students. This data was derived from a Fox News Digital study that discovered 269 educators were arrested between January 1 and September 30.
It’s upsetting to learn that 226 of the 269 educators are teachers, 20 are teacher’s aides, 17 are substitute teachers, 4 are principals, and 2 are assistant principals. When the numbers are added up, this amounts to about one arrest per day. How secure are our children?
These crimes occur in various districts across the United States, and the figures do not include arrests that were not made public. This means that those crimes were not counted in the analysis, and the total would undoubtedly rise.
A small 16% of the alleged crimes did not involve students, and the remaining 10% is unknown. Furthermore, it was reported that men made up the vast majority of arrests, accounting for more than 80% of all arrests.
“The best available academic research, published by the Department of Education, suggests that nearly 10% of public-school students suffer from physical abuse between kindergarten and twelfth grade,” he continued.
A former principal, elementary school teacher, and coach was charged with first-degree criminal sexual conduct in August. Eugene Pratt, 57, taught at-risk youth in several Michigan public schools and has been accused of sexually assaulting at least 15 boys and young adult men over the course of his educational career.
In August, ClickOnDetroit spoke with Genesee County Sheriff Chris Swanson, who stated that sexual predators frequently put themselves in an authoritative position in order to gain easier access to victims.
In August, a 59-year-old middle school teacher named Anthony Mattei was charged with two counts of indecency with a child by sexual contact, according to Texas Scorecard. This occurred within the Allen Independent School District in Texas.
After learning that Mattei had previously been allowed to return to teaching children following an investigation into other allegations of misconduct in April, they placed him on administrative leave and launched an investigation.
Stephen Kenion, 56, a self-defense instructor at the Baltimore City Public School District, was arrested in 2009 after allegations surfaced that he impregnated a 14-year-old former student and had sexual relationships with several minors. One of the minors was an eight-year-old child.
He has been charged with perverted practices, second-degree rape, multiple counts of second-degree assault, and various sex offenses, according to CBS News.
In August, four current or former educators from the Plymouth Public School System in Connecticut were arrested in connection with an investigation involving child sex abuse allegations made by James Eschert, 51, a fourth-grade teacher.
According to the report, a principal and three school staff members were accused of failing to report abuse, among other things. These allegations were made by students who claimed that they complained about Eschert’s inappropriate behavior and that nothing was done about it.
“A bipartisan provision of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), originally proposed by Republican Sen. Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania, requires all states receiving federal education funding to enact laws prohibiting the practice of ‘passing the trash,'” Fox added.
Nonetheless, the Education Department’s report discovered that laws prohibiting the practice vary by state. All states require prospective employers to conduct criminal background checks on educators, and while 46 states require fingerprints, only 19 require employers to provide information from previous employers.
Furthermore, only a few states are required to check for specific information when it comes to children’s education and safety. Only 14 states require an educational employee to review applicant eligibility and employment, and only 11 states require potential employees to provide information about sexual misconduct or abuse investigations or corrective actions.
When you think of school, you think of a safe place for your children to learn and flourish but remember to do your research on the school district you’re considering.
