ST. HELENS, Ore. — Anger and outrage spilled out onto the streets outside St. Helens High School on Thursday morning as students walked out of class, upset with how the district handled the police investigation involving choir teacher Eric Stearns — knowing of the investigating but still allowing him to teach.
St. Helens police also arrested former math teacher Mark Collins in Beaverton on Tuesday on three counts of sex abuse involving a minor.
"I think people are going to listen, especially since students are getting so involved in it," said junior Avlene Moore, who organized the walkout. "I just wanted everyone to come together and just protest about what's right and just make change in our community."
The St. Helens School District announced Thursday night that all schools and offices in the district would be closed Friday and all evening events canceled.
"This closure allows us to address recent events impacting our school community and prioritize the safety and well-being of our students and staff," the district said. "We anticipate resuming our regular school schedule on Monday, November 18, 2024."
St. Helens Acting Police Chief Joseph Hogue said police first learned of Stearns after a tip came into the Safe Oregon tip line, mentioning a TikTok video by creator dougweaverart.
"It alluded to a teacher at a high school, last name of Stearns, who was involved in some inappropriate behavior," Hogue said. "That initial post led to a bunch more interviews with people who were involved with the TikTok video or commenting on the TikTok video. That second name of Collins came up as well."
Detectives scoured the comments of the creator's post and came across several instances alluding to inappropriate behavior. Hogue said detectives contacted those commenting on the videos and learned there were multiple victims accusing Stearns and Collins of sexual abuse.
"Many of these go back four and five years," Hogue said.
According to court documents, Stearns is accused of sexually abusing six minors, identified only by their initials, dating back to 2015 and as late as Jan. 2024.
Court documents for Collins list sex abuse charges with three minors between the years 2017 and 2023.
When detectives learned of the abuse, they submitted a subpoena for the Safe Oregon tip, as well as the personnel files of both Stearns and Collins. Hogue said that in Stearns' file there were multiple mentions of inappropriate behavior between 2019 and 2023.
"They found that much of the information that they got from victims in this case was that the victims had reported some of this information to the school district, and in many cases, they found that there were records of that," Hogue said.
Police said the district was notified in mid-October that they were investigating Stearns for sex abuse allegations. A parent whose child was in Stearns' choir class told KGW that Stearns remained in his position and was teaching up until he was arrested on Tuesday.
The case is still being investigated, police said, but they wouldn't reveal if more victims had come forward in the wake of the announcement of the two arrests.
"I think everybody, the superintendent needs to be fired," said Christina Baumgardner, a parent protesting with her son outside the school. "The school district, they need a whole new school district. Dr. Wagner (St. Helens High School principal) needs to be fired. These kids need to be safe in this town, and they're not in this school at all."
The St. Helens school board will discuss putting the superintendent, Scot Stockwell, on paid administrative leave during a scheduled meeting on Friday.