ST. HELENS, Ore. — A total of 10 employees of the St. Helens School District have now been placed on paid administrative leave stemming from a teacher sex abuse scandal that began with the arrest of two teachers a month ago. More cases have come to light since then, but it appears that at least three of the 10 cases were not previously known.
Each case is either "in connection with ongoing investigations related to allegations of sexual misconduct or for failing to report sexual misconduct," according to a Friday news release from the district. The news release did not identify any of the 10 staff on leave, and the district declined to name any of them when asked.
Current St. Helens High School teacher Eric Stearns and retired teacher Mark Collins were both arrested on Nov. 12 after a two-month investigation into what police described as allegations of "historic sexual abuse" at the school. The arrests triggered a wave of outrage from students and parents, many of whom accused district officials of covering up the allegations.
St. Helens High School Principal Katy Wagner and district Superintendent Scot Stockwell were both placed on leave a few days later, and Wagner was indicted on Nov. 26 on criminal charges of mistreatment and official misconduct for allegedly withholding care from students and failing to comply with mandatory child abuse reporting requirements.
Days before Wagner's indictment, the Oregon Department of Human Services confirmed that it had opened investigations into six staff members at St. Helens High School: Stearns, Collins, Stockwell, Wagner and two others whom KGW has not named because to date they have not been charged with crimes (Stockwell has not been charged either, but was publicly identified by the district when he was placed on leave).
Around the same time, St. Helens police announced an investigation into a St. Helens Middle School teacher for alleged criminal conduct "involving a student," and that unnamed teacher was also placed on leave.
At least some of those seven previously reported cases appear to be among the 10 paid leave cases confirmed by the district Friday, although it's unclear if they all are.
The district news release states that two of the staff members were placed on leave at some point before Nov. 13, three were placed on leave on Nov. 13 due to arrests, two were placed on leave at some point after Nov. 13 due to DHS reports or tip line reports, and three were placed on leave at some point after Nov. 13 due to an internal report.
The district announced last week that it was launching an internal investigation into the sex abuse scandal, but it's unclear if the "internal report" referenced in Friday's news release is connected to that investigation, which was expected to take 45 to 60 days to produce a final report.
In the past few weeks, the district has appointed an interim principal to step in for Wagner and an interim superintendent to step in for Stockwell. The district school board director also resigned after the scandal broke, and the district said Friday that has posted an application for the position, with an appointee to be named Jan. 8.
The St. Helens district and Northwest Regional Education Service District have also engaged multiple crisis communications consultants — although one of them, Tom DeLapp, stepped down earlier this week after it came to light that he had recently been convicted of embezzlement in California.
