More allegations against Tri-State teacher accused of inappropriate touching

OXFORD, Ohio (WXIX) - A Talawanda Middle School teacher accused of touching a 12-year-old girl in December had previously been warned about inappropriate behavior with a student, according to documents obtained by FOX19.

The district announced on Dec. 8 it had placed the teacher on paid administrative leave after a student reported “unprofessional behavior with the teacher.”

Oxford police said they were called to the school because a staff member had touched a student. Officers said the victim was not injured.

The girl’s father told us last month the teacher slid his hand down the front of her daughter’s chest.

“This is why girls don’t come forward,” the father said. “They’re afraid of not being believed.”

The district’s letter to the teacher notifying him about his leave status references multiple previous incidents of alleged inappropriate behavior.

A mother in the district has come forward saying her daughter made one of the accusations after an alleged incident in October.

“He’s constantly rubbing shoulders of, typically, girls in a lot of his classes, including my daughter, on multiple, multiple occasions,” she said.

The mother also claimed the teacher looked at her daughter’s rear end and bought her a gift.

“When you’re singled out in front of an entire classroom, it make her very, very uncomfortable,” she said.

The district’s letter references instances on Oct. 4 and Oct. 12 when the school’s principal contacted the teacher “regarding inappropriate behaviors with students.”

There are no formal records of the October complaint in the teacher’s personnel file. The lone reference to the prior alleged incidents is in the district’s letter.

“No one ever followed back up with me to say anything happened at all,” the mother said. “It was very frustrating.”

The mother can hardly believe school officials let the teacher continue at his job.

“Had they taken my daughter’s complaint seriously, there wouldn’t have been any complaints after that,” she said. “Why is there even one more? There shouldn’t have ever been one.”

FOX19 reached out to the school district about why there’s no apparent documentation of the alleged October complaint and why the teacher was not put in leave at that time. We have not heard back as of this writing.

The district responded to our story in December saying they cannot comment while the investigation is active.

“I do fear for retaliation against my daughter, whether it’s at school if no charges are brought, and she could have this teacher again, or in the hallway, or something like that,” the mother said.

Oxford police are also investigating the teacher.

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