MIAMI COUNTY — A school district is investigating after an employee allegedly sexually assaulted a high school student.
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As reported on News Center 7 at 11:00, the Miami East Local School District Board of Education held a special meeting at the high school.
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The board was in executive session for more than two hours.
Just a few minutes after the board left the room, a woman in the audience walked to the front and told everyone that the employee had victimized her high school student.
News Center 7 spoke with the woman one-on-one after the meeting. We won’t be showing her face or identifying her to protect her child’s identity.
“I feel like it needs to be handled now and not later,” the woman said.
She said her child came to her in October and said an employee, whom they didn’t have any classes with, had been touching them in a way that made them feel uncomfortable.
She said the employee would watch her child at sports practice, following them to other parts of the school, and give them unwanted attention.
“She likes the athletes; it’s a pattern,” the mother said.
She said she brought her information to the board of education, but feels like nothing was done.
“I was told that it needed to go up the chain of command and to be documenting and that wasn’t a good enough answer for me. I wanted it taken care of, and I wanted it addressed immediately,” she said.
The mother said she talked to the superintendent about the accusations.
“We showed up to the board office to meet with the superintendent unannounced last Monday and told them that they had until noon to do something,” she said.
She came to the board meeting Monday night, hoping school leaders would address the situation and give an update on the employee’s status with the district.
After spending over two hours in executive session, the board came back and said the following:
“Want to provide a statement on behalf of the board, the health, safety, and well-being of our students, staff, and broader community remain our top priority. We are aware of the community, of the community concerns that the community has raised, and are conducting a thorough investigation of the matter. Because of this being an active personnel issue, we are limited in what can be shared at this time in order to protect the integrity of the process and the privacy rights of all of those involved. We are committed to following all district policy and applicable laws and will take appropriate action based on the findings of the investigation,” a board member said.
News Center 7 is not naming the employee because we haven’t confirmed any criminal charges related to the situation.
We have reached out to the school district and the sheriff’s office to confirm the employee’s identity, but haven’t heard back.
We will continue to follow this story.
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