ST. HELENS, OR - Outraged students at St. Helens High School in Oregon staged a walkout protest Thursday morning after it was revealed that choir teacher Eric Stearns was permitted to continue teaching until his arrest while administrators knew he was under investigation for sex abuse involving a minor. The school closed early following the protest and remained closed on Friday due to the large student-led protest.
As reported by KGW, the scandal surrounding Stearns arrest developed on Tuesday with an announcement from St. Helens Police that Stearns and a now-retired teacher Mark Collins were both arrested in nearby Beaverton, OR in connection to a two-month-long sexual abuse investigation.
In a press release, the SHPD stated, “Stearns and Collins’ arrests cap a two-month investigation that was initiated by the St. Helens Police Department regarding allegations of historical sexual abuse which occurred at St. Helens High School. Stearns is currently a teacher at St. Helens High School and Collins is a retired teacher.
"After receiving reports of the alleged sexual abuse, St. Helens detectives immediately conducted interviews and obtained a subpoena for records related to the allegations. Former student victims were identified, and additional potential victims were also identified.”
The department reported that Stearns has been indicted for seven counts of Sexual Abuse in the Second Degree and one count of Sexual Abuse in the Third Degree. Collins faces similar charges on two counts of Sexual Abuse in the Second Degree and one count of Attempted Sexual Abuse in the Second Degree. Both men are being held at the Columbia County Jail.
The St. Helens School District responded to the protests with a statement Thursday announcing the Friday closure and cancellation of all after-school events. "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 according to KGW. "We anticipate resuming our regular school schedule on Monday, November 18, 2024."
St. Helens Acting Police Chief Joseph Hogue told reporters that the department became aware of Stearns through a tip on the Safe Oregon Tip Line referring to a video posted to TikTok by creator dougweaverart according to the outlet.
"It alluded to a teacher at a high school, last name of Stearns, who was involved in some inappropriate behavior," the Chief 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."
From that novel starting point officers investigating discovered multiple comments that alleged inappropriate behavior from both educators and reached out to the commenters for more information. Through this method, they learned that there were multiple victims. "Many of these go back four and five years," Hogue added. Court documents noted that the mentions of inappropriate behavior stretched from 2019 through 2023 and that the district was informed of this in mid-October.
"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 told the press.
Students and parents alike expressed anger and outrage, with one parent Christina Baumgardner, who joined the protest outside the school telling KGW, "I think everybody, the superintendent needs to be fired. 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."
As reported by KGW, the scandal surrounding Stearns arrest developed on Tuesday with an announcement from St. Helens Police that Stearns and a now-retired teacher Mark Collins were both arrested in nearby Beaverton, OR in connection to a two-month-long sexual abuse investigation.
In a press release, the SHPD stated, “Stearns and Collins’ arrests cap a two-month investigation that was initiated by the St. Helens Police Department regarding allegations of historical sexual abuse which occurred at St. Helens High School. Stearns is currently a teacher at St. Helens High School and Collins is a retired teacher.
"After receiving reports of the alleged sexual abuse, St. Helens detectives immediately conducted interviews and obtained a subpoena for records related to the allegations. Former student victims were identified, and additional potential victims were also identified.”
The department reported that Stearns has been indicted for seven counts of Sexual Abuse in the Second Degree and one count of Sexual Abuse in the Third Degree. Collins faces similar charges on two counts of Sexual Abuse in the Second Degree and one count of Attempted Sexual Abuse in the Second Degree. Both men are being held at the Columbia County Jail.
The St. Helens School District responded to the protests with a statement Thursday announcing the Friday closure and cancellation of all after-school events. "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 according to KGW. "We anticipate resuming our regular school schedule on Monday, November 18, 2024."
St. Helens Acting Police Chief Joseph Hogue told reporters that the department became aware of Stearns through a tip on the Safe Oregon Tip Line referring to a video posted to TikTok by creator dougweaverart according to the outlet.
"It alluded to a teacher at a high school, last name of Stearns, who was involved in some inappropriate behavior," the Chief 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."
From that novel starting point officers investigating discovered multiple comments that alleged inappropriate behavior from both educators and reached out to the commenters for more information. Through this method, they learned that there were multiple victims. "Many of these go back four and five years," Hogue added. Court documents noted that the mentions of inappropriate behavior stretched from 2019 through 2023 and that the district was informed of this in mid-October.
"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 told the press.
Students and parents alike expressed anger and outrage, with one parent Christina Baumgardner, who joined the protest outside the school telling KGW, "I think everybody, the superintendent needs to be fired. 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."
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