Outraged Oregon high school students blasted the school board for letting a teacher accused of pedophilia continue working despite mounting allegations.
The St. Helens School District was forced to cancel classes, place the superintendent and high school principal on leave and accept the board chair’s resignation following the arrest of two teachers on child sex abuse charges.
Choir teacher Eric Stearns, 46, and retired math teacher Mark Collins, 64, were arrested on Tuesday after police conducted a two-month long investigation into historical sexual abuse at St. Helens High School.
During the investigation St. Helens Acting Police Chief Joseph Hogue subpoenaed the district for records of the two teachers, and found reports students filed over the years of inappropriate touching that the district did not previously disclose – as required by law.
Furious students and parents attended the school board meeting on Wednesday, demanding answers as to why they allowed Stearns to continue to teach despite knowing about the investigation.
‘What was your reaction to finding out that Eric Stearns was an active pedophile with immediate access to minors for two months? You need to resign,’ one student said.
‘My mom specifically made complaints about Mr. Stearns putting his hand around my neck as a ‘vocal exercise’ – that, too, went swept under the rug. You are all to blame. You are all guilty,’ said another.
‘I am just disgusted with you guys for letting him near me and my friends… they were let around a pedophile,’ a third student said.
Outraged Oregon high school students demanded answers from the school board as to why a teacher accused of sexual abuse was allowed to continue to work during his investigation
St. Helens High School choir teacher Eric Stearns (pictured), 46, and retired math teacher Mark Collins, 64, were arrested on Tuesday
School board chair Ryan Scholl told the crowd that Stearns was allowed to continue teaching because law enforcement had advised them not to place him on leave, reported KOIN.
Hogue denied that saying, ‘at no point did the officers tell the school district or advise the school district in any way to not put the teacher on admin leave.’
Student-led protests caused the high school to close on Thursday and all district schools were closed on Friday as dozens of enraged students and parents called for Superintendent Stockwell and St. Helens High School Principal Katy Wagner to resign.
Stearns has now been accused of sexually abusing six students between 2015 to 2020, allegedly touching their necks, chests, buttocks or mouths inappropriately, according to the Oregonian.
He is now facing seven counts of second-degree sex abuse and one count of third-degree sex abuse, and had been teaching up until last Tuesday, a parent whose child was in his choir class told KGW.
Collins is also accused of abusing three students between 2017 and January 21, 2023, allegedly touching their inner thighs or in one case ‘attempting to cause’ the student to touch his penis.
He is also facing two counts of second-degree sex abuse and one count of attempted sex second-degree sex abuse.
Both have pleaded not guilty, with an attorney representing Stearns arguing that a grand jury conflated the allegations against him with those against Collins.
Student-led protests caused the high school to close on Thursday and all district schools were closed on Friday
The school district announced on Friday that both Wagner and Stockwell were placed on leave
Board Chair Ryan Scholl also resigned from his position in the aftermath
The school district ultimately voted unanimously to place Stockwell on paid administrative leave during an emergency board meeting on Friday, and the district later placed Wagner on leave. It also announced later that day that Scholl resigned.
Stockwell had served as superintendent since 2015, while Wagner has been principal since 2018.
‘We’ve heard the concerns that have been raised and are committed to transparency and working toward fostering a safe, supportive environment for all students,’ the district said in a statement Friday.
‘Based off of our last meeting, it was pretty clear that at this point, the community has lost faith in a number of different things for the district, the superintendent, the boards.
‘For the purposes of us to be able to move forward, I believe it’s going to be in our best interest to make towards placing our current superintendent on paid administrative leave.’
