MONROE, Wash. — A 53-year-old Monroe High School teacher is being held in Snohomish County Jail on $250,000 bail after being arrested for allegedly having an inappropriate relationship with at least one student.
The man, who has not been formally charged, faces two counts of sexual misconduct with a minor. He was placed on administrative leave in February.
The Monroe School District said it is "continuing to fully cooperate with the Monroe Police Department in their investigation."
Based on evidence, detectives believe the teacher has engaged in a pattern of sexual misconduct over the past several years.
In November of 2021, Monroe police received a referral from Child Protective Services regarding an allegation of sexual abuse by a teacher that occurred several years prior. The CPS complaint came from a counselor whose client had disclosed information which the counselor believed required her to report it.
Monroe detectives investigated and learned a teacher had a sexual relationship with a student for approximately eight months. That student allegedly told another person the teacher had an affair with her sister - also a previous student - who was 18 at the time.
The student "was not willing to cooperate with an investigation at that time," probable cause documents state. Because there was no cooperating victim and no allegation against a specific teacher, the district was not contacted.
Fast-forward to February of 2024 when Monroe police were notified of another possible inappropriate relationship between the 53-year-old teacher and a current student. The teacher was put on administrative leave.
Monroe detectives interviewed the teacher the day he was put on leave. He denied any inappropriate relationship with a current student. However, when asked if he had a sexual relationship with three former students, he admitted he had, but they had all graduated before there was a relationship and he was "never the one to initiative anything," according to a statement of probable cause.
Monroe detectives interviewed numerous current and former students. They discovered a pattern of how the teacher behaved toward female students and a pattern of behavior toward former students, with whom he engaged in relationships after graduation.
Detectives also tried reaching out to the alleged victim from 2021. This time she agreed to an interview, which occurred in May of 2024.
The victim stated she graduated in June of 2017 when she was 17. She said that the teacher showed her special attention. Eventually, the teacher would talk with her about "more adult oriented topics" not typical of a teacher-underage student.
The sexual abuse began during the victim's senior year of high school. In March of 2017, they had sexual intercourse, according to probable cause documents. The relationship continued past the student's graduation and into December of 2017.
The victim provided detectives a lockbox of letters the two wrote each other as evidence.
Detectives also verified the teacher stayed at a Seattle hotel three separate nights. One stay occurred while the victim was still a student at Monroe High School, with two others after graduation.
Journal entries by the victim also verified the sexual relationship occurred while she was still underage.
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