VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — The investigation into allegations of sexual abuse involving a now deceased St. John the Apostle School parent ended due to the man's death, a police department spokesperson told News 3 Tuesday.
The investigation "ends as there is no one to charge criminally," the spokesperson said.
As News 3 reported Monday, two parents of a girl who attends the school said their daughter came forward and said the father of one of her friends, Vincent Jakawich, abused her.
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The parents then contacted police, who spoke with them.
Jakawich died by suicide shortly after the allegations were made.
Following their police report, the police department spokesperson said she was not aware of any additional families coming forward with allegations against Jakawich.
"We're parents and we're incredibly emotional," said Tim Hatchell, who spoke publicly about his daughter's case on Monday.
The Hatchells still have questions about what happened and how the school handled the case.
Watch previous coverage: Navy man who died by suicide accused of sexual abuse by child's friend
That's because Jakawich was previously charged with felony aggravated sexual battery involving a child under 13-years old.
In 2022, he pleaded guilty to a downgraded charge of misdemeanor assault and battery.
The Commonwealth's Attorney's Office said they agreed to the downgraded charge due to evidence that contradicted the victim's version of events.
Had he been convicted of the original charge, he would've had to register as a sex offender, a spokesperson for the Commonwealth's Attorney's Office told News 3.
With his guilty plea, Jakawich was not sentenced to active jail time.
The conditions of the plea agreement were that he have good behavior for 12 months and not have contact with the victim.
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The Diocese of Richmond has not answered questions from News 3.
The principal has said there's no evidence the alleged abuse happened on school grounds.
In the Diocese's statement, they said the pastor of the church is on temporary leave and parents were later notified the principal would be retiring.
The statement says the Diocese is investigating whether the Diocese's Safe Environment Regulations and other policies were followed.
The regulations are posted online and say sex offenders are generally not allowed around a school.
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It's unclear what the policy is for a scenario like this.
Dr. Sarah Williams is a licensed psychotherapist who says, unfortunately, seemingly trustworthy adults can still cause harm.
"What we have to do as parents is and I recommend this clinically is always have an open space for your child to communicate and sometimes children have a difficult time find the verbiage," she said. "So you have to be very observant."
