FOREST PARK, Ohio — A Winton Woods City Schools employee is under investigation after allegedly sending inappropriate text messages to a teen.
The 26-year-old employee sent text messages that were "sexual in nature" to a 14-year-old, according to a police report from the Forest Park Police Department. The incident was reported Monday to a principal who then notified the school's resource officer, investigators said in the report.
"I am sure that you can imagine the sensitivity of this allegation," Superintendent Anthony Smith said. "However, communication has been made to all parents of students that may allegedly be involved."
Lt. Pape with the Forest Park Police Department said the investigators are only looking into one case, but are working to learn if there are any other alleged victims. Pape said he's seen the screenshots of some of the messages but not the entire conversation.
WCPO 9 spoke with a parent anonymously whose daughter attends Winton Woods Schools. He says there is more than one girl involved, and he knows one of them. He added it started out with the employee bringing the girls Starbucks and telling them they're pretty, and then it escalated.
“Things started to become more sexual, bringing a pair of your panties, do you guys ever touch yourselves. That’s when a few of the girls got scared and came forward," he said.
He said he has seen some of the text messages, including one where the employee asks one girl not to tell.
“I know that a snippet of the message I saw him begging the main girl that is under investigation to please tell her friends not to tell on him and he mentioned three other names," he said.
He added the employee told the girls he would harm himself if they told anyone.
“Him begging these girls not to tell, him bribing them not to tell, and if they did tell he was just going to go kill himself," he said. “These girls have been traumatized enough, but now they have to worry about him."
Smith said the employee was immediately removed from their position and is on paid leave while the investigation is underway.
"All of our students are safe. This information has been disseminated to the appropriate authorities, and we are conducting a thorough investigation," Smith said. "Our proactive measures tend to be our best support, which is that students are guided to 'see something, say something'. In our comprehensive project-based learning educational community, the 'see something, say something' protocol has been paramount in our decision-making process."
The parent who talked with WCPO anonymously said it was upsetting to learn about this situation on the news first. He isn't happy with how the district has handled this incident.
“This should be on the forefront of everything going on. Their safety should be more important than anything right now, and I feel like it’s anything but," he said.
He noted he would like to see the district work with the community to come up with a solution to ensure this doesn't happen again.
“We want our kids to feel safe. We want our kids to feel supported. We want our kids to feel like they can stand up and trust these people if they have a problem," he said.
He said he is proud of the girls for coming forward.
“In my eyes they are heroes. They potentially stopped rape. What would have happened if this potentially kept going on? What would have happened if these girls were too scared to come forward and say anything? What would have happened if he took it as far as can we meet up alone," he said.
WCPO is also not naming the employee because at this time, he is not charged with any crime.
The district did not confirm what position the employee holds within the school system.
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