This may be one of the wildest stories of dereliction of duty within a public school system that I can remember seeing.
Since 2019, a number of students and parents at St. Helens High School in Oregon have been complaining about the sexually predatory conduct of at least two teachers on staff. But the district's administration and school board took no action.
Now, it seems, the proverbial excrement has hit the fan. Two teachers are in prison, the superintendent has been put on leave by the district, the principal has been put on leave by the district, the school board chair has resigned, and administration had to cancel school because of the large protest staged by parents and teachers.
Perhaps the most detailed picture that has been painted of the perversion happening inside the school came from a former student at the Oregon school who himself now teaches in St. Louis. Doug Weaver published a TikTok video explaining just how bad things were for some students in the district.
Jaw-dropping stuff, to be sure. As Weaver acknowledged, the two predatory teachers, Eric Stearns (46) and the now-retired Mark Collins (64), have been arrested. According to the police report,
Stearns was subsequently indicted for seven counts of Sexual Abuse in the Second Degree and one count of Sexual Abuse in the Third Degree. Mark Collins was indicted on two counts of Sexual Abuse in the Second Degree and one count of Attempted Sexual Abuse in the Second Degree. Both Stearns and Collins were lodged at the Columbia County Jail.
But if this was all so well known, if it was apparently the worst kept secret in St. Helens, Oregon, a sane person is left to ask a number of questions that demand answers:
Why were these teachers still in the classroom?
Why did legal action take so long to happen?
Why didn't the principal or superintendent of the corporation move to protect the kids in their care?
And if they wouldn't do it for whatever reason, why didn't the school board force their hand?
Those were all questions that a posse of teachers, students, and parents showed up to ask at the most recent St. Helens school board meeting.
News reports indicate that Mr. Stearns plans to fight the charges against him, and will be filing a civil case against what his attorney calls, "haphazard law enforcement."
Call me crazy, but if even half of these allegations are true, it seems the real haphazard law enforcement issue is the one that permitted, after multiple complaints, Stearns to continue his predation.
P.S. Now check out our latest video 👇
