Two male high school teachers were arrested for alleged sexual abuse, and the school’s principal and superintendent were put on administrative leave due to how the school handled the investigation, according to St. Helens School District press release.
Eric Stearns and Mark Collins were both arrested on Tuesday, Nov. 12, for alleged sexual abuse. The school board put Principal Dr. Katy Wagner and Superintendent Scot Stockwell on administrative leave on Thursday, Nov. 14, and Friday, Nov. 15, respectively.
Stearns, 46, is currently a choir teacher at St. Helens High School, and Collins, 64, previously worked as a math teacher there before his retirement. Their arrests come after St. Helens police chief Joseph Hogue investigated Stearns for two months.
Hogue received a tip about a TikTok video alluding to Stearns’ inappropriate behavior. The authorities then interviewed those involved with or commented on the video. During the investigation, Collins’ name was brought up.
On Wednesday, Nov. 13, Stearns pleaded not guilty to the seven charges that he sexually abused six different students from 2015 through January 2024, according to court documents, KATU 2 reports. Stearns qualified for bail, which was set for $150,000.
The next day, Collins, who was accused of touching minors inappropriately at school between 2017 and 2023, was charged with two counts of sexual abuse in the second degree and one count of attempted sexual abuse in the second degree. Collins was released on the condition that he not have contact with minors or where minors congregate. Collins also can’t contact the minors involved in the case.
After their arrests, Chief Hogue said, “Much of the information that [police] got from victims in this case was that the victims had reported some of this information to the school district, and in many cases, they found that there were records of that.”
Eric Stearns.
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Several students and parents said the school knew about the investigation for months, but Stearns was still permitted to teach. After the initial arrests, the school board held a meeting on Nov. 13, and several people protested the board.
During the Wednesday meeting, the school board acknowledged they were aware Stearns was under police investigation. According to KGW8, the school board and school officials ignored students’ and parents’ accusations over the years.
On Thursday, the school released a statement confirming class would be canceled Thursday and Friday. Both days, students and parents protested the school.
“If anybody reports this stuff, it was made to feel like it’s not that big a deal, like (they) just want it to go away,” Brandon Hogan, a parent who is considering removing his kids from the district, said, per KGW8.
“The school didn’t really do anything,” sophomore Lucy Durant said per KGW8.
On Friday afternoon, the district announced that Wagner was placed on paid administrative leave. The announcement confirmed that Ryan Scholl resigned from his role as Board Chair, and Trinity Monahan will become Vice Chair.
On Friday evening, the board held an additional virtual meeting and voted to also place Superintendent Stockwell on paid administrative leave.
“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’s director of communications, Stacey Mendoza, said in a statement to PEOPLE on Friday.
