A St. Helens High School teacher in Oregon been arrested for a second time for sexual abuse of students.
Eric Stearns, 46, was arrested Saturday on several sexual abuse charges after eight other alleged victims came forward, according to KGW.
Stearns, a former choir teacher at St. Helens High School in St. Helens, was previously arrested in November on seven counts of second-degree sex abuse and one count of third-degree sex abuse.
Following his initial arrest, police issued a notice requesting individuals to come forward with any additional information. This notice led to the emergence of eight more alleged victims, resulting in Stearns’s subsequent arrest.
On Thursday, Stearns’s case was presented to a grand jury, which approved a new indictment including one count of first-degree sex abuse, six counts of second-degree sex abuse, and four counts of third-degree sex abuse, according to KGW.
OPB reports that court records filed on Friday indicated that the alleged abuse dates back to 2015 and extends to the current school year.
Erin Brady, Deputy District Attorney for Columbia County, Oregon, stated that some victims did not report the alleged sexual abuse until after Stearns’s original arrest, as noted in a January 3 affidavit, according to OPB.
“The defendant has been committing crimes against vulnerable members of this community for years, unchecked, and has preyed upon not only minors but adults as well,” Brady wrote.
Stearns is currently being held at the Columbia County Jail.
KGW reports that in addition to Stearns, three other teachers from St. Helens High School have been criminally charged, and a fourth teacher is under criminal investigation. Mark Collins, a former math teacher at St. Helens, was arrested and faces two charges of sexual abuse. The high school’s principal, Katy Wagner, was arrested in November for allegedly failing to report the abuse, according to OPB.
The City of St. Helens website states, “Investigators continue to seek information about Stearns, including current and past associations. Detectives are concerned there may be additional victims. If you have information, please contact St. Helens Detectives Edwards and Smith by calling 503-397-1521.”
[Feature Photo: Columbia County jail)/SS via KTAU 2]
