Gwinnett teacher quits after alleged ‘inappropriate’ texts to student

A Mill Creek High School teacher has resigned after being accused of sending “inappropriate” text messages to an 18-year-old student.

Credit: The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Credit: The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

A Mill Creek High School teacher has resigned after being accused of sending “inappropriate” text messages to an 18-year-old student.

A Mill Creek High School teacher has resigned after being accused of sending “inappropriate” text messages to an 18-year-old student.

Danny Thetford resigned from his position as a science teacher at Mill Creek on Nov. 16, citing personal reasons, said district spokesman Bernard Watson. Thetford was employed with the district for 15 years and taught science at Mill Creek for 12 years.

READ: 15-year-old Gwinnett student arrested after viral locker room assault

A school resource officer was alerted to a “possible inappropriate relationship” between Thetford and the student on Nov. 15, according to a police report. The officer investigated the allegations but has “found no basis to charge Mr. Thetford,” Watson said.

Another teacher, Oji Perkins, resigned from the district after allegations of an inappropriate relationship emerged earlier this year. Perkins, a basketball coach and special education teacher, submitted his resignation on the fourth day of school in August. Perkins was not charged with a crime.

At the end of the 2016-17 school year, four other teachers at Gwinnett County schools were accused of sexually assaulting students.

The cases against those instructors — three public school teachers and one private school teacher — include allegations of molestation, groping, rape and a two-and-a-half year sexual relationship, all involving students.

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