Gwinnett teachers charged with sex assaults passed background checks

Update: According to records provided by Derren Evans, referenced in the article below, the Gwinnett County District Attorney’s Office notified him in October of 2018 that the charge against him was dismissed and no prosecution was expected.

Four teachers from Gwinnett County schools have two things in common: They all passed background checks to get their jobs, and they’re all charged with sexually assaulting students.

Allegations in police reports and warrants include molestation, groping, rape and a two-and-a-half year sexual relationship. The alleged abuse occurred over a period of more than two years, but all four arrests were made this month.

The teachers arrested this month are:

• Michael "Mikey" Henderson, a former math teacher and assistant football coach at Parkview High School. Henderson has been accused of a two-and-a-half year sexual relationship with a female student. The student is now 18 and was in Henderson's class. A school clerk is also being investigated in connection with this case.
• Villie Jones, a former band director at South Gwinnett High School. Jones has been accused of raping a student multiple times and having sexual relationships with multiple other students.
• Ronnie Jackson, a former physical education teacher and track coach at Meadowcreek High School. Jackson is accused of groping and kissing a female student's genitals.
• Derren Evans, a former assistant football coach and long-term substitute teacher at Providence Christian Academy. Evans is accused of groping and forcibly kissing a student on multiple occasions and asking her for nude photos on Snapchat.

Jackson is free on $22,200 bond. Evans, Jones and Henderson are being held without bond.

The four teachers, three of whom taught at Gwinnett County public schools, and one who taught at private Providence Christian Academy, are a small minority of the district’s and schools’ faculty. Gwinnett County Public Schools employs 12,000 teachers and Providence Christian Academy, a K-12 school in Lilburn, employs 79.

All four men went through extensive background checks to get their jobs. Nothing in any of those background checks arose suspicion or concern, Gwinnett County Public Schools and Providence Christian Academy said.

The teachers also underwent training that addressed inappropriate relationships between students and teachers, as well as sexual harassment, assault and abuse.

For details on what the background checks and training entailed, and whether these teachers could ever be allowed back into a classroom, read the full story on MyAJC.com.

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