According to a press release issued Tuesday by the West Clark Community Schools received knowledge that a staff member of the Silver Creek High School was under investigation.
Since then – earlier this morning – a staff member was arrested for child seduction.
Alonzo Richmond, 30, from Ewing Lane in Jeffersonville, is accused of kissing and fondling a student early Saturday morning after a theater rehearsal at a park in Sellersburg, Indiana.
According to the news release, Richmond was an extra-curricular sponsor and not a certified teacher employed by West Clark Community Schools.
West Clark Superintendent Chad Schneck said that the activities Richmond was being investigated for took place off school grounds.
“…at an event not sponsored or endorsed by West Clark. West Clark is cooperating fully with all investigative agencies,” Schneck noted.
Court records show one count of child seduction has been filed against Richmond.
The inappropriate contact allegedly occurred in a Sellersburg park after a theater/play practice in which the boy was acting in and Richmond was directing.
The child involved told police he and Richmond were the last two people to leave the rehearsal.
Court records say Richmond hugged the child several times and made statements about homosexual pornography.
Richmond allegedly walked the teen to his car, kissed him and grabbed his buttocks.
Richmond was placed into custody by troopers as a result of an arrest warrant that was issued by the Clark County Circuit Court #3 also on today’s date.
The arrest warrant was the result of an investigation that began on the 16th of this month.
The complaint made to the state police post at Sellersburg by the child’s parent, alleged Richmond of having inappropriate physical contact with a male child under the age of eighteen.
After troopers investigated the alleged incident they turned the facts of the case over to the Clark County Prosecutor’s Office who in turn filed for the arrest warrant.
This investigation is continuing.
Richmond was incarcerated at the Clark County Jail on the charge of Child Seduction and is awaiting his first court appearance.
“Regardless of what the present investigation ultimately reveals, West Clark assures parents of its students that the Corporation not only immediately responds to and investigates allegations of inappropriate conduct by staff, but also reports such matters immediately to other appropriate agencies,” wrote Schneck in the news release. “By doing so, West Clark strives to maintain a positive environment conducive to learning.”
