KERNERSVILLE
A teacher at Bishop McGuinness Catholic High School in Kernersville was suspended Friday after a former student accused the teacher of sexual misconduct, officials said yesterday.
The former student reported the incident to the school's principal Thursday, officials of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Charlotte said. The student said that the incident happened 2001 at the teacher's home in Greensboro.
The teacher denied the allegation but was suspended Friday in accordance with the Charlotte diocese policy on sexual abuse, said David Hains, a spokesman for the Diocese of Charlotte.
The diocese reported the allegation to the Forsyth County Department of Social Services, as required by law. The diocese is also conducting its own investigation of the allegation.
Bishop McGuinness operates under the direction of the diocese of Charlotte to provide a religious and academic high school. The diocese oversees 18 Catholic schools.
The diocese did not release the teacher's name, saying it is a personnel matter.
"Our purpose is to be open. It's a painful subject, but our purpose is to be open about it and encourage healing," Hains said. "We don't notify people of the names of the individuals that are involved for obvious personnel reasons."
"The correct first step is to report something like this to DSS," he said. "We will be more than happy to cooperate with any investigation by authorities."
Parents were told about the allegation by letter on Friday and the diocese released a statement on Saturday, Hains said.
"We first heard of this on either Thursday or Friday, and we acted as soon as we had what we call a credible allegation," he said.
Kernersville Police Chief Neal Stockton said that the police department got a report about the incident through Crime Stoppers and began investigating.
"We found that the crime happened in Greensboro, so we sent it to them," Stockton said.
Stockton wouldn't comment further about the case.
Authorities with the Greensboro Police Department and Guilford County Sheriff's Office who were reached yesterday had no record of the case.
The teacher was hired in 1991, according to a statement released by the diocese.
A criminal background check, which is conducted on all diocesan employees, showed that the teacher had no prior criminal record of sexual misconduct, the release said.
■ Lisa Boone-Wood can be reached at 727-7232 or at lboone-wood@wsjournal.com.
Email
Facebook
Google
Twitter
Favorites
More
Advertisement