Alaska’s schools already reportedly have a higher than average amount of sexual assault, and a new instance points towards this alarming trend. The principal at one of the state’s largest rural elementary schools, Gladys Jung Elementary, has been arrested and charged with sexual abuse of a minor, attempted coercion of a minor, and possession of child pornography.

According to ProPublica, Principal Christopher C. Had been accused of inappropriate actions with students in the past, but the elementary school did not take much action. It was reportedly not until the FBI’s Child Exploitation Task Force stepped in was the principal finally arrested. 

In addition to his charges from the FBI’s investigation, the principal’s school district also faces lawsuits from the parents of two alleged victims. In their eyes, the district failed to adequately protect students.

These allegations reportedly followed years of complaints from parents about the principal’s allegedly inappropriate actions, and admissions from the principal himself that he had engaged in activities that violated Alaska’s educational ethics laws. Reportedly, this conduct could have lost him his teaching certificate years ago, but did not.

Instances of inappropriate touching of students, along with grooming, sexual messages, and attempts to take them to hotel rooms went largely unchecked by the school system — because the principal had not been charged of these activities before now, he was allowed to keep his job, says ProPublica.

Despite these allegations, the Lower Kuskokwin School District Superintendent maintained that the district had reviewed complaints against the principal and “saw nothing that put a child at risk.” Many parents disagreed, explains ProPublica.

Before the elementary school principal worked at Gladys Jung, he reportedly taught at another village, and stayed in contact with a student from that former school. When she was 14, she posted a selfie on Facebook, the principal sent her a private message that was reportedly inappropriate. He allegedly said “love those luscious red lips on your profile pic,” commented on her “naughty ways,” called her numerous pet names, and said he wanted to spank her, reports ProPublica.

The student’s mother reportedly contacted state troopers about the issue, which prompted an investigation. Then, the state troopers met with Lower Kuskokwim School District Assistant Superintendent, and the principal was placed on paid administrative leave.

When questioned, the Assistant Superintendent said that the school officials were “quite disturbed” when they saw the messages, but did not believe that the student was in any danger.

For his part, the principal said that he did regret his wording in the messages, but claimed his lapse in judgment was due to medication that he was taking. The state troopers then examined his laptop and iPad for child pornography, and found none.

However, ProPublica says that even though he had not explicitly solicited a child for sex, his conduct still should have been enough to lose him his teaching license. Reportedly, and “sexually charged” behavior directed towards students could have cost an educator their license — this includes sexual innuendos, suggestions, and other conduct.

In Alaska, a state regulatory board can suspend a teacher from their work or remove them entirely if they show signs of viewing students as sexual targets, even if they do not escalate to committing assault, soliciting children for sex, or similar.

Though Alaska’s rules around sexual misconduct are very broad for educators, this does not mean that the state is particularly effective at handling sexual misconduct if it does occur, says ProPublica. Reportedly, many educators who do face allegations or who violated these ethics codes are often given more chances and are allowed to continue to work with students — if they are identified at all.

The Rape, Abuse, and Incest National Network explains that school officials are mandatory reporters for sexual misconduct. Additionally, the Anchorage Daily News says that the Alaska Safe Children’s Act requires all students to take classes on identifying sexual abuse. However, critics worry that these efforts are not enough to stop a concerning pattern of abuse allegations. 

The principal went relatively unchecked, says ProPublica, even though parents of other students reported that the principal went so far as to touch children sexually. The principal was once more placed on paid level, and claimed that any touching that was alleged must have been an accident.

This allegedly went on until the FBI intervened. The FBI went so far as to pose as a 13 year old girl through text message. After the principal sent explicit messages to this supposed child, and after the FBI secretly recorded a phone call in which the principal recounted his plans to sexually abuse the child, the principal was finally arrested. After his arrest, he allegedly admitted that he was sexually attracted to children.

Despite this years-long pattern of allegations, the school district officials still maintained that they were “blindsided” by the alleged abuse, and by the FBI’s subsequent investigation into it.

This article is not legal advice. It is presented
for informational purposes only.