UPDATE • First Student Inc. has confirmed that Jermaine Thomas worked for the school bus company at the time he allegedly had sex with a 13-year-old girl who rode on his bus.

"The safety and security of the children we transport to and from school each day is First Student's core value," the company said in a statement released Thursday. "First Student is cooperating with local authorities on the investigation. This particular employee was hired as a bus driver in October 2007. The employee was terminated on February 2010 for reasons not relating to this matter."

That would have been shortly after Thomas was arrested on drug charges unrelated to the alleged statutory rape.

 

CHESTERFIELD • A former girls basketball coach and occasional substitute teacher at Parkway Central High School was charged Wednesday with 15 counts of statutory rape and sodomy involving alleged sexual contact with two teens, police said.

Meanwhile, a school bus driver whose route included St. Louis schools has been charged with three counts of statutory rape and a man who coached girls track and taught social studies at Hazelwood East High School faces charges of sexual misconduct on public school property.

The Parkway Central coach, Brent Michael Woody, 27, served as the ninth grade girls basketball coach and as an assistant track coach at Central during the last two school years. He also sometimes served as a substitute teacher, the district said.

Police declined to say whether the teens were students, but Parkway School District told parents the police investigation was focused on sexual activity with students at the school.

Woody had a sexual relationship with one girl over the course of five months, and with the other girl over 14 months, police said in court documents. Both alleged victims were 15 when the alleged sexual relationships started. Woody had sex with, performed oral sex on and received oral sex from each girl, police said.

The alleged crimes took place between January 2009 and March of this year at Woody's Creve Coeur residence in the 600 block of J Tempo Trail Drive and at Chesterfield Valley Recreation Athletic Complex, Chesterfield Police Lt. Steven Lewis said. Woody is being held on a $50,000 cash bond.

"This is surprising and deeply concerning to us, and we are working closely with the police in their investigation," Parkway Central Principal Tim Gannon said in an e-mail to parents Wednesday.

Gannon said the district does not believe any of the alleged sexual activity took place at school or during school-sponsored activities. Police said they believed the same.

The school district said two background checks on Woody revealed nothing concerning. The coach did not seek to return for the coming school year, the district said.

The bus driver, Jermaine Thomas, 37, of the 1200 block of Duenke Drive in Bellefontaine Neighbors, was charged Tuesday with statutory rape of a 13-year-old girl who rode his bus.

Thomas befriended the girl when she lost her cell phone on his bus and he helped her find it, St. Louis County Police Officer Rick Eckhard said. Thomas brought the girl to a hotel and an apartment in unincorporated St. Louis County for sex, Eckhard said.

The girl's parents reported the alleged crimes to police. Authorities believe the abuse took place between March 1, 2009, and May 1, 2009.

Thomas was sentenced this month to 10 years in prison on federal drug charges related to possession and distribution of cocaine and crack cocaine. Eckhard said Thomas is in custody in Cape Girardeau.

It is unclear what company Thomas worked for during his time as a school bus driver.

The Hazelwood East coach and teacher, Kanzi Tyehimba, 42, was charged last week with having sexual contact with an 18-year-old student at the high school on Nov. 5, 2009, according to court documents.

Hazelwood school district officials said Tyehimba worked for the district from August 2001 until resigning Feb. 22. School officials would not comment beyond confirming his employment history, citing privacy concerns about personnel records.