Within this week, police are looking to charge, or exonerate, a former high school teacher alleged to have had inappropriate contact with students via the Internet.
"We hope to know whether or not we will be filing charges with the State's Attorney's Office," Collinsville Police Chief Scott Williams said Wednesday.
Williams said that a former Collinsville High School teacher's personal computer is being investigated after accusations surfaced regarding inappropriate behavior while he was a CHS employee.
"We are looking into allegations of inappropriate contact through text messages between a teacher and his students," he said.
Williams said he would not identify the male former teacher because the investigation is ongoing. He also couldn't say the number of students the suspect was in contact with, or explain the nature of the comments.
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Dr. Dennis Craft, superintendent of Collinsville schools, refused to comment on the matter.
"It's a personnel issue and I really can't discuss anything," he said.
Teen faces charges
In an unrelated case, a 17-year-old State Park Place teen is facing charges for alleged harassment via the Internet.
Ashley J. Johnson, 17, was arrested on Dec. 26 for threatening a fellow schoolmate on the Internet, Capt. Brad Wells with the Madison County Sheriff's Department said. This week, Johnson was charged with harassment by electronic transmission, a Class A misdemeanor. A sentencing date is pending.
"From what we understand, there may have been more than one threat but she's only charged with one instance," Wells said.
Wells said the threat indicated the desire to do bodily harm to the victim and that it was the victim's father that contacted the Sheriff's Department.