A teacher from Virginia faced arrest and relinquished his teaching license following a disturbing classroom incident where he tasked his students with devising methods to kill a fellow classmate.
This event took place at Crestwood Middle School in January 2022, as revealed by court documents obtained by local news outlet WTKR.
“The assignment came from another student in the class, but the teacher went along with it,” according to the court documents. Following the teacher’s instructions, students utilized their tablets to enumerate various lethal methods targeting a specific student. These methods included dismemberment, defenestration, incineration, and feeding the victim to a dog, the court documents detailed.
The alarming assignment came to light when the targeted student disclosed the experience to his parents upon returning home that evening, prompting them to alert the authorities, WTKR reported.
Authorities, seeking to understand the rationale behind such a macabre assignment, learned from the teacher that engaging the class presented challenges. He also mentioned that the student, who was the focus of the assignment, did not seem disturbed by it at the time, the records indicated.
Acknowledging the grave mistake, the teacher admitted that the assignment was inappropriate and represented a lapse in judgment. His admission led to a guilty plea for a misdemeanor charge of contributing to the delinquency of a minor. Subsequently, he voluntarily gave up his teaching license. This case is part of a broader investigation by WTKR into the circumstances leading to the revocation of teaching licenses across the state.
The Chesapeake School District, where the teacher was employed from August 31, 2021, to April 8, 2022, chose not to comment on the specifics of the case, citing it as a personnel matter.
“The safety of our students is our top priority and Chesapeake Public Schools expects all employees to act with the utmost professionalism to provide a positive learning environment for all students,” school district officials stated.