Bellevue Private School Teacher Accused of Sexual Contact with Girl, 13
KOMO
A longtime teacher at Bellevue Christian School has been charged with child molestation after he made sexual contact with a 13-year-old girl in his classes, according to court papers that also say school officials took no action when they first learned of the allegation four years ago. Documents filed Wednesday in King County Superior Court also show that school administrators knew of at least two similar incidents involving the same teacher and other young girls as far back as 1999, but never reported any of the incidents to law enforcement officials. The teacher, identified as Edward T. Sloan, 45, has been employed with the school since 1997. He was recently placed on administrative leave through the end of the school year and will not return in the fall, school officials said. "The defendant has a clear pattern of inappropriate behavior with female students and should not be teaching minors, particularly minor females," say charging documents filed by the King County Prosecutor's Office. School administrators say they are cooperating with police as they investigate Sloan. "Bellevue Christian School continues to take this situation very seriously," Tim Krell, the school's interim superintendent, said in a prepared statement. "We are cooperating fully with all requests by law enforcement and the King County Prosecuting Attorney." Clyde Hill police began investigating in January of this year when they learned of the girl's report that Sloan had allegedly made sexual contact with her multiple times when she was 12 and 13 years old and a 7th-grade student at Bellevue Christian School in 2012, court documents say. The investigation found that the girl had told her parents back in 2012 about the inappropriate contact after the final incident, which happened on a school field trip. She described the contact as painful, and that she "freaked out" and was "in shock" afterward, according the charging papers. The girl's parents reported the incident to Sue Tameling, then-principal of Bellevue Christian School's high school, and Junior High Vice Principal Mike Olson, but they took no action against Sloan, court papers say. The girl and her parents told police they felt that Tameling did not take their complaint seriously and "swept it under the rug," according to the case file. Sloan continued to teach at Bellevue Christian School and the girl transferred to a different school the following academic year. Police investigators reviewed school records and found a file containing "numerous documents outlining allegations of improper touching and conduct against students by Ed Sloan dating back to 1999," court documents say. A former Bellevue Christian School junior high interim principal said she passed along one of those complaints to the former school superintendent in 2005, but no action was taken against Sloan, according to charging papers. The case file also says the former interim principal recalled that Sloan "demanded that no documentation about it be put in his file" and that he became "very angry" with a school counselor who passed along information about complaints against him. The former principal said the whole incident was "whitewashed," court documents say. Sloan hired a lawyer as soon as the police investigation began and so far has declined to be interviewed by detectives, according to charging papers. Krell said in his prepared statement that Bellevue Christian School has counselors who are ready to assist students. "We remain committed to make our school a safe place for student learning," Krell said.
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