Two male high school teachers have been arrested for alleged sexual abuse, and the school’s principal and principal have been placed on administrative leave because of the school’s handling of the investigation, according to St. John’s School District Press Release Helens.

Eric Stearns and Mark Collins were both arrested on Tuesday, November 12, for alleged sexual abuse. The school board appointed the director dr. Katy Wagner and Superintendent Scot Stockwell on administrative leave on Thursday, November 14th and Friday, November 15th, respectively.

Stearns, 46, is currently a choir teacher at St. Helens, and Collins, 64, previously worked as a math teacher there before retiring. Their arrests come after the police chief in St. Helens, Joseph Hogue, investigated Stearns for two months.

Hogue received a tip about a TikTok video alluding to inappropriate behavior by Stearns. Authorities then interviewed those involved or commented on the video. During the investigation, Collins’ name came up.

On Wednesday, Nov. 13, Stearns pleaded not guilty to seven charges that he sexually abused six different students from 2015 to January 2024, according to court documents. CAT 2 reports. Stearns qualified for bail, which was set at $150,000.

The next day, Collins, who was accused of inappropriately touching minors at the school between 2017 and 2023, was charged with two counts of second-degree sexual abuse and one count of attempted first-degree sexual abuse. two. Collins was released on the condition that he not have contact with minors or where minors congregate. Collins also cannot contact the minors involved in the case.

After the arrests, Chief Hogue said, “A lot of the information that (police) received from the victims in this case was that the victims reported some of that information to the school district and in many cases they discovered that there are records of that.”

Several students and parents said the school had known about the investigation for months, but Stearns was still allowed to teach. After the initial arrests, the school board held a meeting on November 13, and several people protested the board.

During Wednesday’s meeting, the school board admitted it knew Stearns was being investigated by police. Conformable KGW8the school board and school officials ignored allegations from students and parents over the years.

On Thursday, the school issued a statement confirming that class would be canceled on Thursday and Friday. On both days, students and parents protested in front of the school.

“If somebody reports this stuff, it’s made to feel like it’s not that big of a deal, like (they) just want it to go away,” said Brandon Hogan, a parent who is considering taking his children out of the district. KGW8.

“The school didn’t really do anything,” sophomore Lucy Durant told KGW8.

On Friday afternoon, the district announced that Wagner had been placed on paid administrative leave. The announcement confirmed that Ryan Scholl has stepped down from his role as Board Chair and Trinity Monahan will become Vice Chair.

On Friday night, the board held an additional virtual meeting and voted to place Superintendent Stockwell on paid administrative leave as well.

“We have heard the concerns that have been raised and are committed to transparency and working to foster a safe and supportive environment for all students,” district communications director Stacey Mendoza said in a statement to PEOPLE on Friday .

A representative of the St. Helens did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for more information Friday.

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If your or someone you know has been a victim of sexual abuse, text “STRENGTH” to the Crisis Text Line at 741-741 to be connected to a certified crisis counselor.