Collier teacher reinstated after investigation into sexual allegations

A Golden Gate High School teacher will resume his teaching position after being escorted off the school’s campus in May for allegedly engaging in sexual activity with a student, according to Collier County Public Schools.

The decision to reinstate the teacher comes after a 21-day investigation by the school district, which found no evidence to prove a student’s statements that she had engaged in sexual activity with the teacher.

But according to Collier County Sheriff’s Office reports, at least one deputy thinks Golden Gate principal Tobin Walcott compromised the investigation.

After rumors of the intimate relationship surfaced May 12, Walcott immediately contacted the school district's human resources department to inform them of the allegations, according to the district's investigative report.

Walcott also informed the Sheriff’s Office, but not until after he had completed his initial investigation, Sheriff's Office records show. One officer who responded to the incident told Walcott his actions had “compromised the integrity of the investigation.”

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Crimes that take place on school property are supposed to be reported to the Sheriff's Office immediately, said school district spokeswoman Jennifer Kupiec.

When asked why this incident wasn’t immediately reported to the Sheriff’s Office, Kupiec said she wasn’t familiar with the specifics of the case but that it might not have been clear a crime had occurred.

In an email, district spokesman Greg Turchetta responded to a request for comment: “Based upon the information the principal received, he contacted the Department of Children and Families and the Collier County Sheriff’s Office who began their investigations.”

According to a report by a Collier Sheriff's Office youth relations deputy, Walcott questioned and obtained written statements from the girl and several other students who were aware of the rumors prior to informing law enforcement. Walcott also already had sent the teacher to the human resources department at school district headquarters before the Sheriff’s Office was informed.

But the school district’s investigative report differs. It states both Walcott and the deputy questioned the student, who told them that she had been involved in a sexual relationship with the teacher.

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The report written by the deputy and another detective, who also responded to the incident, states the student initially told the deputy and detective that she had made up the allegations and denied any inappropriate contact between herself and the teacher.

Three days later, on May 15, Walcott informed the deputy that the student had changed her version of the story and was speaking with the school’s human resources department, Sheriff's Office reports state.

The deputy then met with the student, who told her she had lied when she previously denied the relationship. The student, who was 18 and a senior at the time of questioning, said the relationship began in her sophomore year when she was 16.

The student told the deputy she began confiding in the teacher and that as their relationship grew, he began to touch her inappropriately.

In a sworn statement to the school district, the student stated:

“We were always in the classroom, after school, when no other students were around. I would sit on the desk and we would talk for a bit. He would touch me. I would not say anything; he would just touch me. He would rub my legs and caress my breasts, he would grab them and all of that. I would not say or do anything when he would grab me.”

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The student told the deputy she had sexual intercourse with the teacher twice during her junior year when she was 17. She said both instances occurred in a dark corner of his classroom.

The student said she and the teacher stopped talking after she told her friend what had happened and rumors began circulating. She said she previously had lied about the incident because the teacher told her to “’always deny’ it happened and instructed her ‘to take it to the grave.’”

The student, now 18, said she does not want to press charges against the teacher and signed a form indicating refusal to prosecute.

The Sheriff's Office said that because she does not want to cooperate with detectives, no charges have been filed and the case will remain closed.