2 St. Helens High School teachers face sex abuse charges
PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) -- After a two-month investigation, one current teacher and one former teacher at St. Helens High School were arrested Tuesday on sexual abuse charges, St. Helens police announced.
Eric Stearns, 46, the current teacher at St. Helens, was charged with seven counts of second-degree sexual abuse and one count of third-degree sexual abuse. Mark Collins, 64, who is a retired teacher, was charged with two counts of second-degree sexual abuse and one count of attempted second-degree sexual abuse.
Both men were lodged in the Columbia County Jail.
St. Helens police began investigating several allegations of sex abuse in September.
"After receiving reports of the alleged sexual abuse, St. Helens detectives immediately conducted interviews and obtained a subpoena for records related to the allegations. Former student victims were identified, and additional potential victims were also identified," police said.
Investigators believe there could be additional victims. Anyone with information is asked to contact police.