A Fox Middle School teacher has been charged after allegedly sending inappropriate text messages and having sexual contact with a student, who is younger than 14, according to court documents.
Zachery Robert Leonard, 42, of St. Louis was charged today, May 14, with two counts of felony third-degree child molestation, two counts of felony sexual contact with a student and felony enticement or attempted enticement of a child, court documents said.
In a message sent today by Fox C-6 School District to families, Superintendent Paul Fregeau and Fox Middle Principal Marilyn Jackson said, “The Arnold Police Department has notified district administrators of allegations of misconduct involving a staff member. The district is fully cooperating with this investigation, and the staff member in question has been placed on administrative leave.”
The Arnold Police announced in a Facebook post that Leonard was initially arrested on May 6, and investigators sought charges on May 11. The post said Leonard was arrested again today after charges were filed, and he was being held without bond at the Arnold Police Department jail.
According to the case’s probable-cause statement, Leonard, who is a special education teacher at Fox Middle in Arnold, sent hundreds of sexually explicit text messages to the student between April 4 and May 6.
A man, who is not identified, found the text message’s on the student’s phone on May 6 and contacted the police, the report said.
In the Facebook post, Arnold Police said detectives and school resource officers began an immediate investigation after the incident was reported.
The student told investigators that Leonard touched her in a sexual manner while they were alone in a classroom on April 28 and April 30. The probable cause statement said CCTV images from Fox Middle School showed that Leonard and the student were alone in his classroom for 48 minutes on April 28 and 66 minutes on April 30.
Investigators obtained a search warrant to search Leonard’s phone, discovering the explicit messages. Police also found deleted messages on the student’s phone that matched the messages from Leonard’s phone, according to the report.
On May 6, Leonard was seen in a recorded interview room calling his father, and he allegedly admitted during to call to sending the text messages. He also was heard saying his life was over, according to the report.
“We would like to thank the Fox-C6 School District for their cooperation and assistance with this investigation,” Arnold Police wrote in a Facebook post. “We would also like to thank the Jefferson County Prosecuting Attorney's Office for moving quickly to file charges in this case.
“Our priority is the safety and protection of children in our community. The actions alleged in this case represent a serious breach of trust and we will continue to work closely with prosecutors to ensure accountability.”
The Fox C-6 message to families said, “The district will continue to cooperate with law enforcement in the investigation and will file appropriate reports with the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education once the investigation is complete.
“We recognize and appreciate that our parents may have unanswered questions. Since this is a personnel matter and an ongoing investigation, we are limited in the details we can share about this situation.”