After a Georgia teacher was arrested for child exploitation, parents of the students have raised their concerns about the lack of transparency the school had regarding the scandal.
Willie James Silas was arrested on May 5 in Florida before he was extradited and booked in the Mitchell County Jail. He was then charged with sexual exploitation of children, grooming of a minor for sexual offense and child molestation, according to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.
In April, the GBI’s Child Exploitation and Computer Crimes Unit received a request from the New Castle County Police Department in Delaware in regards to an Internet Crimes Against Children investigation. The initial investigation began when the NCCPD received information about a child victim in Delaware, and authorities later linked Silas, 34, to the crime.
In their announcement, the GBI said that Silas worked as a teacher at Mitchell County Middle School. Following his arrest, the school district released a statement that Silas was no longer allowed on the premises.
“The District is aware of the recent arrest of a former employee. Prior to the arrest, the District was contacted by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation and we have and will continue to cooperate fully with law enforcement. The individual is no longer on our campus,” the statement read, per WCTV.
Nearly one month after his arrest, parents at the school said they’re not happy with how the district informed parents about the situation.
A mother of a sixth-grade student told WALB that she and her husband actually learned about Silas’ arrest from their child and not the school.
“All I am going to say as a parent of a child that goes to school, we were not told about it at all,” the parent, who asked to remain anonymous, said. “She just came home and told me that this teacher got in trouble. All these kids were talking about it.”
The parent said that she eventually realized the charges involved child sexual exploitation, adding that her child did not fully understand the allegations.
“I had to explain to her what it meant,” she said. “I wasn’t able to prepare myself and my husband to sit down and have a conversation like we should have had instead of just a blunt conversation right away.”
After the parent made the complaint, the school district told WALB on Monday, June 1, that their communication decisions are guided by “the nature of the incident, whether there is any direct impact to student safety, guidance from law enforcement, legal requirements, and the need to preserve the integrity of any investigation.”
The district went on to say that the charges involved an alleged incident in another state, noting that no students within the Mitchell County school system were involved.
Despite the school’s explanation, the parent told the outlet that “it doesn’t matter if it was in a different state.” She continued, “We get notified about every little other thing… But that, to me, was extremely important, so we could talk to our children and explain to our children what it meant.”
It is not currently clear if Silas has entered a plea or retained legal counsel following his arrest. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation did not immediately respond to Us Weekly’s request for comment regarding an update in the case.
Parents, teachers, and guardians interested in learning more about protecting children from exploitation can find useful tools and information at Know2Protect.
