VIRGINIA: Fauquier Teacher Accused of Encouraging Sexual Acts with Special Needs Student

Restoration News obtained shocking e-mails dated from Sept. 5, 2024, through April 1, 2025, detailing allegations of abuse of special education students by a Fauquier County, Virginia Public Schools teacher. These allegations, many of which were sexual in nature, went uninvestigated by social services and the whistleblower was let go by the school division.

A special education teacher's assistant reported alleged abuse of students by a staff member to the principal. The alleged abuse was not reported to child protective services, and it continued. When the teacher's assistant followed up on her complaints a few months later, she was put on administrative leave and was told her contract would not be renewed. The accused remains in the classroom, and it appears social services never opened an investigation.

The whistleblower made multiple reports in September 2024 to the principal about alleged teacher abuse of special education students with profound disabilities. The accused reportedly encouraged a student with special needs to masturbate, among other allegations. When the alleged abuse continued, more reports were made to the principal in March 2025.

These concerns about the alleged abusive teacher were reported to the principal via email on Sept. 24, 2024:

• Sleeps in class when she hasn't felt well on bean bag [with children in the room]
• Told multiple staff members including outside services her vagina bone was broken
• Student masturbating in class is encouraged by saying 'rub it, rub it' laughed and joked about with general education students present
• Talks about sex life, was looking up dildos during school time

The next day the principal replied that he reached out to members of central office, but the teacher was never removed. There was no indication of notification to child protective services.

On Sept. 30, 2024, the same whistleblower sent another email to the principal reporting this exchange during PE three days prior. The accused teacher reportedly told student 1, "Don't act like you don't do it when you are at home," in response to student 2 rubbing his privates. Student 1 walked away, saying, "Come on [student 2], don't do that." Then the accused teacher told student 2 to "rub it out."

On the same date, the whistleblower also reported that although two students had diarrhea, the nurse was never notified when students came to school sick.

Reportedly, general education students regularly hang out in the special education classroom and have social conversations with the accused teacher which include cursing in front of the special education students.

Even after these concerning reports were made, the accused teacher was still not removed. Another report to the principal on March 26, 2025 brought even more concerns about the same teacher:

• Inappropriate Conversations: There have been ongoing conversations of a concerning nature between [teachers] and some students, which include discussions about sexual acts and drinking alcohol.
• Bathroom Privacy: It has also been observed on more than one occasion that general education students have been allowed to enter the bathroom while another [special ed] student is using the toilet.
• Room Usage: there are instances of general education students being allowed to sleep in the room when they are not feeling well.

The principal reportedly acknowledged the concerns to the whistleblower, saying, "It hasn't gotten any better?" The superintendent and other leaders were also copied on the whistleblowers email chain, so it's clear everyone was aware of the accusations. It's unknown if they reported these concerns to the Virginia Department of Social Services (DSS).

There are also other witnesses that corroborate the allegations who have never been interviewed by DSS.

The most egregious part of this situation is the parents of these vulnerable children may not have been made aware of the accusations.

Lack of Investigation Fails Students

When the whistleblower did not receive contact from DSS, she reached out to them directly on April 2 to report the abuse since it appeared the school system had not done so. This is a text message the whistleblower sent to the DSS employee who admits the complaint was not investigated by DSS.

Credit: Restoration News

Restoration News reached out to the Fauquier Director of Social Services, Crystal Hale, to find out why an investigation into this matter was not conducted. We received no response.

A former teacher who worked in Fauquier schools for 19 years told Restoration News she was never given any instruction on how to report cases of child abuse and neglect. Nor did she ever see any signs or documents posted on the topic. The whistleblower said she was never trained on or provided information about how to report abuse. She took notes and tried to document the events so administrators would believe her, but ultimately, she was let go because she took photos to record the abuse.

Not only did Fauquier County schools punish the whistleblower—a potential violation of the law—but the school board policies on the topic are also a disaster.

Virginia law requires every school board to post a notice in each school regarding how school employees are to report suspected child abuse or neglect to DSS agencies. The notice shall also include language regarding legal protections for those who report abuse and the Virginia Department of Social Services' toll-free child abuse and neglect hotline. Those notices are reportedly not present in the school.

Conflicting Policies and No Training on Reporting Abuse

The Fauquier County School Board has three conflicting policies regarding reporting suspected child abuse or neglect. Policy 5-4.4 (B) instructs school personnel to report such cases to the principal or immediate supervisor which in turn must report to the superintendent, the Department of Social Services, and the school resource officer. The principal is also required to submit a written report to the superintendent which then shall be sent to social services. Furthermore, if the accused is an employee, they are to be placed on administrative leave until the investigation is completed. The policy also instructs, "The Director of Student Services and the Director of Human Resources shall conduct an independent investigation of charges alleging child abuse/neglect by persons employed by the School Board while conducting their official duties."

The whistleblower told Restoration News that the accused was not placed on leave when the accusations were made in September, and it appears the accused remains in the classroom today.

Policy 7-5.5 provides different instructions on how to report child abuse and neglect. It directs employees to report suspected abuse to the DSS or the person in charge of the school or department.

Yet another conflicting directive is Regulation 7-5.5(A) that instructs cases of abuse to be reported to the school principal who then shall report to DSS. Under this regulation, the principal is also supposed to notify the employee who made the initial report of the contact at DSS who was notified and forward any communications resulting from the report.

The whistleblower never received this information.

State law requires the school division to adopt an interagency agreement with DSS as protocol for investigating child abuse and neglect reports. Restoration News obtained a copy of this agreement. Here is what FCPS and DSS should be doing:

• FCPS will provide information to its personnel regarding the child abuse and neglect requirements and local procedures for reporting suspected incidences of child abuse and neglect. There is no indication this has been done.
• When reports of suspected child abuse or neglect are received from school staff by the contact person, the contact person will immediately transmit the report to the Fauquier DSS or to the State Hotline. There is no evidence this was done.
• If the initial report was made by a school employee, that individual shall receive a written communication from the local Department of Social Services informing him/her that the investigation has been completed and either the disposition was "unfounded" or that "appropriate action has been taken." This did not happen because an investigation was not opened.

Leadership of the Virginia Department of Social Services should investigate these incidents. The school board should also launch an investigation into whether proper notifications were made to DSS. If the school board was made aware of what happened and took no action, the voters should hold them accountable. The safety of vulnerable children is at risk.

(READ MORE: Virginia High School Students Push Back on Trans Student’s "Sexual Harassment" Claims)