[Updated 12:30 p.m.] A seventh-grade teacher who taught in Stafford County faces charges after authorities said he inappropriately touched a child.
Stafford County sheriff’s deputies arrested the suspect at his home in Spotsylvania County on Tuesday, December 7, said sheriff’s spokeswoman Sarah Maroney.
On October 14, a parent called the sheriff’s office to report their daughter had told them the teacher touched her when she was 12-years-old, in 2016, Maroney said. The suspect was a teacher at A.G Wright Middle School in Stafford County.
At the time of the incident, authorities said the victim was a student in the teacher’s class. The teacher no longer works for the school division, and parted ways with Stafford County Public Schools last year, said a schools spokeswoman.
When asked for how long the suspect worked for the government school division, the spokeswoman declined to comment, calling it a personnel matter.
Edward David Gent, 40, of Spotsylvania County, is charged with aggravated sexual battery and indecent liberties with a child. Authorities took Gent to the Rappahannock Regional Jail, where guards held him on a $5,000 secured bond.
Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly reported the suspect taught at Drew Middle School.
