Eric West, 5th grade teacher at Walt Disney Elementary School [Penn Harris Madison School Corporation], Mishawaka, Indiana, "accused of inappropriate communication with a child" ABC 57: Walt Disney Elementary teacher arrested by Special Victims Unit A fifth-grade teacher at Walt Disney Elementary was arrested at the school Friday morning by the Special Victims Unit of the St. Joseph County Prosecutor’s Office. According to a letter sent to parents by Penn Harris Madison Schools, teacher Eric West was arrested on a misdemeanor charge stemming from communication with a child. WSBT: PHM elementary teacher arrested Police have arrested a Penn-Harris-Madison school teacher. The St. Joseph County Sheriff’s Department has confirmed that 30-year-old Eric West was taken into custody for inappropriate communication with a child. WNDU: UPDATE: Police arrest PHM 5th grade teacher 30-year-old Eric West, a 5th grade teacher at Walt Disney Elementary was arrested on a misdemeanor charge ... The investigation into Eric West continues, and police aren't releasing any more information at this time. One officer says there may be further charges. Police say the minor in question was a former student. Tags:
News report for Monday Oct. 8: ABC 57: Teacher accused of sending sexually explicit messages to 12-year-old According to charging documents released to ABC 57, the mother of one of West’s former students came forward on October 2 saying she’d found inappropriate text messages from West on her daughter’s phone. The student, now in 7th grade, said West had started communicating with her on Facebook after she graduated from his class in 2011 and began texting her shortly afterward. West allegedly told the student to erase all messages from him, but her mother discovered some of them in July of 2012 and claimed she found 265 messages from West on her daughter’s phone.
News report for Tuesday, Oct. 9: WSBT: P-H-M teacher charged with sending inappropriate texts to 12-year-old A Walt Disney Elementary School fifth-grade teacher accused of sending sexually explicit texts to a 12-year-old student at the school has formally been charged, according to documents filed Monday.St. Joseph County prosecutors charged 30-year-old Eric West with inappropriate communication with a child, a Class A misdemeanor. The girl told investigators West has been contacting the girl with texts and Facebook messages since she completed fifth grade in his class in 2011, according to the affidavit. The girl is now in seventh grade.
South Bend Tribune: Teacher accused of 'sexting' fired (Oct 24 2012) The Penn-Harris-Madison elementary teacher charged with sending sexually explicit texts to a 12-year-old student has been fired, WSBT reported ... Investigators say they found text messages that West sent back in July to a former student. The student is now 12. According to court documents, West told that student to delete the messages. The child's parents reported there were 265 messages sent from West's cell phone.
