A Fairfax County school band director has been arrested for seeking sex from a minor. Fairfax County police arrested Michael Cook, the band director and a music
teacher at Robinson Secondary School in Fairfax, for soliciting sex online from someone under the age of 15.
The 43-year-old Centreville man remains in police custody and is on administrative leave from the school, which starts classes Tuesday. Cook’s alleged victim was not a student at the school, police said.
He is being charged with one felony count of sexual solicitation of a minor using a computer.
Cook’s lawyer declined to comment.
Almost all of the parents contacted by The Washington Examiner Monday had not heard about the band director’s arrest. One parent said others were saying he was missing band practices because he was sick.
“Let me pick up my jaw off the floor,” said Dee Haas, a Robinson parent. “I am positively horrified. I am thrilled that he is not currently dealing with students. If it proves to be true, I hope he never again deals with students.”
Some who knew Cook personally seemed surprised.
“I was fairly stunned,” said one of the few parents who had heard about the arrest. Her son used to be in the band at the school, and she did not want to be named. “Personally I liked him every much. And he always gave us really good guidance. It’s very, very sad. He’s not a bad guy. He’s just allegedly done a bad thing.”
Cook helped lead Robinson’s extensive music program, including a 211-member marching band, 12 concert bands and four jazz bands. Cook received his master’s degree from George Mason University, is president-elect of the Virginia Band and Orchestra Directors Association and has led three student band tours to Europe, according to his school biography.
“I think it’s pretty crazy,” said Chris Caputo, a 2008 Robinson graduate. “He always seemed like a really nice guy, always good with the students.”
But Caputo said she had seen friends’ posts on Facebook that said they weren’t surprised about Cook’s arrest, which was first reported by WUSA Channel 9.
A Fairfax County Public Schools spokesman said they planned to send an email to parents about the incident Monday. The school has hired substitutes to fill Cook’s roles as teacher and band director.
Sexually predatory teachers have been a growing concern for Virginia schools. Last fall state officials released draft recommendations on sexual misconduct guidelines that urged local districts to ban teachers from interacting with students through texting, Facebook or online gaming sites.
More than 100 Virginia teachers’ licenses have been revoked for sexual misconduct with students since 2007, and at least a dozen local educators were arrested last school year, including four Prince William teachers charged with sex offenses in April and May. Prince William now has a committee to study how to quell the problem; other school districts, like Arlington, are considering banning teacher-student Facebook friendships.
Cook is scheduled to enter a plea at an Oct. 25 preliminary hearing.
Lisa Gartner contributed to this report.
