A gym teacher was indicted Monday on charges of molesting nearly 30 girls at Clearcreek Elementary School in Warren County, Ohio.
John Austin Hopkins, 25, was caught on school surveillance cameras in acts of “gross sexual imposition” more than 100 times. The collected tapes were all recorded between December 2018 and March 2019.
The acts caught on tape included putting his hands up the skirts and shirts of the first grade girls and making them straddle his lap. Warren County Prosecutor David Fornshell said, “We were able to identity 88 female, first-grade students who had some type of physical interaction with Mr. Hopkins.” He went on to say that “[Hopkins’] focus was definitely on little girls.”
Fornshell determined that Hopkins was likely “grooming” the children to be victims of pedophilia. He said, “They loved him as a teacher because of the amount of affection he was showing them. What these kids didn’t realize was this was completely inappropriate and criminal.”
Hopkins is being held while awaiting arraignment on 36 counts of inappropriate touching of 28 girls.
