Charleston Substitute Arrest

Monday, 12 February 2018

On Thursday a 4th grade class at Jefferson Elementary School was interrupted as their substitute teacher , Adrian Rivas was asked to leave the classroom. Then, US Marshals assisted by the Charleston Police Department arrested Rivas on an arrest warrant issued January 19th out of Texas. Coles County State's Attorney Brian Bower says Rivas is accused of indecency with a child, an accusation that's both concerning and alarming to parents. This mother agreed to talk with us about the situation, as long as we concealed her identity. The parent said, "The kids didn't know what was going on and someone came in the class telling them he had to leave and couldn't say bye, so he was unaware that he had been arrested so from what I understand they did try to do that covertly away from the kids." The parent says she was shocked to find out her son was in the classroom at the time Rivas was asked to leave. "There was no email that day , there was no call that day. I just found out word of mouth my daughter, who heard via the grapevine." The parent says after receiving an email days later, she believes Charleston School District could of reacted quicker. The parent said, "As the minutes ticked on that evening I became more and more enraged as we were getting zero information from the school district and I thought something that serious should of warranted a robocall, an email, something from the administration. Anything from them you would of helped build some confidence that this is something they have under control." The parent says her daughter had Rivas as a substitute teacher at Charleston High School and felt suspicious after early interactions with him. The parent said, "She said he was a bit hands-on with the student. She mentioned feeling uncomfortable when he shook her hand like he didn't let go in an appropriate amount of time and it was uncomfortable." Charleston Schools Superintendent Todd Villardo says Rivas went through and passed an extensive background check that also included fingerprinting. He says this situation happened after that check and it was beyond their control." Rivas remains in the Coles County Jail on a 50-thousand dollar bond and is scheduled in Coles County court Thursday for an extradition hearing. If Rivas is able to post bond, he cannot have contact with anyone under the age of 18 , unless they're family or as a supervised visit. Rivas was a sub in the district since last October. News Watch will continue to follow this story.

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