May 10, 2008 - Anthony Shelton, 37, band director at George P. Butler Comprehensive High School, was arrested and charged with two counts of child molestation and three counts of sexual assault against persons in custody for sex with two teenage girls, ages 15 and 16.
Investigators say they have since uncovered allegations that Mr. Shelton made sexual advances to as many as six female students and that two girls had sexual intercourse with him in his school office. A third victim, 15 years old, stated that she went to sleep on the couch in Shelton's office and woke up to find Shelton fondling her breasts.
TIMELINE Allegations of inappropriate behavior with two students surfaced in February. Shelton resigned in March. In a May 2 wrdw news story on the investigation, Sexual Crimes Investigator Thelma Gilchrist told News 12 Friday, school police asked deputies with help with the investigation Thursday, May 1. [See the press conference with Superintendent Dana Bedden and May 3 news story and more below in TT FOUND.]
EMPLOYMENT Before starting at Butler High in August, Mr. Shelton was a volunteer assistant band leader at the Academy of Richmond County and Murphey Middle Charter School.
Former band director arrested, charged (WRDW May 9)
WRDW interviewed the mother and daughter. (May 9)
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TT FOUND
In an Augusta Chronicle story on the press conference (May 3) School Superintendent Dana Bedden said Mr. Shelton would have been fired if he had not resigned, saying Shelton violated several board policies, citing taking students out of class to see him, giving duplicate keys to the school to people not employed with the school system, questionable booster club spending and not doing background checks on volunteers.
TT - Which is odd considering that that ten paragraphs earlier in the same story, there was this:
Sgt. Troi Niehus, the school system's internal affairs investigator, said she discovered that on at least two occasions Mr. Shelton allowed students to sleep at the school overnight and that four volunteers assisting him had not been properly screened by school officials.Greatschools.net ranks Butler a 2
Two of the volunteers had felony convictions, including one with an outstanding warrant who had been sentenced to 10 years in prison for theft, burglary, false imprisonment and possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime.
Sgt. Niehus said the volunteers were involved with the band before Mr. Shelton became director.
(10 highest; with 1 being the worst.)
The tests don't seem that bad until you get to the end-of-course test results.
The EOCT is a standards-based assessment, which means it measures how well students are mastering specific skills defined by the state of Georgia.
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May 10 - This is how the Associated Press summarized the story.
INDICTED July 23 - The Richmond County grand jury indicted Anthony Shelton on six criminal counts Tuesday.
