Del Norte Unified School District officials sent this letter to Pine Grove Elementary School parents and posted it on Facebook on Wednesday. | Courtesy DNUSD

The Del Norte County Sheriff’s Office and local education officials are investigating allegations that a substitute teacher may have shown obscene material to a fourth-grade class last month.

The substitute is “in the wind” and has not been charged with a crime at this point, Sheriff Garrett Scott told the Wild Rivers Outpost on Friday. The sheriff’s office is working with the Del Norte County District Attorney to determine whether charges should be filed, Scott said.

“I have to be careful so I don’t scare anybody off from talking with us,” he said. “We’re looking at the possibility of some misdemeanor crimes.”

The substitute will not be allowed back into a Del Norte County Unified School District or County Office of Education classroom while both the sheriff’s office and school district conclude their investigations, said Tom Kissinger, DNUSD’s assistant superintendent of education services.

Kissinger released a letter Wednesday informing parents that the incident had taken place at Pine Grove Elementary School between March 15-21. In the letter, Kissinger said the district had became aware of the issues involving the sub last week and were informed of “more significant concerns” this week. Those concerns are also shared with staff and students, Kissinger wrote in his letter.

That letter was posted on Pine Grove’s Facebook page to provide parents with contact information if they had questions or wanted to speak with someone about the situation, Kissinger said. He said he also wanted to ensure parents that the substitute is not currently working at Pine Grove or any of the other schools.

“It was reported there was inappropriate behavior,” Kissinger told the Outpost. “I’m not at liberty to go into specifics because we’re still actively looking into what happened. We’re taking statements from staff and students and we’ve been in contact with local law enforcement as well.”

While the substitute teacher has not been charged, Scott said his deputies are investigating two alleged California Penal Code violations. One is California Penal Code 313.1, which involves distributing harmful matter to a minor. The other is California Penal Code 647.6, which makes it illegal to annoy or molest a child. According to Scott, “molest” in this context does not involve physical touch.

Since the crimes are misdemeanors, it would be up to the District Attorney to do an indictment, Scott told the Outpost. The sheriff said he expected to have further information next week.

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