The St. Helens Police Department is urging victims to come forward after two high school teachers were arrested on sex abuse charges.
Eric Stearns, 46, a current choir teacher at St. Helens High School, was arrested and charged with sexually abusing 6 female students.
The other teacher who was arrested is Mark Collins, 64, a recently-retired math teacher who is accused of abusing 3 female students in recent years.
Police said the district received complaints against the teachers since 2019, but failed to alert the authorities. The district also allowed Stearns to continue teaching during their two-month investigation, up until his arrest.
The victims include a 14-year-old girl who said Stearns hounded her in the classroom and during lunch, hugging her, kissing her, and saying he loved her. She said the school did nothing when her mother complained about his inappropriate behavior.
The school has been in turmoil in recent days, following the bombshell accusations against the teachers. All classes and activities were canceled on Thursday and Friday due to widespread protests.
Students and parents have been outraged that Stearns was allowed to remain in the classroom, even after police notified the district that he was under investigation for sexually abusing multiple students in mid-October.
It was only after a former student posted a TikTok video that police opened their investigation. When police subpoenaed the school in October 2024, they discovered multiple complaints from students who reported the teachers for inappropriate behavior.
The TikTok video was posted by a former student who accused the school of protecting predatory teachers. Other students commented on the video, saying that teachers were still abusing students.
The video was sent to the Oregon Safe tip line, which resulted in police contacting students who commented for more information.
This is not the only sex abuse scandal involving teachers at St. Helens High School. In March 2024, the district paid a $3.5 million sex abuse lawsuit settlement to a female student who accused the school of ignoring complaints about “predatory” behavior involving Kyle Wroblewski, a former teacher and track coach.
Detectives with the St. Helens Police Department are urging any other victims at the school to come forward with more information:
“Investigators are seeking additional information about Stearns and Collins and are concerned that there may be additional victims. If you have additional information, the St. Helens Police Department would like to hear from you. Please contact St. Helens Detectives Edwards and Smith by calling 503-397-1521.”
Source: St. Helens Detectives Make Two Arrests in Teacher Sex Abuse Investigation