Court records and a report indicate that a Pike County teacher has been charged with failing to report abuse of a student committed by another instructor. The incident comes at the same time that other teachers are under investigation.
Getty Images/iStockphoto
A Pike County Schools teacher has been charged with failure to report the child abuse of a student by another instructor, according to a media report from the Appalachian News-Express and court records.
Online court records show that Christopher Salyers, 41, was charged Tuesday in Pike District Court with failure to report child abuse.
On or about Nov. 4, 2022, Salyers was informed by a female student, an underage minor, that she was involved in a relationship with a male teacher at the same school, a criminal citation said. Salyers failed to report the relationship which subjected the minor to further abuse, said the court document.
The court document did not say specifically that Salyers was a teacher, but the Appalachian News-Express reported Friday that he was. A Kentucky State Police citation said that Salyers was located at a school in Belfrey when the incident happened.
The Pikeville Appalachian News-Express also reported Friday that Pike County Superintendent Reed Adkins said the school board was aware of the situation, but due to the investigation, no further details could be released.
Salyers was cited and will be arraigned in Pike District Court on Oct. 25, according to court records.
Adkins and Kentucky State Police officials at Pikeville did not immediately respond to a request for comment Sunday.
It was unclear whether the incident involving Salyers was connected to a Herald-Leader report in September that two teachers at Belfrey High School were under police investigation for having inappropriate communication with students.
Adkins said at the time that Nathan Coleman, a teacher who is also listed on a school roster as an assistant football coach, resigned one day after district officials turned allegations over to Kentucky State Police.
“Due to the nature of the allegations, several state agencies are involved in this matter,” a district statement said at the time.
Adkins previously told the Herald-Leader that in an unrelated matter, a second teacher whose name was not released has been suspended in connection with inappropriate communication with a student. Kentucky State Police are also investigating that situation.