Undated photo of TRAILS Outdoor School in Ashland, Ore.
Jane Vaughan / JPR
The Ashland police decided not to press charges against a local school district employee investigated for sexual misconduct, citing inadequate evidence.
The employee worked at the outdoor school, known as TRAILS, and is on administrative leave. One hundred and forty-one students in grades K-5 attend TRAILS.
In February, Ashland police received an allegation of sexual misconduct against the employee and investigated it. But Ashland Police Chief Tighe O’Meara said on Wednesday there wasn’t enough evidence to substantiate the allegation.
“If we’re given something else to investigate, we will,” he said. “Nothing criminal has been presented to us that’s actionable.”
O’Meara said the department has also received multiple reports of this person “being accused of inappropriate behavior that are not criminal in nature.”
Meanwhile, Superintendent Samuel Bogdanove said the Ashland School District is continuing an HR process with the employee. Bogdanove said he can’t speculate about whether the employee will continue to work at the district.
This employee was also investigated by police for sexual assault against a minor in 2022. But at the time, the Jackson County District Attorney Beth Heckert declined to press charges.
Heckert was not available for comment on Wednesday.
The employee is also appealing to the Oregon Department of Human Services’ Office of Training, Investigations and Safety (OTIS) because that agency had previously ruled that the 2022 complaint was founded. That appeals process is ongoing.
After the first investigation in 2022, the employee continued to be employed at TRAILS; however, the Ashland School District was unaware of the investigation. That’s because OTIS failed to follow an established protocol requiring reporting to various agencies, which left the school without information.
The district does perform background checks before hiring employees.
Correction/Clarification: This story has been updated to correct the number of students attending TRAILS and to clarify which complaint was determined to be founded.
