The Kent School District removed a substitute teacher on Monday from any further availability to work after it received allegations of inappropriate behavior by the teacher.

District officials notified Kent Police on Monday after allegations were received, said Melissa Laramie, director of communications and public affairs, in an email Tuesday to the Kent Reporter.

“Since the legal investigation is open and ongoing, we will not comment on specifics of the incident or the investigation,” Laramie said in response to questions about when and where the alleged incidents occurred or any details about the teacher.

“As this is an active investigation we are not sharing details including names of schools of where the guest teacher taught,” Laramie said. “As this process unfolds, we will keep our stakeholders informed as we take steps to ensure students remain safe and teaching and learning in the classroom are disrupted as little as possible.”

Laramie said all allegations of misconduct received from students and staff are taken seriously.

“Situations such as this are never easy, all of us have strong emotions about how to respond, and our first concern is for the well-being of those impacted by this event,” she said. “Any student, family or staff member should always report inappropriate actions immediately to a trusted adult, a school official or to law enforcement.”

Kent Police issued the following statement Wednesday afternoon in response to questions from the Kent Reporter about the case:

“We are currently investigating the allegations of inappropriate behavior, by a Kent School District substitute teacher, which had been reported to us by district officials,” Assistant Chief Jarod Kasner said in an email. “We are in the early stages of the investigation so I have no updated information that I am able to provide at this time.”

Third case in three months

A 72-year-old former Kent School District substitute teacher faces a first-degree child molestation charge for allegedly having sexual contact with a 6-year-old girl on June 4 in a Emerald Park Elementary kindergarten class.

John Deveiteo, of Kent, worked as a substitute teacher at multiple schools in the district from February 2018 to June 2019, according to charging documents filed in King County Superior Court. The district removed Deveiteo from its substitute teacher list after the allegations.

Deveiteo has a court appearance set for Oct. 22 at the Maleng Regional Justice Center in Kent, according to the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office. A trial date could be set or attorneys could ask for more time to prepare the case.

A 60-year-old man, who worked as a contracted speech language pathologist/child psychologist in the Kent School District, faces a second-degree rape of a child charge for an alleged assault of a 13-year-old boy at a Aberdeen motel.

Robert Wayne Wright, of Mountlake Terrace, was charged in July in Grays Harbor County Superior Court, according to the Grays Harbor County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office. He was arrested July 12 by Hoquiam Police. Prosecutors did not yet return a message from the Kent Reporter for an update about Wright’s case.

Wright served as an agency employee in the Kent School District and had been hired on June 12 for the upcoming school year as a psychologist. The district fired Wright after his arrest.

Editor’s Note: This story was updated Thursday with a statement from the Kent Police.