Local teacher arrested for sexual battery

AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) – It’s a tale we have been pursuing for two months.

A pattern of inappropriate habits and allegations of assault from 40-year-old Scott Hooker.

It was an emotional instant for Madison Cooksey and her family as she stood up in entrance of members of the board of training and sent an psychological plea for transform.

“With my practical experience with reporting and placing my have confidence in in the school board to advocate for me… I was failed. I hope that in the upcoming, any student or personnel reporting sexual harassment will be properly advocated for, taken significantly, and guarded,” reported Maddison Cooksey, target of alleged sexual assault.

It wasn’t quick for her to communicate in entrance of the board members. Not only since she was nervous, but mainly because she states they practically didn’t let her. She gained a phone the early morning of the assembly, which the college board says is protocol.

“Who told me I should chat about the subject of discussion because it was as well imprecise for their liking and needed to know what I was chatting about at the meeting. If it was some thing they could take care of internally and if it was a thing that genuinely needed to be place out to the board and spoken about publicly,” she said.

When Cooksey went to the conference, she suggests they explained to her she could not talk for the reason that she didn’t demonstrate up on time in accordance to their coverage, even nevertheless she claims she was waiting out in the hallway in advance of the deadline.

“I hope I obtained as a result of to them or some people in the assembly,” reported Cooksey.

She broke down, saying practically nothing was performed after numerous incidents.

“At what stage does it acquire for the disciplinary actions to be place in area. The educator had many possibilities to victimize feminine college students he was about. There are so many queries that need to be answered as to why this is nonetheless happening,” she reported.

In Hooker’s staff file we requested, the Evans Substantial principal and Columbia County superintendent both equally say if one thing like this occurs all over again, he could be fired.

Two months later on, deputies ended up referred to as to Evans significant following incident studies say Cooksey advised deputies Hooker would typically cross paths with her and stand up coming to her when staring at her. Hooker continued to train at Evans right before handing in his resignation at the conclusion of the school yr.

“Five many years afterwards, he did it yet again. This could’ve very easily been prevented if any individual experienced listened to me,” she reported.

We questioned Columbia County about Hooker’s sample of concerns involving woman students. In an email response, they say the district did not admit a pattern even however letters in his personnel file present the superintendent was worried about his earlier interactions with feminine college students.

Whole Response:

“In this scenario, the Columbia County School District, like administration at Evans Substantial School, took every single action expected in reaction to these allegations of sexual harassment, to consist of straight away getting in contact with law enforcement. At the time, the investigation yielded no charges currently being introduced versus the teacher, who resigned at the stop of the college 12 months. He has not been used with the Columbia County School District given that 2017.

The college district can take allegations of this nature incredibly severely. The district has a sturdy plan prohibiting sexual harassment in any capacity, which is pasted down below for your reference. As with any district coverage, we welcome feed-back from our stakeholders. If any member of the community have worries about a coverage, we would be happy to meet up with to deal with those worries.

Relating to general public participation, it is popular exercise for this business office to access out to those people signed up to talk, to make sure they have an understanding of the policies for addressing the Board. This features ensuring members know when and exactly where to go, that they ought to signal in just before the conference starts, amid other people. This is a steady exercise and is under no circumstances an exertion to prohibit community participation, only to ensure individuals have all of the appropriate information and facts they have to have to proficiently tackle the Board with their issues. At no time were being any public individuals discouraged from talking to the Board.

About Mr. Hooker’s military services assistance, you are welcome to retrieve any even more information and facts from the Office of Protection.”

“I just never realize when one thing is in producing, and you are wanting at it, and you’re telling me it is not accurate when it’s right in front of your face. I just really do not see how you can do that,” explained Cooksey.

Columbia County: Plan GAEB: Prohibition of Sexual Harassment

It is the policy of the Columbia County Board of Education to prohibit any act of sexual harassment of employees, college students, mother and father, and consumers by workers at all occasions and for the duration of all instances though at school, in the workplace, or at any school function or action. Any such act shall end result in prompt and acceptable willpower, including the achievable termination of employment.

Sexual harassment might involve conduct or speech which involves unwelcome sexual improvements, requests for sexual favors, taunts, threats, responses of a vulgar or demeaning character, calls for, or bodily contact which results in a hostile environment. There could be other speech or carry out which staff experience as inappropriate or illegal harassment which must also be reported harassment can take numerous forms and it is not doable to itemize just about every aspect of the harassment forbidden by this coverage.

Any worker or applicant for employment who thinks he or she has been subjected to sexual harassment as prohibited by this coverage ought to promptly report the exact to the principal of his or her faculty or department who will put into practice the board’s grievances methods as necessary. Workforce will not be subjected to retaliation for reporting this sort of harassment or discrimination.

It is the obligation of all staff members to promptly report sexual harassment forbidden by this coverage. All supervisors will instruct his or her subordinates as to the material of this coverage and, as a result of ideal specialist learning activities, enlighten employees as to the assorted forms of expression of prohibited harassment. The principals and supervisors of all colleges and departments shall assure that staff are informed by means of handbooks, schooling resources, and verbally that these kinds of harassment is strictly forbidden, how it is to be claimed, and the effects for violating this plan.

In the meantime, a parent in Burke County — in which Hooker is accused of groping a student in an incident that led to his arrest — has stepped forward with new promises.

The mum or dad reached out to deputies on Friday right after discovering about the latest scenario, in accordance to the Burke County Sheriff’s Business office.

She said her daughter was a college student of Hooker’s in the 2021-22 faculty calendar year and experienced explained to her Hooker built her unpleasant on a number of instances, according to an incident report from the company.

The mother advised deputies she requested that the university assign her daughter a new instructor but was denied. The mother claimed Hooker was adamant in remaining solely accountable for her daughter’s tutoring, like “one on one” tutoring at the library, according to deputies.

The mom “stated she thinks additional is likely on than what her daughter is telling her” and asked for that a report be submitted to get started the method for an investigation, according to the incident report.