Sex complaint isn’t 1st time this teacher’s been in trouble

WAYNESBORO, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) - A Burke County High School employee was arrested on suspicion of improper sexual conduct – and it’s not the first time he’s faced these types of allegations.

Student Services Coordinator Scott Hooker, 40, of Augusta, was arrested Wednesday, after deputies were alerted Tuesday to an allegation of sexual assault that had occurred at the school during school hours. He was arrested on suspicion of improper sexual contact by an employee (teacher), sexual battery and simple battery.

He was booked into the Burke County Detention Center, according to deputies, and posted bond Wednesday.

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But was also the subject of similar law enforcement complaints in 2017 when we worked at Evans High School, according to incident reports from the Columbia County Sheriff’s Office.

The first report was dated Feb. 14, 2017. A 16-year-old girl alleged Hooker “had inappropriately touched her” that day. According to the report, an investigator responded to the scene.

It’s unclear whether he was arrested or suspended, but we know he was still a teacher at Evans High in April of 2017, when authorities were called once again.

The mother of a 16-year-old girl at the school complained that Hooker had been intimidating her daughter.

After an incident dated Feb. 14, Hooker had been barred from contact with the girl or being near her, but he violated that rule, according to the incident report.

Because the girl’s name is redacted from the reports, we can’t be sure both incidents involve the same girl – but we do know the dates match up.

On April 12, 2017, he came to a group of people the girl was working with in the library and began to engage in conversation with them while constantly looking at her, according to the incident report. Then the next day, he stood next to her while she was in a hallway and also purposefully took walking paths that passed by her, all while staring at her, according to the report.

The girl said that due to the February incident, she felt intimated and scared of him.

By 2018, he’d moved on to Burke County High School, according to his LinkedIn profile, where he worked until he was put on administrative leave this week after he was arrested.

According to the Burke County School System, he’s entitled to due process before unpaid leave is imposed.

“The school district would never knowingly compromise the safety and well-being of students,” Superintendent Dr. Angela Williams said in a statement. “Once the complaint was filed, the employee was immediately placed on administrative leave pending investigation and is not currently working on campus. We have cooperated fully with the appropriate governmental agencies in connection with this investigation and will continue to do so. Any additional information will be released by law enforcement.”