Wilkinson Schools Superintendent: Two Teachers Charged with Child Molestation is an ‘Isolated Incident’

IRWINTON, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT) – The Wilkinson County schools superintendent is speaking out about the two teachers accused of sexually assaulting and molesting a female student.

Superintendent Dr. Aaron Geter says in his four years, he has never seen incidents like this. Over the last month, two Wilkinson County high school teachers have allegedly been in an inappropriate relationship with a 10th grader.

Wednesday was a normal day for students at Wilkinson County High School, but two teachers won’t return to their classrooms. On Monday, 29-year-old math teacher Cornelius Dante Jones (pictured right) was arrested and charged with child molestation, sexual assault, aggravated child molestation, and aggravated sodomy. On Tuesday, 43-year-old ROTC instructor Sgt. Rodney Hunter (pictured left) was arrested and charged with child molestation.

“There are things, when it comes down to safety of kids, we look into whether [its] rumor or gossip,” Geter said.

Geter tells 41 NBC an administrator reported the incident to the school district on Friday. The sheriff’s office stepped in to investigate the allegations.

“We went back and reviewed security footage from the classroom,” Sheriff Richard Chatman said. “There’s a lot of inappropriate teacher contact with the student.”

Chatman says cameras caught Jones and the 15-year-old student hugging, kissing, and performing sexual acts. Hunter admitted to investigators he kissed the girl. Both men are behind bars and a judge denied them bond.

“When you send your kids to school you expect them to be in the care of people who are not going to let anything happen,” Chatman said.

Geter believes this was an isolated incident. The school district wants parents to know their kids are safe and its doing everything it can to resolve this issue.

“People make bad decisions, whether professional or personal, and when that happens we have to deal with it and try to get back to normal as quickly as possible,” Geter said.

Chatman doesn’t believe there are more teachers and students involved, but the investigation is ongoing.

Both teachers turned in their resignation to the school district and they are being held in the Wilkinson County jail.