Detroit high school teacher charged after reportedly agreeing to pay minor for sex

Ohio police have charged a Detroit schoolteacher with a felony after arresting him at a downtown Toledo parking lot for trying to arrange sex with a minor. 

“Court documents show that on Nov. 6, (the teacher) told an undercover agent posing as a minor that he wanted to pay her $60 for oral sex,” the Detroit News reported Nov. 11. 

The Detroit Public Schools Community District (DPSCD) released a statement saying a teacher from Mumford High School had been placed on leave after it was notified of “an alleged sexual solicitation of a minor.” 

“The teacher has been placed on administrative leave pending the outcome of an internal investigation and any criminal proceedings and is not permitted to be on DPSCD property,” the statement read. 

“We are unaware of any other alleged victims associated with the school but will conduct an investigation to ensure that is the case. School families and staff have been informed.” 

The Toledo Municipal Court’s online records identified the defendant as Jacob V. Suder, 31, of Maumee, Ohio. A preliminary hearing was originally set for Thursday but was moved to Nov. 19 at the defendant’s request, according to the court. 

“In Ohio, third-degree felonies generally are punishable by up to three years in prison,” the Detroit News noted. 

Sexual abuse, misconduct in schools 

As previously reported by The Lion, an estimated 95% of educator sexual misconduct cases are never reported to law enforcement but are handled by schools and districts in-house. 

“Every school district that is receiving funding from the Every Student Succeeds Act is mandated to enact policy, regulation or legislation that prohibits all forms of concealment, and yet there are only about a dozen states that are complying with that mandate,” said Terri Miller, president of the organization S.E.S.A.M.E. 

Miller also emphasized the lack of current statistics regarding sexual offenses by educators. 

“We’ve been collecting Google alerts since 2014 on teacher arrests, just for sexual misconduct type of offenses. … The numbers of arrests are just a fraction of the problem. But there have been thousands just since 2014.” 

An estimated 10% of all public-school students were targeted sexually by educators more than two decades ago, according to a U.S. Department of Education 2004 report. 

Texas passed two bills this year targeting sex abuse by teachers and school staffers – closing reporting loopholes and eliminating legal immunity for districts after such incidents. 

“This is a significant step forward in holding public school districts accountable,” said Christin Bentley, chair of a Texas GOP subcommittee called “Stop Sexualizing Texas Kids.” 

“This isn’t just about Texas. It’s about making sure every child in every state is safe – and that no school can hide behind the law when it fails to protect them.”