Court records show Marietta teacher is charged with assault

(Court Reports – Photo Illustration/MetroCreativeConnection)

MARIETTA — Police records show the identity of the Marietta City Schools teacher facing charges and the nature of the charges have been released.

Christopher Joseph VanReeth, who Marietta Municipal Court records show is 36 and lives at 107 Meadow Lane in Marietta, is listed in a Marietta police affidavit in support of probable cause for issuing a citation as a teacher accused of assault.

Court records show VanReeth faces one count of first-degree misdemeanor assault.

He is listed on the district’s website as an intervention specialist at Marietta High School, and Ohio Department of Education records show he received a five-year professional license in July 2022 as a K-12 intervention specialist in the areas of instruction: “mild/moderate”.

Records also show he teaches 7-8 science and 7-8 math at Marietta High School.

Mention of the Marietta City Schools teacher facing charges first appeared in a Thursday post on the district’s Facebook page by interim Superintendent Alison Woods.

“We are aware of allegations against one of our employees and we take the situation very seriously,” he added. – she said in the post.

District officials refrained from making a public statement at the time of the allegations, out of respect for and in accordance with the law enforcement investigative process, and sent the teacher home, ordered him to have no contact with students and barred him from the school. According to the post, school property.

Marietta police received an email on Oct. 4 from Marietta High School interim principal Tim Fleming. According to the statement, it was originally a message from the mother of a high school student.

According to the affidavit, the mother stated in an email that her son returned home on October 4 and told her about the incident that occurred in third period with VanReeth.

The statement reads, the child said “During class, he looked down when Mr. VanReeth grabbed the hood of his sweatshirt and looked up from his desk.”

The statement also states that the mother stated that her child had red marks on her neck when she returned home, took photos of them and asked to meet with school authorities and police regarding the incident.

The statement shows that on October 4, the mother took the minor to the hospital and provided the police with medical records from the visit.

The officer investigating the incident said in a statement that after reviewing the medical records “(The minor) had a completed CT scan and the prognosis was acute neck muscle strain.”

The officer said in a statement that the email was forwarded to VanReeth and responded in an email to Marietta Assistant High School Principal Mary Yeater, then added VanReeth’s email to the case file.

The officer said in an email that VanReeth stated he went to each student to make sure they were completing their assignments, and when he reached the juvenile, he found him sleeping, which VanReeth said was normal in science and other classes.

“VanReeth advised him to start poking (the minor) to wake him up so he could go about his daily tasks and stay awake.” – wrote in the statement. “At this point, VanReeth nudged and elbowed (the juvenile’s) back and then began pulling on the back of his sweatshirt. After a minute or two of trying to wake (the minor), he finally woke up.”

The affidavit stated that VanReeth, after numerous conversations with the juvenile about sleeping in class, told him that if he did not start completing his assignment, he would have to work on it over lunch for several days, suggesting that the juvenile would spend lunch in detention at VanReeth’s.

VanReeth’s statement also states that they discussed how the juvenile’s behavior had caused him to fall so far behind in his studies and that he needed to take extra time to succeed.

“VanReeth stated that he spoke to (the minor) in a crude manner and believed that the conversation made him (the minor) somewhat embarrassed and upset.” – wrote in the statement. “At the end of the email, VanReeth states that although he is loud, talks quickly and has a large and intimidating figure, such behavior is uncharacteristic of me, my demeanor and my teaching style.”

According to the statement, VanReeth wrote in his email that he would be happy to speak with the minor’s parent and apologize to the minor if he made him feel unsafe, embarrassed and/or angry.

The complaint review officer stated that on October 8, he received a written statement from the juvenile in which the student stated that he was sitting in class with his head down and VanReeth approached him and “He pulled up the hood of his sweatshirt.”

According to the testimony, the minor testified “his head snapped back, causing neck pain” and the minor said yes “I felt uncomfortable and unsafe around Mr. VanReeth.”

The officer investigating the incident said in a statement that he spoke with VanReeth on Oct. 10 by phone “VanReeth advised him not to share any information with me, consistent with his union and his attorney.”

The officer indicated in the statement that the juvenile had no prior record of conduct in Marietta City Schools.

VanReeth has no completed or pending disciplinary cases, according to Ohio Department of Education records.

The case against VanReeth was filed Oct. 23 in Marietta Municipal Court, and an arraignment hearing was set for 9 a.m. Nov. 19, court records show.

Requests for comment from VanReeth were not returned by press time.

The school district did not comment on the incident or identify VanReeth as a teacher in connection with the allegations, and a request for VanReeth’s personnel records had not been fulfilled at press time, although Woods said the district was working on the request.

Michelle Dillon can be reached at [email protected]