by Tom Chillemi –
Former Middlesex High School (MHS) teacher Benjamin Bagby, 53, of Locust Hill, was arrested on Sept. 13 and is facing a sex-related charge against a juvenile, reported Maj. M.E. Sampson of the Middlesex County Sheriff’s Office (MCSO).
According to authorities, the charge alleges that Bagby, while being 18 years of age or older, did with lascivious intent, knowingly and intentionally expose his sexual-genital parts to a child younger than the age of 15 who is not his spouse.
The arrest is the result of an investigation by the sheriff’s office school resource officer (SRO) at MHS, Maj. Sampson said. The officer met with the mother of the alleged victim on Aug. 29 at the MCSO after an inappropriate relationship had come to the mother’s attention by her reading her daughter’s cell phone text messages. The SRO deputy took the complaint from the mother and obtained permission from the mother to look at the cell phone. The SRO subsequently spoke with the juvenile victim in reference to the text messages. MCSO detectives assisted the SRO in obtaining texts and images from the juvenile’s cell phone. The case is still active and under investigation.
Bagby was hired this year as a long-term substitute teacher at MHS, said Middlesex County Public Schools Superintendent Tracy Seitz, who added that his last date of employment was Aug. 31. School started on Aug. 22.
Seitz explained this week that the alleged incident did not occur at the school or during school hours.
Bagby was a substitute teacher for just eight school days and he resigned nearly two weeks before he was arrested, said Seitz, who added the school division received notification that Bagby’s had been charged only after he was arrested.
At press time, Bagby remains behind bars without bond at the Middle Peninsula Regional Security Center in Saluda.
