A Virginia middle school knowingly employed a convicted sex offender as a counselor for several months before firing him.
Fairfax County Public Schools fired Darren Thornton, a counselor at Glasgow Middle School, after he solicited a minor for prostitution.
The school district knew Thornton was arrested for sex crimes back in November 2020 and still kept him on as a counselor.
The school knew about Thornton’s sex crimes for two years and didn’t tell anybody!
According to reports, police notified superintendent of Fairfax County Public Schools Dr. Scott Brabrand in 2020 to inform him that Thornton had been arrested for trying to have sex with a minor.
Thornton was finally CONVICTED in March 2022 and Fairfax County Public School still kept him on as a counselor where he had access to young children.
It gets worse…
Thornton was arrested AGAIN in a sting operation in June of 2022 for soliciting a minor for prostitution.
Police were shocked to learn Thornton was still employed by FCPS after his second arrest in June 2022 and prior conviction.
A new superintendent took over in July and Thornton is no longer employed by FCPS.
WJLA reported:
7News learned more Friday about a convicted sex offender, whom until recently, was a counselor at Glasgow Middle School in Fairfax County.
Fairfax County Public Schools said 50-year-old Darren Thornton started working at Glasgow Middle in the fall of 2020. He remained employed as a counselor at the school until the superintendent says she recently learned he’d been convicted of a sex crime with a minor and fired him.
“I want to be very clear, there is nothing about this situation that is acceptable” FCPS Superintendent Dr. Michelle Reid told 7News on Friday.
FCPS said Thornton was already working at Glasgow Middle School at the time of his arrest and subsequent conviction.
7News has learned that arrest dates back to November 19, 2020, when Chesterfield County Police say they arrested Thornton for solicitation of prostitution from a minor.
The Chesterfield County Police Department says that according to their records, the then-superintendent of Fairfax County Public Schools was notified via email about Thornton’s arrest on November 20, 2020 — one day after the arrest took place.
But Thornton continued working as a counselor at Glasgow Middle School, even as he was then convicted in March of 2022 on the charge of solicitation of prostitution from a minor.
The incident is coming to light right now because Chesterfield County Police say they arrested Thornton a second time on June 9, 2022, for “solicitation of prostitution and frequenting a bawdy place.”
Read the full report by WJLA here.
NEW: Chesterfield Co. Police, who arrested Glasgow Middle School counselor Darren Thornton in 2020 for solicitation of prostitution from a minor, says records indicate the police dept notified @fcpsnews’ superintendent of the arrest via email on *Nov. 20, 2020*. pic.twitter.com/abLUJsYZVU
— Heather Graf (@Heather7News) August 19, 2022
