Dayton teacher faces sex charges
Stivers drama, theater educator resigned in July, officials say.
A former Dayton Public Schools teacher was charged with seven felony sex-related counts after photos of a juvenile were discovered on his phone, officials at the Montgomery County Prosecutor’s Office said Thursday.
John S. Findley’s arrest Tuesday prompted the district to establish a crisis i ntervention team that was at Stivers School for the Arts on Thursday and will be available “as long as necessary,” the district said.
Findley, 34, was a career tech drama/theater teacher at Stivers for five years until his resignation July 9, according to his DPS personnel file.
Prosecutor’s spokesman Greg Flannagan said the juvenile in the photos was not a student at Stivers.
DPS officials said the district is cooperating with law enforcement, but they referred other questions to Dayton police. Dayton police declined to comment Thursday.
A very brief Dayton police report shows a call to Findley’s Westona Drive residence on April 15, with the case assigned to a detective on April 17.
Findley was indicted by the Montgomery County grand jury Aug. 29 on four counts of pandering obscenity involving a minor and three counts of pandering sexually oriented material involving a minor. Court records show that Findley entered a plea of not guilty this week, with bond set at $100,000. A scheduling conference is set for Sept. 20 in Montgomery County Common Pleas Court.
One of the four pandering obscenity counts says that Findley did “direct or produce an obscene performance that has a minor as its participants.” The three counts of pandering sexually oriented material involving a minor also include language saying Findley “created, directed or produced” the material.
According to the indictment, the creation of the sexually oriented material occurred between November 2015 and August 2016. The charges also accuse Findley of promoting the material for sale or dissemination on Aug. 8 or Aug. 9 of 2016.
Findley remained a teacher at Stivers for the 2016-17 school year, until he was placed on paid leave April 18. That’s one day after Dayton police assigned a detective to the case.
David Romick, president of the teachers union at Dayton Public Schools, said the discipline process had not gone very far when Findley resigned effective July 9. Romick declined further comment.
The personnel file that DPS released Thursday contained no disciplinary records and was missing the letter placing him on administrative leave. Asked about the omission, DPS provided the April 18 letter two hours later. It contains no detail about the reason for the move, other than mentioning an investigation.
The file does include the letter of resignation that Findley submitted, dated July 5, 2017. That letter cites problems with his professional license, not legal trouble.
“I was not able to complete the necessary requirements for my licensure and therefore will not be able to renew my professional licensure for the upcoming school year,” Findley wrote.
His state license was a four-year Alternative Resident Educator License that expired this summer. The resident educator program gives beginning teachers mentoring and professional development. When teachers complete the four-year program, they become eligible for a regular teaching license.
Findley’s 2015 evaluation under the state’s system gave him a “skilled” rating — the second-highest rating of four. A 2012-13 evaluation in DPS’ internal system gave him middling reviews. Evaluator Dorian Glover said in that 2013 evaluation that “Mr. Findley and his students demonstrated respect and genuine care for one another as individuals. Mr. Findley has established standards of conduct and attempts to respond to disruptive behavior.”
Findley’s resume shows that before starting at Stivers, he worked as a production technician for multiple audio-visual and event staging companies. Checks of local court records and the state’s educator database showed no previous criminal issues in his past.