Gallia County school district aids indicted teacher probe

Gallia County Local Schools said Monday that it was cooperating with an investigation into a former high school wrestling coach and teacher who was indicted last week for rape of a minor and other sex crimes in what prosecutors said was over a decade of abuse.

Last Friday, Matthew Huck, 48, was indicted by special prosecutors in Gallia County on charges of raping a teenager who was a student attending River Valley High School, part of Gallia County Local Schools, during a nighttime event held at his house in August 2004, The Dispatch reported.

Huck, a former high school wrestling coach and teacher at River Valley High School, was also charged with felony charges of complicity to commit unlawful sexual conduct with a minor.

In a statement provided to The Dispatch on Monday, the district said that district leadership was “sickened by the conduct alleged in the indictment.”

“All children in our community have the right to be safe from predatory behavior,” the statement read. “Gallia County families entrust us with the responsibility of educating and protecting their children, and the safety and well-being of ours students is our highest priority.”

The statement also said that Huck had been placed on leave last year while he was investigated, but ultimately resigned all roles and is no longer an employee of the rural district of just over 2,000 students. The district said it was cooperating with authorities.

Last year, The Dispatch reported on a lawsuit against the district that alleged administrators at the high school knew Matthew and his wife, Michal Paige Huck, a former substitute and cheerleading advisor, had engaged in sexual conduct with several students, male and female, and did nothing about it for about 15 years.

@Colebehr_report Cbehrens@dispatch.com