A local school system’s board of trustees moved to terminate a recent hire who was arrested for allegedly sexually assaulting a child and coercing her to engage in prostitution.
Trustees for Red Oak ISD met on Monday and voted to suspend Gershon Caston — whom the district hired in May — without pay. They also agreed to advance his termination.
“First and foremost, our prayers go out to the victim and her family. I pray for her healing and that she is receiving the services she needs for recovery,” the board of trustees said in a statement, per CBS News Texas.
The district noted that it was also taking steps to ensure that Caston would not be able to work as an educator in Texas.
“[Red Oak ISD is] moving swiftly through due process to terminate his employment and file the appropriate actions against him with the Texas Education Agency (TEA) and State Board for Educator Certification (SBEC),” the board said.
As previously reported by The Dallas Express, four suspects — including Caston — were taken into custody by a joint task force of federal, state, and local law enforcement and charged with multiple crimes related to child sex trafficking.
He is currently being held in Dallas County Jail on a $450,000 bond. Authorities have charged him with aggravated sexual assault of a child, compelling prostitution of a person under the age of 18, and child sex trafficking, according to jail records.
The underage victim was allegedly taken to Caston’s residence and given drugs and alcohol. According to arrest warrant affidavits, Caston sexually assaulted her and coerced her into engaging in prostitution, WFAA reported.
In addition to 38-year-old Caston, Amber Gords, 30, Lamorris Hudspeth, 47, and Adarius Staples, 33, were arrested on trafficking-related charges, the Dallas Police Department stated on its blog.
North Texas has seen a number of educators and school employees arrested recently for misconduct or crimes involving minors. For its part, Dallas ISD saw three of its hires face criminal charges in the last year — two for maintaining improper relationships with students and another for punching one in the face, as previously reported by The Dallas Express.
Before being hired by Red Oak ISD, Caston worked as an educator at several other public school systems in the North Texas area, including DeSoto ISD, Dallas ISD, Duncanville ISD, Garland ISD, Irving ISD, and Lancaster ISD, according to WFAA.
Caston was set to start coaching and teaching at Red Oak ISD in August. However, the district acknowledged that he had contact with students prior to the beginning of the 2023-2024 school year.
“As an incoming coach, he was asked to assist with summer strength and conditioning camps and he did so without incident,” the district’s board of trustees said in its statement, per CBS News.
