A Lewisville ISD teacher was arrested by police Wednesday afternoon, charged with aggravated assault of a child and indecency with a child.
The man, Camey Elementary School teacher John Collet, was investigated by The Colony Police Department after a parent grew suspicious upon picking up her 10-year-old child from school last week.
Police responded to the family’s home and immediately launched an investigation.
Aggravated sexual assault of a child carries up to a life sentence in prison in Texas. In this case, because the child is under 14 years old, the penalty is up to 99 years in prison with no parole eligibility until at least half of the sentence has been served.
The charges and alleged abuse mark an apparent fall from grace for John Collet. Collet was awarded “Best Elementary School Teacher” by the Best of Denton County’s Student’s Choice Awards in 2022.
Parents and community members expressed their outrage over the incident online.
Shanna Dugan, a mother who lives in The Colony, claimed on Facebook that one of her children was in Collet’s class.
“He is one of my kids teacher. It’s so disturbing.”
LaCinda Michelle Watson, a mother from Plano, responded to the comment and expressed sympathy for the victim.
“It’s terrible. Poor kid, whoever it was. I hope they are able to move beyond this. What a disgusting man.”
The incident is part of a string of disturbing incidents involving public school staff in North Texas.
Just last week, a Mesquite ISD substitute teacher was fired for apparently conducting “fight clubs” with middle schoolers, and another teacher was fired this week in Dallas ISD for allegedly punching a student.
The incident also tracks with rising sexual assaults in Dallas.
According to the Dallas Police Department’s crime analytics dashboard, as of April 20, rape is up roughly 8% year to date in Dallas.