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The Today File

Your guide to the latest news from around the Northwest

June 1, 2012 at 10:45 PM

Tacoma band director resigns amid student sex allegations

The band director at Stadium High School in Tacoma has resigned and will surrender his teaching certificate after school officials concluded there was ”sufficient reliable information” to find that he had sex with a female student during the 2009-10 school year, according to the Tacoma News Tribune.

David J. Mulkins, 36, was placed on paid leave March 23 after the allegations surfaced. He has been the school’s band director for 10 years. His resignation was announced in a letter the school sent to parents on Tuesday.

It’s a crime in Washington for a teacher to have sex with a student regardless of age. The student in question was a senior at the time. Prosecutors have not decided whether to file criminal charges.

Mulkins’ resignation, effective May 24, was in lieu of termination, the paper reported.

A friend of the girl told Stadium’s principal about the alleged relationship.  In text messages obtained by the TNT, “the girl says she was confused and sometimes afraid during the course of the relationship, which continued after she graduated. She says she didn’t report it for fear of public humiliation,” the paper reported.

Comments | More in The Blotter | Topics: band director, sex, stadium high school

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