5 days ago
Former VB teacher arrested for trespassing, child porn possession, had long history of violations, reprimands
VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (WAVY) — Joseph Molineaux, the former Virginia Beach City Public Schools P.E. teacher recently charged with trespassing on school grounds and possession of child porn, received at least seven reprimands during his time with the school division.
His violations ranged from sending inappropriate texts to a substitute teacher in November 2021 to violating the Individuals with Disabilities Act in April 2006. They also included using 'language/phrases that made [students] feel uncomfortable' in May 2022, according to documents obtained by 10 On Your Side through a Freedom of Information Act request.
Molineaux was with the school system from August 1999 until he retired in February 2023. In that time, he was repeatedly threatened with dismissal unless he cleaned up his act, according to the documents.
'I cannot overstate how unprofessional and disturbing I find this situation and the need to reprimand you again for your behavior toward students,' an administrator at Kempsville High School wrote to him, less than a year before his retirement.
'To be clear, for you to remain employed, there must not be any additional incidents of this nature,' the letter concludes. 'In the future, if you do engage in inappropriate conduct or violate any other laws or any of the School Division's policies, procedures, or regulations, you will be recommended for dismissal.'
That letter describes allegations made by his own pupils that Molineaux had repeatedly teased certain pairs of students who were friends, accusing them of being in a relationship.
'Where are your boyfriends,' the document recounts Molineaux asking a student. 'Do you need him to go into the bathroom with you,' he allegedly asked another.
In the month before he left Kempsville in January 2023, administrators met with Molineaux to discuss his job performance and 'safety concerns with the learning environment.'
'In addition, you noted that security was called after students observed 'horseplaying' did not respond to a verbal redirection,' the letter documenting the meeting notes, of one of Molineaux's classes. 'As you acknowledged, the behavior observed was due to a lack of instruction planning and use of appropriate behavior interventions.'
A letter dated Nov. 3, 2021 includes pieces of text conversations between Molineaux and a substitute covering his class the previous month. In them, he asked the woman if she was getting an operation to become a man.
The substitute teacher subsequently told administrators she couldn't continue to cover the class.
'I'm going to try to extend my absence based on your experiences,' he texted her, according to the document. 'I don't want to walk into a firestorm.'
In January 2021, Molineaux was disciplined for taking two flashlights from a security locker at Kempsville High. Two months later, he was reprimanded for failing to request a substitute teacher and properly report that he would be absent.
'[T]his left students without adult supervision for 26 minutes,' the letter referencing that incident reads.
In September 2011, Molineaux was admonished for his locker room talk while working at Green Run High School, after the parent of a student reported what he had said.
'Through students' statements and your own admission, it was established you did use profanity (mother f——s) and speak in an overly angry tone toward the students in the locker room,' the letter for that incident reads. 'You later apologized for your behavior.'
In January 2006, Landstown High administrators sent an email to Molineaux referencing 'conduct unbecoming of a School Division Employee.'
'I am formally reprimanding you for making an anonymous phone call to the Virginian Pilot on December, 16, 2005, at 5:10 p.m. in response to an article… titled 'Lessons learned at Landstown?'' it reads. 'The phone call included profanity, and statements that may be construed as threatening.'
An April 2006 letter describes Molineaux's repeated failure to meet with students who had IEPs (Individualized Educational Plans) and to complete the associated paperwork.
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