Counselor Arrested Twice For Trying To Have Sex With Child Prostitute Finally Fired

A Virginia school district announced the firing of a counselor who was convicted of solicitation of prostitution from a minor outside of the school district, according to a letter from the superintendent obtained by the Daily Caller News Foundation.

Superintendent of Fairfax County Public School District Dr. Michelle Reid sent a letter to the district on Thursday confirming the firing of a counselor from Glasgow Middle School in Lincolnia, Virginia. Counselor Darren Thornton was arrested once in 2020 and another time in June 2022 for solicitation of prostitution from a minor, both which the school knew about, the Chesterfield County Police Department told the DCNF.

Thornton was arrested in November 2020 for solicitation of prostitution from a minor by the Chesterfield County Police of Chesterfield County, Virginia. The police department reported the arrest to the superintendent of Fairfax County Public Schools; Reid was not the superintendent of the school district at the time.

Thornton was arrested by the police department again for the same crime in June 2022, the police department told the DCNF. They reported the arrest to the school, the police department told the DCNF.

“Our records indicate the superintendent of Fairfax County Public Schools was notified of Mr. Thornton’s Nov. 19, 2020, arrest via email on Nov. 20, 2020. So, FCPS was notified about the arrest via email the day after the arrest,” Elizabeth Caroon, the media and messaging manager for Chesterfield County Police Department, told the DCNF. “FCPS was notified again when Mr. Thornton was arrested again on June 9, 2022.”

Thornton was added to the National Sex Offender registry on June 21, 2022. Reid says she was only recently notified of Thornton’s actions and has launched an investigation.

The school district is petitioning to get Thornton’s teaching license revoked, according to the letter.

“In operationalizing this expectation, I have initiated a comprehensive, independent investigation by outside counsel into the circumstances surrounding this situation,” Reid said. “This is being carried out by an independent third party who has complete visibility into all internal processes. While I am not able to speak to the specifics of the investigation at this time, I can confirm that it covers both internal and external processes.”

The Fairfax County Public Schools did not immediately respond to the DCNF’s request for comment. Thornton could not immediately be reached for comment.