School failed to stop band teacher accused of groping students, Missouri lawsuit says
A Missouri school district failed to stop a band teacher accused of groping students while fitting them for marching uniforms — even though administrators knew of the “inappropriate touching,” a lawsuit filed this week says.
Ryan Blocker, the former band director at New Madrid County R-1 School District, was charged in 2018 with five felony counts of sexual contact with a student and felony contact with a student by a teacher, according to court records.
He pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Blocker was accused of touching the genital area of teenage girls while fitting them for the uniforms, sometimes pulling them back when they stepped away, the Daily Journal reported. Another student told investigators that Blocker threw chalkboard erasers at her butt and wiped off the dust with his hand about once a week, the newspaper reported.
Superintendent Sam Duncan told police the school district had previously reprimanded Blocker over allegations of inappropriate touching and contacting female students on social media, KFVS reported.
The superintendent’s statements to investigators are a central part of the lawsuit filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court.
Duncan did not return an email from McClatchy News seeking comment.
According to the lawsuit, Duncan knew Blocker touched the students while fitting them for uniforms and “expressed doubt” to investigators in the teacher’s excuse it was necessary for competitions to have proper fit. The lawsuit emphasizes the superintendent told investigators that Blocker was “counseled and reprimanded.”
The lawsuit also says a 13-year-old girl and her parents complained to a principal about Blocker throwing erasers at her butt and wiping off the chalk dust. The student also accused Blocker of instructing her to climb a ladder for an item and lifting her off by her waist, according to the lawsuit.
The principal told the student the inappropriate touching would stop, according to the lawsuit.
“It did not,” the lawsuit says.
The next school year, Blocker was accused of grabbing the genital area of the girl while fitting her band uniform, the lawsuit says.
“The consequences imposed by (the school district)...for his prior conduct were clearly inadequate to deter further reprehensible behavior or to protect the students,” the lawsuit says. “(School officials) allowed defendant Blocker to remain band director and to continue to have unfettered access to female students, often alone and unsupervised.”
Blocker’s criminal cases are scheduled for a jury trial in November, court records show.
Five years ago, Blocker was featured by Yahoo News and celebrity cook Rachael Ray for his journey to losing over 350 pounds.
New Madrid County is in southeastern Missouri.