Employees Of Tennessee Schools Face Charges Of Statutory Rape, Violation Of Sex Offender Registry, Possession Of Guns/Drugs On Campus & More...

Employees Of Tennessee Schools Face Charges Of Statutory Rape, Violation Of Sex Offender Registry, Possession Of Guns/Drugs On Campus & More…

Image Credit: TN Sex Offender Registry, Grainger County Schools, SCSO, HCSO & Canva

Tennessee Conservative News Staff-

Students in Tennessee public schools face continued exposure to drugs, weapons, sexual exploitation, and more from adults working in the school systems.

Steven Blankin – Grainger County School

62-year-old Blankin, who works as a substitute teacher for the district and is a member of the Grainger County School Board, is out on bond after being arrested last month on charges of statutory rape. According to court records, a parent reported on February 19 that Blankin had allegedly been sexually involved with a 16-year-old girl. School officials reported this to the Grainger County Sheriff’s Office. The alleged relationship was said to have begun sometime in December. Blankin was arrested on February 27 but was later released on a $20,000 bond. He is scheduled to appear in court on March 10.

Kelsey Whitmore – Sherwood Middle School

Whitmore, a former teacher at Sherwood Middle School in Memphis was arrested for a second time last week – this time on charges of aggravated stalking. She was out on bond after being arrested in February for allegedly grooming a student and sending him sexually explicit photos. According to the student’s mother, the boy spent nights at Whitmore’s home, attended church with her, and received a number of gifts from her, including a cell phone and an iPad. After her initial release on bond, Whitmore was instructed to have no contact with the alleged victim. However, investigators say they discovered text messages sent after her release from another student’s cell phone, asking the victim if he would like to come and live with her once the case had been resolved. Whitmore’s attorney says the truth will come to light, showing that this was not a case of sexual exploitation but simply a teacher being concerned for the welfare of one of her students.

Chris Schroll – Cleveland Middle School

Schroll was recently arrested for violating the terms of his probation and the requirements of the sex offender registry. He was previously convicted of placing a camera in a girls’ locker room at Cleveland Middle School, where he was working as a teacher and soccer coach. More than 4 million images were recovered on an SD card linked to the device. He was sentenced to four years, with five months served behind bars while the remainder was to be served on probation. In February, Schroll was seen by police at a restaurant in Collegedale with three children, two of whom were not related to him. The restaurant is also 721 feet away from Ooltewah High School. Additionally, Schroll did not request approval to leave Bradley County, which is required in his probation agreement.

**Chris Schroll** *(TN Sex Offender Registry)*

Michael Moore – Chattanooga Charter School of Excellence

Moore was arrested last Wednesday following a brief pursuit by police after they received a tip that a man working as a crossing guard at the Chattanooga Charter School of Excellence had active warrants. According to an affidavit, Hamilton County Sheriff’s deputies attempted to stop Moore as he was leaving the school that morning. Police say he tossed a bag of drugs out of the window and then attempted to flee. After crashing his vehicle shortly after, Moore was arrested, and police found a loaded 9mm handgun, 16 rounds of ammunition, Percocet, marijuana, a grinder, and small packaging baggies. He also had over $3000 in cash on him. Moore was wanted on a 2013 charge of possession of a controlled substance. He was working as a crossing guard through the private company Global Protective Services, who claims they ran a background check on him prior to hiring him, and a misdemeanor charge was the only thing that showed up. The TBI told NewsChannel9 that some background checks only include adult charges, so if the charge was incurred as a minor, it would not have appeared on the background check. Moore is now facing charges of unlawful possession of a firearm, tampering with evidence, possession of drugs for resale, drug-free zone violations, two counts of possession of a controlled substance, possession of drug paraphernalia, felony evading arrest, felony reckless endangerment, reckless driving, failure to yield, driving on a revoked license, and speeding.