Robert Yaek, a science and math teacher at Armada Area Schools in Michigan, has resigned amid accusations that he had sex with a 13-year-old student in the closet at Armada Middle School.
Yaek, 25, faces charges that include three counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct, which carry possible life sentences, and one count of distributing sexually explicit matter to children, according to a news release from the Macomb County Prosecutor’s Office.
His arraignment for the crimes is scheduled for later this week.
The charges state that he “had a series of sexual encounters with the girl, a seventh-grader, between February and May,” adding that the encounters “allegedly took place in a closet next to his classroom and in a rented house in Armada.”
The accusations also state that he sent sexually explicit photos via text message to the seventh grader’s phone. Michael Musary, superintendent of the district, “received allegations about the situation but had no evidence and turned the information over to police.”
They did immediately remove Robert Yaek from the classroom, Musary said, “and he resigned two days later.”
“We were shocked obviously, very, very disappointed. There’s no room in society for these allegations,” Musary said in statements to the Detroit Free Press , while acknowledging Yaek is due his day in court. “The first minute we received these allegations and because these allegations were so serious, we acted swiftly and precisely to protect all of our students.”
According to Yaek’s teacher web page, which was down at the time of this post but was not when the Free Press wrote the initial report, “he is a 2011 Central Michigan University graduate who completed his student teaching — sixth-grade science and seventh-grade math — at Memphis Middle School, and he was in his third year teaching seventh- and eighth-grade math and science at Armada Middle School.”
Yaek also was an assistant football coach.
Macomb County Prosecutor Eric Smith vowed to “hold Yaek accountable.”
“Parents entrust their children to the care of teachers,” Smith said. “We place our children’s lives in their hands every day. This man’s actions are an outrageous breach of that sacred trust. He must account for that breach under the law.”
Unfortunately, this isn’t the first time we’ve told you about teachers having sex with their students, and given the desperate nature of the education system to find quality teachers, it probably won’t be the last.
Do you think Robert Yaek should face life in prison if the allegations that he had sex with a 13-year-old student are true? Share your thoughts in our comments section.
[Image via ClickOnDetroit.com, linked above]