Tarpon Springs police worried former math teacher might have more victims

PINELLAS COUNTY, Fla. (WFLA) — A former Tarpon Springs math teacher is facing several charges for having an inappropriate relationship with a teenager.

The Tarpon Springs Police Department is worried there could be more victims.

The PD said James Collins taught at least in Pinellas County and Pasco County, they are asking all parents to please talk to their students.

“We find this very hard to believe that this is only a one-time thing,” said Assistant Chief Frank Ruggiero.

According to investigators, Collins taught math at Tarpon Springs High School for the past year.

On July 18, they were made aware of a possible inappropriate relationship he was having with a teenage student

Ruggiero said this all came to light after a mother saw text messages on her child’s phone.

Collins is facing seven different charges:

• Computer Pornography, Prohibited Computer Usage. Traveling to Meet a
  Minor
• Interference with Child Custody
• Lewd and Lascivious Battery
• Lewd and Lascivious Molestation
• Offense Against Students by an Authority Figure
• Tampering with Physical Evidence
• Traveling to Meet a Minor

“From lewd and lascivious to traveling to meet minors to child pornography on his phone. Our investigators are still actively going through certain parts of forensic evidence that they’re still examining, so there’s probably going to be more charges forthcoming on this,” said the Assistant Chief.

Law enforcement’s fear is that there are more victims out there.

“Absolutely, and we put it out there to let every parent and student know, if you’ve ever had him as a teacher and he’s acted inappropriate, or done inappropriate conduct, or text messaging, or saying anything like that to your students that you know of, to please let us know,” Ruggiero said.

Being a parent is a tough job and Assistant Chief Frank Ruggiero said everyone needs to be talking with their children

“To where they can talk to you and feel comfortable and let you know, hey, my teacher did this today, they said this, they sent me this text message, or they wanted me to give them my phone number,” he said.

He said their School Resource Officers educate the students, but the adults committing these alleged acts are the ones to blame.

He said for any other possible victims, they need to know they are not at fault.

“It’s not your fault. Everybody, every victim of every crime comes across the same exact thing to where they feel like it’s their fault that they became a victim. It’s not these students’ faults,” he said.

They are asking any other potential victims to come forward.

The Pinellas County School District sent out a statement regarding Collins:

James Collins began his employment with Pinellas County Schools as a math teacher at Tarpon Springs High School in August 2023. Collins resigned from his teaching position with the school district this morning (7/19/24). Tarpon Springs Police notified the school district of this investigation late Friday night (7/18/24).

Statement:

The Pinellas County School District has zero tolerance for staff behavior that jeopardizes student safety or the integrity of our schools. Since this is an open investigation, please direct any questions about this case to the Tarpon Springs Police Department.

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