- Courtesy of Gregory J. Lamoureux/County Courier
- Matthew Toof coaching basketball at BFA St. Albans in February 2020
Georgia Elementary & Middle School teacher Matthew Toof has been charged with sexual assault, stemming from allegations that he repeatedly raped and molested a former student over the course of more than five years, starting when she was 11 years old.
Toof, who is listed as a middle school literacy teacher
on the school's website, is facing two charges — repeated aggravated sexual assault of a child, and lewd and lascivious conduct with a child. After being arraigned on Thursday, he was being held without bail at Northwestern Correctional Center.
A criminal affidavit from the Franklin County Sheriff's Office details accusations of repeated abuse, which allegedly began in Toof's sixth-grade classroom in April 2016. Later that spring, teachers in the school became suspicious about the relationship between Toof and the girl after witnesses spotted them spending time together, holding hands and embracing.
Another student saw Toof touch the girl's bottom and told his mother, a teacher at the school, who reported the incident to a guidance counselor. Other students and staff members also reported concerns, and the guidance counselor contacted the Department for Children & Families in June 2016.
But the agency said it didn't follow up on the report because the concerns did not meet the criteria for sexual abuse. That same month, Toof stuck his hands down the girl's pants in his classroom, she told police.
On November 18, 2016 — just five months later — a social studies and language arts teacher at the school filed another report with DCF. She reported hearing the school administration expressing concern about Toof's behavior toward the student, who was no longer in his class.
Staff had been advised "to keep an eye" on the girl and not allow her to visit Toof's classroom because there had been "a previous incident of concern about his behavior with this child," court documents say. Earlier that month, Toof had been observed holding hands and hugging the student, the teacher reported. Again, DCF declined to investigate further.
DCF did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment from
Seven Days.
find, follow, fan us: