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Parents outraged after learning of staffer's behavior in St. Clair County school

St. Clair County parents upset over school employee's behavior
St. Clair County parents upset over school employee's behavior 01:48

KIMBALL, Mich. (CBS DETROIT) - "I don't know if I'll be sending my daughter to school in the morning," says Landmark Academy parent Elisa Moore.

Parents of the Landmark Academy in Kimball are feeling betrayed and outraged after what they say makes matters worse.

Landmark Academy hosted a parents' meeting at their middle and high school auditorium to address a concern parents say they feel left in the dark about.

A former part-time employee, 64-year-old Robert Kessler, was arrested and charged with multiple felonies like possession of child sexually abusive material, accosting children for immoral purposes, and distributing obscene matter to children while employed with the school.

Many parents told CBS News Detroit they were not notified of the incident until discussions on social media began heating up.

They said it was then that the school sent out a timeline of Kessler's hiring in October 2023. This included his criminal investigation, arrest, arraignment, and his official no-trespass letter issued which, according to the timeline seen in the video above, was on Feb. 29.

"How did he get here? What are you going to do about it? Are you going to have nobody could talk? There was nothing. Why would you even call us to a parent meeting if there was nothing to be discussed," said Christy Kasten, a mother of the school who says she feels like there were no answers whatsoever at the meeting.

CBS News Detroit has reached out to Landmark Academy Leadership, both before and after Tuesday's meeting, and has yet to receive a response.

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