KSLA - A man who was the head of Southfield School in Shreveport for several years has now been fired from a school in Delaware after allegedly being involved in child sexual exploitation. According to a news release from St. I write on behalf of the St. The charges involve child sexual exploitation using the internet. He is barred from campus and placed on administrative leave. We are sincerely grateful to the DOJ for completing their investigation very rapidly. We are cooperating fully with law enforcement.
Thankfully, there is no suggestion or evidence that a child of St. Given the broad scope of the investigation to date, we do not expect further investigation to give rise to additional concerns or anything involving our community. Smith is not charged with contacting a child, and investigators are not currently aware of any victims affiliated with the school or community; however, given the nature of his work and the fact that it brought him into regular contact with children, the State is seeking any information the public may have about this case.
This is devastating. It evokes grief, anxiety, fear, anger, and myriad other emotions. Nevertheless, we are in the process of developing a plan of action to meet the needs of all our students, parents, faculty, and staff. Helping families cope with this situation is the priority. Counseling is available at the school for students, and we are exploring solutions to increase that availability. It is our fundamental commitment as a school to ensure that child predatory behavior has no place at St.
We ran a background check, and we checked references. There were no red flags. But, the reality is that sex offender registries, criminal background checks, and reference checks are not guarantees that something unlawful will not occur. The Board, administration, faculty, and staff must make important decisions in the coming days, and will work diligently to appoint an interim Head of School, determine whether there should be age-appropriate messaging to students, and identify other ways to support the well-being of students and our community.
We anticipate that additional information will be shared as it becomes available. Any inquiries shall be directed to Harry Baetjer hbaetjer saintannesschool. Smith used to work as the head of Southfield School in Shreveport. According to his LinkedIn profile, he worked at the school from to His bio also says he started his position at St. Between those two jobs, his bio says he worked as the head of school at St. Officials with Southfield School released the following statement on Friday, Feb.
