HENRICO COUNTY, Va. (WTVR) - Anthony Crowder, an earth science teacher at Mills E. Godwin High, was arrested Tuesday afternoon.
A grand jury indicted the 40-year-old earlier in the day for two counts of aggravated sexual battery for a case dating back 27 years.
"You can bring felony cases from the mid-80s or even before that,” CBS 6 legal expert Todd Stone said. “There's no statute of limitations in Virginia, but as the case gets further from the date it happened, you have to have more evidence than a victim's word."
Stone explains that aggravated sexual battery is essentially inappropriate touching. The indictment against Crowder said the battery happened for a period of two years from the summer of 1986-88. And at the time the victim was younger than thirteen.
"When things are made public, victims who do not feel comfortable before may feel empowered to come out,” said Stone. “We will just have to wait and see if this happens.
Henrico Schools released a statement saying:
“Our understanding is that the matter involves neither school property nor our students. Until such time that more facts are known , we think it's best to decline further comment and let the legal process run its course."
A former Godwin student whose brother had Crowder as a teacher, said he was surprised at the arrest.
“I was like, oh wow, it's kind of hard to believe,” he said. “You know, you go to school and see these smiling teachers’ faces. It's deceiving, though. You don't really know who's teaching you."
These allegations are almost three decades old and did not occur on school property.
Mills E. Godwin High School opened in 1980, and has approximately 1,900 students attending classes.
