Carl Duncan, a 32-year-old teacher, new to the Sweet Home School District this fall, was arrested Friday afternoon, charged with sexual crimes involving a minor and lodged at the Linn County Jail where he remained at press time.
Police Chief Robert Burford said Duncan was charged with two counts of sexual abuse of a child under age 16 and one count of lewd conduct. All three are felony charges.
Chief Burford said his office was contacted September 11 by the Owyhee (Idaho) County Sheriff’s Office, seeking to verify that Duncan was a local teacher.
“We were re contacted again on Friday and we were advised that a warrant had been issued for Mr. Duncan’s arrest,” Chief Burford said. “They requested we take him into custody as soon as possible.”
A meeting was arranged with Supt. Larry Horton and SHHS Principal Pat Stineff so that someone could be available to take over the classroom.
“Mr. Duncan was called to the classroom where he agreed to speak with Officer Pichardo,” Chief Burford said.
After that interview, Duncan was placed under arrest and was transported to the Linn County Jail. Bail was set at $100,000.
Chief Deputy Dick Freund of the Owyhee County Sheriff’s office told The New Era late Monday that the incident had been under investigation for about a week.
“He has not been arrested by us before,” Deputy Freund said.
Deputy Freund was hesitant to provide much information about the investigation, noting that due to the low number of students at Rimrock High School (Bruneau, Idaho), the victim could easily be identified.
Duncan reportedly taught for three years and has a Bachelor of Science Degree in secondary education from the University of Idaho to teach History, English and Health.
Owyhee county is extremely rural. Its county seat, Murphy, has a population of just 50 persons. The county is huge in terms of square miles, yet has a population base of 7,000.
Principal Stineff said that Duncan “seemed like a nice guy and was doing a good job for us in the classroom. The kids who had him in class liked him. It was definitely a surprise for both the students and the faculty.
A substitute teacher is being placed in Duncan’s freshman and junior English classes.
Husky head basketball coach Mark Risen has agreed to step into the assistant football coaching position.
Why didn’t routine background checks turn up any red flags about Duncan?
Background checks are conducted at the state level, and with no charges against an applicant, it would not show up in a background check, Supt. Larry Horton said.
“We’ve put a substitute teacher in,” Supt. Horton said. “We’ll be advertising that position. The kids seem to be doing fine today. There were a lot of rumors flying around Friday night.
“The police, I felt, Bob Burford and Sweet Home Police Department handled it very professionally. They handled it very low-key and tried to be sensitive to our kids and the staff.”
Counselors were made aware of the arrest, Supt. Horton said, but no students had approached them about it as of Monday.
“It’s still kind of an unsettling feeling for all of us,” Supt. Horton said. “We will deal with the issue, hire some new staff and get them in there. Hopefully, it will be the least disruptive to students that we can make it.”