Police allege Woodward teacher inappropriately touched female students for years

A teacher at Woodward Public Schools has been arrested after a monthslong investigation and charged with seven counts of lewd acts involving a child under 16.

Complaints from young female students against Benjamin Hall, a physical education and health teacher at Woodward Middle School, were brought to the school's attention as early as 2017, according to an arrest affidavit.

Hall, 47, began inappropriately touching female students — often using a meter stick to hit their buttocks, and occasionally with his hand — in his first year of teaching at the middle school in 2012, a Woodward police detective wrote in the affidavit.

"In addition ... Hall has made several comments of a sexual nature directed toward the young adolescent females," the detective wrote.

The victims of the lewd acts now range in age from 19 to 24, and were Hall's students between the years of 2012 to 2017, according to the affidavit. Supporting interviews, however, allege the inappropriate behavior continued as recently as 2022.

Prosecutors filed the felony charges — a conviction of lewd acts could lead to between three and 20 years in prison, according to state law — Thursday in Woodward County District Court. Hall was arrested by Woodward police Thursday afternoon, and was released from jail around 5 p.m. on a $100,000 bond, officials said. Hall has been placed on administrative leave by the school district, according to a statement from school Superintendent Rusty Puffinbarger.

"The safety of students, staff and families is always our highest priority, and WPS is fully cooperating with law enforcement," Puffinbarger said in the statement.

Hall and his wife, Sarah Hall, did not return calls seeking comment, and there was no attorney listed on online court records.

Complaints were made over the years regarding Woodward Middle School teacher

According to court records, complaints about Hall's behavior were brought to school officials' attention over the years. Woodward police Capt. Darren Navratil said the department had not been made aware of the complaints until recently.

Police opened the investigation into Hall after receiving online reports about his inappropriate touching on Aug. 25 and Aug. 28, sparked by the resignation of the district's newly hired baseball coach and assistant athletic director Mark Ward, Navratil said.

The Oklahoman reported in 1998 that Ward pleaded no contest to a reduced charge of sexual battery involving a 15-year-old student from Vici High School. He was accused of fondling the student at his home in 1994.

The earliest known complaint about Hall to school officials, according to the affidavit, was in 2017 when one student's parents complained to assistant middle school principal Chanda Peters. The family went to Peters because Hall's wife, Sarah Hall, is the head principal of the middle school, the affidavit said.

The student was enrolled in Hall's health class during her eighth-grade year in 2017 and said he would occasionally hit her buttocks with his meter stick when she was entering, exiting or walking by his classroom. In one of these instances, the student alleged Hall said, "I just wanted to see how well it would bounce back."

The student's family told police they never heard back from the school, though Peters told police that she and then principal Dianna Ball spoke with two additional students who said Hall "flirted" with that student and showed her "undue attention."

Two students also made complaints to Hall's wife, Sarah Hall, about Hall hitting them on the buttocks with his meter stick. The affidavit does not specify what year those complaints were made.

Then, in 2022, two complaints were brought to the athletic director from girls who played high school softball while Hall was coaching the team.

One softball player said Hall sat next to her in the dugout and put his hand on her upper thigh. Another said he cupped her breast while she was trying to hand him an armband he had asked for.

In a meeting, the affidavit said, Hall apologized but denied knowing he touched her breast.

Emma Porter, 22, attended Woodward Middle school in 2013 and 2014. She said she never had Hall in class, but it was common knowledge that he would use his meter stick to hit girls' buttocks or upper thighs as they walked by.

Porter said she, like others, went to the principal Sarah Hall about the behavior, but said she felt brushed off.

"Everybody was scared to say anything," she said. "I feel like it was a situation that if you said something, they already knew, and you already knew the answer."

Affidavit alleges history of inappropriate touching, comments

Other complaints reported in the affidavit include one physical education student who said Hall would hit her buttocks with his hand or meter stick as she ran laps around the gym.

"On one of the occasions ... she got angry and asked him why," the affidavit said. "Hall apologized to her and told her he meant to hit her on the back. (She) did not believe this because Hall always hit her on her buttocks."

The same student said she and other female students were made to stand in front of the gym class while stretching, facing away from Hall. The student said Hall would only pick girls to stand in front of him, and believed he picked them based on what they were wearing. Two other students reported the same actions from Hall's gym class.

"It made the girls uncomfortable to stretch with Hall directly behind them because they felt that he was staring at them," the affidavit said.

One day while stretching, the student said Hall walked around the room and touched her on her back as she was bent over. His hand then slid to her buttocks as he walked by her, and he told her she was "doing a good job," the affidavit said.

Other students complained that Hall would inappropriately compliment them on their leggings, or on their legs while wearing dresses. One student said she heard Hall complimenting girls on "filling out their pants" while wearing leggings.

Any other victims who have not spoken to law enforcement are encouraged to reach out, Navratil said. They can do so by calling the police department, going to the police station or filling out a police report on the city of Woodward's website.

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Woodward teacher facing charges after students allege years of abuse