Substitute teacher charged with molesting student at Hall County high school

WSBTV.com News Staff
·2 min read
3

A former substitute teacher at a high school in Hall County is facing nearly a dozen charges related to molesting a student while he was employed at her school.

The Hall County Sheriff’s Office says 23-year-old Christopher Brennen Young met his victim while he was working at East Hall High School.

Authorities say their investigation began last month, but did not confirm when the abuse took place.

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Investigators say Young sexually assaulted the teenager, who deputies say was under 16, and took videos of the sexual acts on his phone.

Deputies say the alleged abuse did not occur on school property.

Channel 2′s Michael Seiden was outside the Hall County School District, where officials issued a statement Friday morning.

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They said saying Young passed a criminal-background check before he began working at East Hall High School, and that he only worked there for four months, from Jan. 31, 2022 to May 24, 2022. He also spent a few days at Mt. Vernon Elementary.

The district also confirmed that Young no longer works with the Hall County School District.

First and foremost, our hearts go out to the victim and the family. The district stands ready to provide necessary support.

The individual charged worked sporadically last year as a substitute teacher and no longer works in that capacity. All of our substitutes go through a criminal background check before working in our schools.

We are cooperating fully with law enforcement and all questions regarding the investigation should be directed to the Hall County Sheriff’s Department.

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Young is currently being held in the Hall County Jail on 11 charges, including:

  • Two counts of aggravated sexual battery

  • One count of aggravated sodomy

  • Two counts of child molestation

  • Six counts of violation of Computer Pornography and Child Exploitation Prevention Act of 1999

Seiden talked to a sophomore at the school who was in classes with Young.

“He’d come in the class and say ‘hey’ to all of us, but I didn’t really talk to him,” Curry said. “I stayed at my desk and stayed away.”

Curry said she and her classmates were disturbed by the serious allegations.

“It just made me feel weird, because everybody was around him, and it made me feel like I was unsafe at one point,” Curry said.

Investigators say that depending on the evidence found on Young’s electronic devices seized from his Gainesville home, he could face more charges.

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