Johnson
A Rocky Mount High School teacher was charged this weekend with two counts of engaging in sexual activity with a student and two counts of taking indecent liberties with a student, police and judicial system records said.
Marquis Johnson, 28, of Wilson, was taken into custody after an arrest warrant was issued on Saturday, Nash County District Court records obtained Monday by the Telegram said.
The accusers are 17 years old, police Sgt. Jarrod Edmonds said Saturday in a news release.
The Nash County school district on Monday told the Telegram via email that on March 6 an incident was brought to the attention of the district and that Johnson is suspended with pay.
Johnson is accused in the arrest warrant of having taken indecent liberties with one male student and of having taken indecent liberties with another male student, the district court records said.
Indecent liberties can be defined as engaging in conduct that society would regard as improper or engaging in conduct that causes or tends to provoke sexual desire.
Johnson is accused in the arrest warrant of in one instance engaging in kissing and touching and in another instance of having performed a sexual act, the district court records said.
The records said the offenses occurred in September 2022.
The records also said Johnson was due on Monday for a first appearance before the district court.
In North Carolina, a person charged with a felony offense or felony offenses is entitled to have a first appearance, which usually is presided over by a district court judge. During that first appearance, the judge can review the charge or charges and the terms of release conditions, advise the person charged of his or her rights and set a probable cause hearing to find out whether the case should be transferred to superior court.
Johnson was being held under a $10,000, secured, bond in the county detention center, but he was released at 6 a.m. Saturday after he posted bond, Maj. Eddie Moore of the county sheriff’s office told the Telegram.
Magistrate Christopher McPhatter signed the conditions of Johnson’s release, the district court records said.
The police department is continuing to investigate and is working closely with the school and the District Attorney’s Office in the case, Edmonds said.
Edmonds said anyone with additional information is encouraged to contact the department at 252-972-1411.
Johnson had listed an address in the 1100 block of Elizabeth Road West in Wilson, the district court records said.
Nash County Schools told the Telegram that Johnson was hired on Aug. 23, 2021, and that he had been teaching culinary arts at Rocky Mount High.
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