Deceased South St. Paul teacher, spouse investigated for child sexual abuse
SOUTH ST. PAUL, Minn. (KMSP) - South St. Paul police are investigating a grade school teacher and his husband for what appears to be child sexual abuse.
The victim in the case just sixteen years old --- and knew the suspect as his former teacher and trusted mentor. But, the suspects in the case can't be questioned; they were found dead in another state last Thursday.
The victim says he knew one of the suspects since grade school -- and when the teen told his family he was gay.... That former teacher – 40-year-old Aric Babbitt - agreed to mentor the teen. But that trust was clearly destroyed when the victim says the abuse began.
Babbitt has been a teacher in the South St. Paul school district since 2002. He had most recently been teaching 4th grade at Lincoln Center Elementary School. Now, there are allegations that Babbitt and his husband, Matthew Deyo, sexually abused a 16-year-old boy who was a former student of Babbitt's.
The teen took his case to police. But -- one day after South St. Paul police executed a search warrant on the couple's home ---- the two were found dead on Lopez Island, north of Seattle, Wash. It was an apparent murder-suicide – with a note left behind.
All of this has been a lot to take in by neighbors in South St. Paul, who say the couple was very friendly.
“They would be in their backyard playing with their dogs or whatever; I'd be in the backyard grilling. You know I’d wave to them, say hi how you doing and sometimes we'd talk more from that, you know, and ask about each other's families,” Gerren Bond, one of Babbit and Deyo’s neighbors, said.
The search warrant shows the 16-year-old and his parents went to the police station to report the abuse earlier this month and also turned over nude photos the couple took of the teen. The alleged victim reports numerous occasions where Babbitt and Deyo gave him and a friend marijuana and alcohol to the point where they passed out, only to wake up with one or both of them having sex with them.
The South St. Paul school district put Babbitt on paid leave on Aug. 17, when they learned of the allegations. The district is also conducting its own investigation, while at the same time dealing with the grief.
“We welcomed new staff back, as well as veteran staff as well, and we brought in grief counselors to start that day yesterday, and spent the day here with us. We'll be doing the same as students return the day after Labor Day,” South St. Paul Public Schools superintendent Dave Webb said.
The application for the search warrant shows police were also looking for child pornography. Several computers, tablets and hard drives were confiscated, as well as a clock radio with a hidden camera that was taken from the bathroom of the home.
Despite the fact the couple is deceased, both police and the school district say their investigations into the child sexual abuse will continue.