Grantsville High teacher arrested after alleged sexual abuse of student
Jan 14, 2022, 7:33 AM | Updated: 8:28 am
Grantsville High School in Grantsville, Utah. (Google Earth Pro)
(Google Earth Pro)
GRANTSVILLE, Utah — A 33-year-old Tooele County teacher has been arrested after being accused of sexually abusing a female student.
Richard Craig Harrison, who was listed as a physical education and health teacher and football coach on the Grantsville High School website, was arrested on Wednesday and booked into the Tooele County Jail on nine counts of forcible sex abuse and one count of object rape. Formal charges have not been filed yet.
According to court documents, a female Grantsville High student told police she was sexually abused by a teacher in 2017 and 2018. Police said the victim was 14 and 15 years old at the time of the alleged abuse.
A probable cause statement says Harrison was identified as the teacher and allegedly started grabbing the victim’s buttocks in the spring of 2017.
“On seven different occasions at different locations in the high school, Harrison had grabbed (the victim’s) buttocks,” police said. “On two of the occasions, Harrison also grabbed (the victim’s) breasts.”
Authorities said the alleged abuse happened in the school’s ice room, storage closet, weight room and a portable classroom.
According to court documents, Harrison allegedly put his hand down the front of the victim’s pants following one occasion in the school’s ice room and sexually assaulted her.
“After each incident of abuse, Harrison would message (the victim) asking if she was OK and would tell her to make sure she deleted her messages and not tell anyone,” police said. “During a pretext phone call with (the victim), Harrison said he vaguely remembers when he put his hand down the front of (the victim)’s pants.”
After being read his Miranda Rights, police say Harrison admitted to grabbing the victim’s buttocks when they were in the school’s weight room “with a bunch of students messing around.”
