UPDATED::Former Central Ohio Teacher Accused Of Sexual Misconduct | WBNS-10TV Columbus, Ohio

UPDATE::The plot thickens,,,

It was only after Sze was arrested last week that the Diocese told law enforcement that it fired him for inappropriate texting with a different student.

"Matters such as this should be reported to the authorities, and Bishop Watterson did not do that,” said a man whose grandson attends Lakeside School in Seattle, where Sze was hired after leaving Bishop Watterson.

The grandfather did not want to be identified for fear of repercussions for his grandson.

Lakeside sent a letter to parents blasting Watterson for "having knowledge that Sze had exchanged sexually themed messages with a student" and "(giving) him glowing references." The Diocese notified the Ohio Department of Education it had fired Sze, but told 10TV the texts "did not fall under the Ohio mandatory reporting statute" to notify police.

"Oh, forget mandatory reporting!” said the grandfather. “This is a moral duty!"

The Diocese says it had no knowledge of any sexual abuse at the time it fired Sze.

10TV has tried to speak with school officials involved in this case.  They have either declined comment or not returned our calls.  A spokesperson for the Diocese has not responded our requests for an interview.

Email: Protocol Not Followed In Firing Of Teacher Now Accused Of Sexual Abuse

 

 http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/local/2015/10/02/Sze_charged.html

A former central Ohio teacher sits in a Seattle Jail accused of sexual conduct with a student here.

Brian Sze, 34, was a music teacher at Bishop Watterson High School.

Investigators said that’s where he came in contact with a 15-year-old male student.

A search warrant obtained by 10TV says Sze was also hired by the boy’s parents to give him private music lessons at Sze’s Lewis Center home.

That’s where the boy says Sze initiated sexual contact with him.
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Sze had recently moved to Seattle for a teaching job. He was arrested there Tuesday night.

The Diocese of Columbus confirms it fired Sze last year after a different student complained of an inappropriate text message from Sze.

The diocese said it did report Sze to the Ohio Department of Education and was not asked for a reference by his new employer in Seattle.

Sze's employer in Seattle, Lakewood School, said he has been fired and will not be returning to the school or school-owned property.

Former Central Ohio Teacher Accused Of Sexual Misconduct | WBNS-10TV Columbus, Ohio

See also:  Former Watterson teacher charged with producing child pornography

In a letter to families, Joseph Brettnacher, superintendent of schools for the Catholic Diocese of Columbus, said Sze was fired on June 15 after admitting that he sent inappropriate text messages to a student and the matter was reported to the Ohio Department of Education.

“At that time, there was absolutely no other indication of any other wrongdoing,” the letter says. “At the time of his termination we had no knowledge or suspicion of any sexual contact or sexual abuse.”

Officials at the private Lakeside School in Seattle, where Sze worked, said Watterson officials knew Sze had sent an inappropriate text message to another student not related to the criminal case.

Lakeside officials said they received four positive references from Sze’s former colleagues at Watterson and St. Brigid of Kildare in Dublin, where he also taught. One was Sze’s superior, the band director at Watterson. But none of the references at the schools said why Sze left.

Brettnacher said Lakeside did not contact a Watterson administrator or diocesan official.