An Alabama teacher who won a prestigious education award was arrested on a felony sexual abuse charge, numerous sources reported Tuesday.
Vincent Chiaramonte, 41, was charged with first-degree sexual abuse/forcible compulsion after allegedly being accused of non-consensual sex with a woman in her 60s, ABC 3340 reported.
Chiaramonte is a teacher at Riverchase Career Connection Center (RC3), a trade school that is affiliated with Pelham City Schools. Chiaramonte has been on leave for nearly a year during the investigation, according to AL.
The investigation into Chiaramonte began May 31, 2020 and the school placed him on leave in June. The suspect was initially arrested on a misdemeanor charge, but it was unclear what kind of charge, AL reported.
Police arrested Chiaramonte on May 30 and he was taken into custody and released the same day on $7,500 bond, according to ABC 3340.
Prior to his role at Riverchase Career Connection, Chiaramonte was a computer science teacher at Robert F. Bumpus Middle School, a part of Hoover City Schools, ABC 3340 reported.
Chiaramonte was the winner of Alabama’s 2017 Milken Educator Award, which the organization behind the award compares to the Oscar or Grammy of education, according to its website. More than 2,800 people awards have been given to educators, who each receive $25,000 worth of unrestricted awards.
“Milken Educator Awards targets early-to-mid career education professionals for their already impressive achievements and, more significantly, for the promise of what they will accomplish in the future,” the website said.
Numerous other teachers have been arrested for sexual offenses, often involving minors, in April. An elementary school teacher in Dallas was charged with possession of child pornography on Monday after police say t hey found numerous images showing an adult male engaging in sexual intercourse with children as young as three. (RELATED: First-Grade Teacher At Texas Public School Charged With Possession Of Child Pornography)
Days prior to the arrest in Dallas, a New York City public school teacher was arrested on charges that he raped a teenager in 2017.