HAPEVILLE, Ga. — A Fulton County grand jury has indicted a former Hapeville Charter Middle School teacher on several child sex abuse charges involving four victims.
Jomarcus Deshaun Collins was arrested Wednesday after being indicted for his alleged involvement in a child molestation case dating back to 2020.
Collins faces 19 charges, including aggravated child molestation, child molestation and statutory rape, according to the indictment. The document also lists four victims who had several encounters with the former PE teacher, one lasting for years.
Hapeville Police Sgt. Stephen Cushing said the department began investigating Collins in April of 2019, around the same time he was terminated from the charter school he taught at after staff were made aware of allegations against him.
While police started the investigation in 2019, they didn't have enough evidence to charge him until 2020. Collins then bonded out of jail, but investigators recently had a break in the case.
Another victim came forward according to Hapeville Police, telling investigators about the abuse she claims she suffered from Collins.
"The victim was in 8th grade at the time when she originally met the Mr. Collins in 2018, and she continued a relationship all the way till Mr. Collins was no longer with the school until 2022," Cushing said.
Based on the details provided by the victim, Cushing believes "similar grooming techniques" were used by Collins on other victims in the case.
Three years later, after initially being arrested, Collins was indicted and arrested on the charges this week. Currently, he remains in the Fulton County Jail, after a judge denied him bond during a court appearance Thursday.
"No one wants to have anybody like this around, any children, like any children at all so it’s good to have him behind bars where I think he should stay for a long time," Cushing said.
Hapeville Police believe there could be more victims and are asking anyone with information to come forward.
Hapeville school officials confirmed that Collins taught at the school from 2017 to 2019. By May of 2019, Collins was no longer employed with the school and they haven't made contact with him since.
Here's the full statement from the school:
Jomarcus Deshaun Collins was a former teacher employed with Hapeville Charter Middle School from 2017-2019. After an allegation was made in Spring of 2019 Hapeville Charter Schools took immediate action to protect the students, teachers, and staff. Mr. Collins has not been employed with Hapeville Charter Schools since May 2019. Due to privacy laws, Hapeville Charter Schools is unable to provide any further comment.