Pinellas County Schools took nearly two months to release the personnel and disciplinary files of former teacher Robert Celeste to the I-Team. What we found may shock you.
The I-Team discovered it’ s not the first time St. Petersburg Police Department had to investigate him after allegations of sexual misconduct with students surfaced. In fact, it’s the third.
In 2005 Robert Celeste was accused of having a sexual relationship with a student. Police say the results were unfounded.
There were also sexual misconduct allegations investigated by police in 2014. The student told police they weren't true but did state he had a reputation amongst students and was even nicknamed "coach Celeste me"
In this recent case in, August of last year, allegations surfaced that Celeste was having a sexual relationship with a student and was the father of her newborn baby.
Police say they have DNA evidence that identifies Celeste as the father.
School officials in Pinellas County never notified parents during the investigation or after the arrest.
When allegations surfaced, school officials transferred Celeste to a warehouse where he wasn’t around children. They also banned him from after school activities.
However the I-Team found documents showing school officials still allowed him to go to a football game as a spectator even while the investigation was underway.
School district reps with Pinellas county declined our repeated requests for an interview but did say they can't tell us why they still allowed Celeste to go to a football game because it will violate student privacy laws.
As for why they didn't notify parents? They say in an email " at the time of his arrest he was no longer employed by Pinellas County Schools."
The I-Team also discovered that St Pete police got DNA test results proving that Celeste was the father of a student’s baby on Oct. 1 but it took two months for them to arrest him.
"They wanna be sure they have their ducks in a row and it's better to have a couple of weeks to lay and make sure they have all of the information and evidence they need to take it to trial,” said Yolanda Fernandez, St. Petersburg police spokeswoman.
At this time police believe there are no other victims involved.
