Officials say a Florida substitute teacher was detained after being accused of abusing children at an elementary school.
Following an investigation into the claims, Wolfgang Sprenger, 83, was detained and charged, according to the Citrus County Sheriff’s Office.
The staff at Hernando Elementary School informed the school resource deputy on January 31 that a substitute teacher might have touched some students in an inappropriate way. Sprenger was immediately fired from his role as a substitute teacher by the Citrus County School District, and the sheriff’s office opened an investigation into the claims.
Multiple juvenile victims and witnesses were found by the sheriff’s office’s special victims unit. When interviewed, every victim acknowledged that Sprenger had touched them in an unsuitable way. Detectives also gathered additional proof that corroborated the victims’ accounts.
Thursday saw the arrest of Sprenger after the investigation.
He was accused of two counts of lewd and lecherous molestation of a child under the age of 12, four counts of lewd and lecherous behaviour, and one count of encouraging a child’s delinquency.
“This case exposes how a predator can and will work themselves into a position of trust to gain access to children,” Sheriff Mike Prendergast said in a statement. “Sprenger violated the trust of the children he was supposed to teach and the trust our community placed in him. A classroom is supposed to be a nurturing and safe environment, not a playground for a predator like Sprenger. I hope this arrest will be the starting point on a journey of healing for his victims.”
Sprenger is being held without bond at the Citrus County Detention Center.
