A former Harrison County teacher and coach, acquitted in the mid 1990s of sexually abusing a Bethany high school student has been charged in Iowa for allegedly engaging in sexual acts with a 14-year-old student.
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The St. Joseph News-Press reported that Philip D. Padilla faces charges of sexual exploitation, lascivious acts with a child and third-degree sexual abuse after an interview by the Van Meter, IA, Police Department. Padilla was arrested last Thursday after he allegedly admitted to having oral sex with the student. He had taught social studies and coached in Van Meter for about five years when the allegations surfaced last week. According to authorities, Padilla admitted he had performed a sexual act on the female student as recently as about Aug. 15 in his classroom and also admitted to performing sexual acts on the same person at least five times from the end of the 2005 school year through the summer. The police report also stated that Padilla admitted that on occasions the same students performed sexual acts on him.
Padilla taught and coached at South Harrison High School at Bethany from August 1991 to May 1994, when his contract was not renewed by school officials amid allegations that he had sexual contact with a 15-year-old sophomore. He was acquitted of those charges in separate trials in 1993 and 1994. He then sued the school district for wrongful termination, receiving a jury award of $565,000. The ruling by the jury was later overturned by a federal appellate court.