APPLETON, WI (WTAQ) – The Appleton Police Department is reporting that a driver’s education teacher has been arrested and accused of attempted misconduct with an Appleton student.
74-year-old Charles Rodgers was taken into custody Tuesday night for attempted child enticement, attempted sexual assault and attempting to expose a child to harmful narrations charges.
“One of our officers received a tip regarding this individual and some conduct that was a little questionable,” says Officer Meghan Cash, with the Appleton Police Department.
No formal charges have been filed.
“These are all attempted charges,” explains Officer Cash. “So he did not have, at this point in the investigation, actually contact with this person, but we were able to prevent that from happening.”
Appleton Police Department School Resource officers received a complaint and intervened before Rodgers had contact with the student.
“I don’t know if it was a specific incident that occurred or if it was more so just overall feelings about some things that had occurred prior to normal day-to-day contact,” she explains.
According to police, that’s when an investigation began.
“That then led to our officers taking him into custody, for what we believe, is he was attempting to have sexual conduct with who he believed was a juvenile,” she explains.
The name of the local driving agency that employs Rodgers has not been named by police, but it contracts with area schools to provide driving services.
Following the incident, the Appleton Police Department is again stressing the importance of parents having conversations with their kids about social media safety.
They say they’re well equipped to assist in a case where an individual feels threatened or unsafe in an online setting.
“We stay present on all those platforms in a capacity that we are able to have operations that, at times, can allow us to prevent these things,” says Officer Cash.
