Last Updated on August 19, 2022
A Northern Virginia middle school counselor was employed by Fairfax County Public Schools for a whopping five months after he was convicted of a crime of pedophilia in suburban Richmond’s Chesterfield County. In a press release made this week, Fairfax County Public Schools announced they’d fired the counselor, yet protected his identity and claimed to have been previously unaware of his felony sex crime charges and conviction.
Newly-fired Glasgow Middle School counselor Darren Thornton was convicted in March of this year on felony charges of soliciting a minor for prostitution in Chesterfield County, Virginia, having been indicted for the crime in November of 2020. All the while, Fairfax County Public School officials claim they were unaware of Thornton’s troubling criminal charges, even as the seemingly rampant employment of sexual predators in public schools became a focal point of local and national politics.
Though Fairfax County Public Schools protected the identity of the convicted counselor in a public statement made at the time of his firing, concerned citizens and local media outlets quickly pinpointed the culprit as Darren Thornton. According to court documents from Chesterfield County in suburban Richmond, Thornton was arrested on November 19th, 2020, and charged with the felony solicitation of a minor for sex.
After a string of continuances in his felony case, Thornton was convicted on March 11th of this year and continued to be employed by Fairfax County schools for over 5 months. In court, he was given a 5-year suspended sentence.
During the period of time between his arrest and firing, Thornton even appeared in several promotional videos celebrating Fairfax County’s Glasgow Middle School, which have since been scrubbed from the internet. Additionally, his profile on the Fairfax County Public Schools website has been erased.
🚨 Former @fcpsnews counselor at @GlasgowMS, Darren Thornton, was arrested over TWO years ago and was found guilty of soliciting a minor for prostitution in Chesterfield Co FIVE months ago!!
Only “discovered” and fired this week. pic.twitter.com/G5Yb23XozB
— NOVA Campaigns (@NoVA_Campaigns) August 19, 2022
In a public statement made after Thornton’s firing, left-wing Fairfax County Public Schools Superintendent Michelle Reid pled prior ignorance to Thornton’s charges and claimed that the school board “acted swiftly” in firing him, despite allowing him to maintain access to children for nearly two years after his initial charges. Reid also said that an “independent” investigation would be conducted, but declined to go into much detail surrounding the case and massive dropping of the child safety ball by Fairfax County Public Schools.
Notably, and as previously mentioned, at no point in the statement did Superintendent Michelle Reid disclose Thornton’s name, despite his felony conviction.
Glasgow Middle School counselor continued to be employed despite being convicted – outside of Fairfax County – of ‘solicitation of prostitution from a minor’. pic.twitter.com/UDCGn2eLDT
— Allison Papson (@AllisonPapson) August 19, 2022
Considering Thornton was arrested just two months after he was hired by Fairfax County Public Schools, serious questions are being raised regarding the district’s background check policies. Based on Thornton’s continued employment, it would appear that Fairfax County Schools have no form of notification system to alert them to severe offenses committed by their teachers and school staff.
What’s more, is that Darren Thornton is only the latest employee of Fairfax County Public Schools to face charges related to pedophilia, something that appears to be systemic to the far-left school district that has promoted transgenderism in children, even punishing those who don’t go along with it.
RELATED: Fairfax County Middle School Teacher Arrested on Child Porn Charges
Like neighboring Loudoun, the issues in Fairfax County Public Schools helped fuel the culture war that flipped Virginia from blue to red in 2021’s Statewide General Election.
RELATED: Fairfax County Schools May Suspend Students Who ‘Misgender’ Classmates
Shockingly, it appears that Thornton was arrested again in June of this year while free on his suspended 5 year sentence and faces additional charges of soliciting prostitution.
Public records show that on June 15th, Fairfax County Public Schools made a request for records pertaining to the arrest. Still, Thornton wasn’t fired until this week and school officials claim they had no knowledge.
This story is developing. Stick with National File for further updates should they become available.
