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HAYNEVILLE, Ala. (AP) — Lowndes County Superintendent Daniel Boyd is free on bond after turning himself in to face 243 counts of reckless endangerment of minors.
Boyd's attorney, state Sen. Hank Sanders, said the school superintendent turned himself in Thursday night to face the misdemeanor charges and was released on more than $12,000 in bond.
The charges were filed by Hayneville Police Chief Kelvin Mitchell, and they represent the number of female students at two schools where a janitor worked. Mitchell said the superintendent put the students at risk when he allowed a janitor to return to work after a 13-year-old middle school student complained that he had touched her inappropriately in September 2013.
The school system investigated the claim, couldn't substantiate it, and let the janitor return to work at an elementary school. A Lowndes County grand jury subsequently indicted the janitor, Lee Andrew Safford, and he pleaded guilty earlier this month to enticement of a minor for immoral purposes.
The executive director of the Alabama Association of School Boards, Sally Howell, said the superintendent followed state law by contacting the Department of Human Resources and putting the janitor on leave pending an investigation.
"It is unconscionable to suggest Dr. Boyd put a single student in harm's way given the information available to him following the investigation," she said Friday
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