Vancouver students plan strike after sexual misconduct charges against teacher dropped

VANCOUVER, Wash. (KATU) — Several students at Hudson’s Bay High School in Vancouver are planning to walk out on their first day of school after winter break Monday morning.

Senior Jessyka Malone, who is organizing the protest, says she and other students feel “betrayed” by administrators after finding out that one of their professors was arrested on sexual misconduct charges just before recess.

Malone says news of the strike has spread on social media and he hopes a few hundred students will participate. He said the Vancouver Police Department agreed to have a presence at the protest.

“I posted it on my Instagram and then people posted it on theirs and they went from there,” he said. “You go to school to be safe and learn, but then you find out something like this happens and you feel like you can’t trust anyone.”

Vancouver Police arrested Shadbreon Gatson, 43, on December 20, 2024. He was charged with multiple counts of sexual misconduct. Court documents accused him of having sexual relations with a 16-year-old student in a classroom in 2013.

On December 27, 2024, prosecutors dropped the case because the statute of limitations had expired. Clark County Chief Deputy Prosecutor Laurel Smith explained that Washington state legislators changed the statutes of limitations for several sex crimes in 2019, but the changes do not apply retroactively.

“Currently, as things stand, for this crime, sexual misconduct with a minor, there is no statute of limitations. However, when we go back to 2013, it was a three-year statute of limitations. So, we would have had to “We knew about the crime and filed charges within three years of its occurrence, so we’re somewhere in the year 2016,” Smith said.

His office did not review the police charges until after Gaston’s first court appearance, which is standard practice. Once the charges were reviewed, prosecutors dismissed the case.

According to court documents, administrators at Hudson’s Bay High School had investigated allegations against Gatson as early as 2013, when a janitor reported that he had allegedly witnessed the teacher having sexual relations with the teen in a classroom. Court documents did not specify whether those incidents were reported to authorities or DHS at the time.

Malone feels administrators should have worked to keep students safe.

“More should have happened when it started because now it’s like it can’t continue because of the statute of limitations,” he said.

She hopes Monday’s protest will empower students and other potential victims to make their voices heard.

The school district has declined multiple interview requests.

In an email to staff and parents sent on Dec. 27, 2024, Hudson’s Bay administrators announced that Gaston’s charges had been dropped, but said they would keep him on administrative leave while investigations continue.

Court documents show Vancouver police are investigating more recent allegations against Gatson.

Smith wants other potential victims to know that the statute of limitations for different sex crimes is different and hopes this case doesn’t deter other victims from coming forward.

“We’re going to look at each situation on a case-by-case basis because, again, the statute of limitations is not just something broad that applies generally. It’s really specific to each crime. And it’s also going to be fact-specific as well,” he said.

He added that even though the case was dropped, the alleged victim who comes forward in this case could still drive change by empowering others to do the same.

“I think even though no charges were filed for this person coming forward, I think there’s a lot of strength shown in that decision to come forward,” he said. “I hope that tells the abuser that this is not okay, but also gives other women and other people that strength too. Like, ‘Hey, that person stepped up, I can do it too.'”

According to court documents in the now-dismissed case, in December, Vancouver police interviewed Gatson’s alleged victim, who said she now came forward as a result of the ongoing trauma the alleged incidents had caused her, as well as the suspicion that Gatson could have other victims. . The documents state that at the time of the school’s investigation, Gatson and the alleged victim denied having had sexual relations. The court document notes that the alleged victim told police she initially denied the allegations because Gatson ordered her to.

Case documents noted that police reviewed journals in which the alleged victim had described her ongoing sexual encounters with Gatson, letters allegedly exchanged between her and Gatson, and the school’s internal investigation documents. Police also allegedly interviewed other people who claimed to have witnessed intimacy between Gatson and his alleged victim.

Gatson’s attorney did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

On December 27, 2024, Hudson Bay administrators sent the following email to parents and staff regarding Gatson’s exoneration:

“Dear Hudson’s Bay Parents and Staff:

Today we learned that Shadbreon Gatson was exonerated of his criminal charges on December 26 due to the expiration of the statute of limitations.

When new information from a previous investigation was shared with us, we contacted authorities on behalf of the victim and provided them with the additional information shared with us. Their investigation led to the arrest of Shadbreon Gatson.

Please understand that much of the information that has recently come to light was only communicated to us at the same time it became available to you. Mr. Gatson will remain on administrative leave as we continue our investigative process. As mentioned in the December 20 message, we will not be able to share as many details as you would like until the investigation is complete, but we take our responsibility to thoroughly and fairly investigate matters like this very seriously.

“The safety of our students is again paramount and, if necessary and appropriate, we will take action at the end of our investigation.”