1. Ronald Janssen, technical drawing, Sint-Martinusscholen Herk-de-Stad in Belgium
Ronald Janssen, a high school teacher and the father of two young girls, has been linked to at least 15 murders, many involving rape. Janssen first admitted to the New Year’s Day shooting murder of his neighbors, 18-year-old Shana Appeltans, 22-year-old Kevin Paulus, then to the 2007 murder of 18-year-old student Annick Van Uytsel. Annick was raped and beaten to death, and her body was weighted and thrown into a river. Janssen is now being investigated for many other unsolved murders of young women in Belgium. He allegedly claims to have begun killing in the 1990s, when he was an engineering student.
2. Gregory Harrison, geometry, Corner High School in Birmingham, Alabama
While teaching his class about angles, Gregory Harrison repeatedly used a hypothetical assassination of the U.S. President Barak Obama in his examples. He was investigated by the FBI and placed on mandatory leave by the school. The FBI did not file charges, and Harrison was allowed to return to his post on the condition that he undergo diversity training. He has since made a public apology for his statements. According to some accounts, the assassination example was originally brought up by a student, but that hardly excuses Harrison for encouraging a discussion about the best angle to shoot the President in the guise of teaching math.
3. Cassandra Sproch, dance, Propel Charter School in Homestead, Pittsburgh
Cassandra Sproch, arrested in December 2009, was charged with providing alcohol to minors, corruption and endangerment of minors, and indecent assault. She allegedly threw a party at her home for four teenagers, including her 14-year-old son, where she pressured her guests to drink wine and sexually propositioned the two boys she had invited. She took one of the guests, a 16-year-old boy, into her bedroom. The other boys present interrupted them when Sproch had the boy pressed up against the wall and was kissing him. He later claimed that he refused her offers of sex. Sproch had previously been in trouble for making sexual advances to a teenage boy she invited to dinner, after which her teaching career was terminated. She also pled guilty to identity theft in 2008.
4. Christopher Ingvaldson, social studies, St. George’s School in Vancouver, Canada
Christopher Ingvaldson has been accused of participating in an international online child pornography ring, with members in Australia, Canada, and the United Kingdom. He is faced with four counts of possession and distribution of child pornography and was dismissed from his teaching post in June 2010 as a result of the charges. While the investigation does not involve any of the children at St. George’s School where Ingvaldson taught, he allegedly used school computers to gain access to child pornography. Ingvaldson was formerly an international field hockey player and has shown an interest in politics.
5. Martin Rouse, substitute teacher, Sudbury Upper School in Suffolk, England
Martin Rouse was immediately fired from his post after stripping off his shirt in front of his classroom. He has claimed he was “trying to be cool.” Rouse was trying to get the attention of his rowdy class, and threatened to take off his shirt as punishment if they did not settle down. When he carried through on his threat, one of the students filmed the incident and later posted it on the internet. In addition to undressing, Rouse also threatened to throw one student out the window. Rouse was a substitute teacher, hired for the day, and is no longer allowed to work as a teacher in Suffolk County after this incident. This is a video of the incident:
