Former Capital School District Employee Charged with Child Abuse after Incident Last October
A Felton man has been arrested following an investigation into an incident of child abuse that occurred last fall at William Henry Middle School in Dover. Last October the School Resource Officer was notified of an incident involving Powell and the victim – an 11 year old from Dover. It was reported that 55 year old Richard Powell, who was employed by the Capital School District as a paraprofessional, caused injury to the victim while at school. On Monday, February 5th a warrant was obtained for Powell for his alleged actions and Powell turned himself in to Dover Police. He is charged with 3rd degree child abuse and was released on his own recognizance. Powell is also no longer employed by the Capital School District.
The Capital School District provided the following statement:
“We want to address an incident that occurred last fall involving one of our former employees.
After investigating the incident, Capital School District contacted the Division of Family Services and has since cooperated with law enforcement. The District also informed the Delaware Department of Education of the incident and separation from employment, as we are required to do by law, and we have been cooperating with their investigators to provide information as requested.
Our district takes matters of student safety very seriously.
In light of this, we are committed to reassessing our training programs and procedures to be proactive with a focus on prevention. Our priority remains providing a safe and supportive environment for all students.
As with all personnel matters with former and current employees, we are not at liberty to share additional information.
Please reach out to Capital School District Public Relations (PR@capital.k12.de.us) with any questions.”
