Bible teacher, soccer coach accused of sex crimes against 16-year-old student, AL cops say
A Bible teacher and soccer coach from an Alabama private school is accused of meeting one of his 16-year-old students to engage in sex acts, news outlets report.
Jonathan Sauers was arrested on Monday, March 14, on charges of a school employee engaging in sexual contact with a student under age 19 and a school employee engaging in sexual relations with a student under age 19, according to jail records.
The student told her parents she was going to Walmart on Monday to pick up school supplies, Mobile County Lt. Mark Bailey told WKRG in an interview.
After more than an hour, she hadn’t returned and her parents became concerned, Bailey said. They went to the Walmart to look for her and found her car empty, and she was not in the store. Bailey said her parents then called the police.
The student was found walking along a road back to her vehicle, police told WALA. The student told police she had actually gone to Walmart to meet Sauers, who is accused of picking her up and driving to a different parking lot to engage in sexual activity, WALA reported.
Bailey told WKRG this was not the first encounter outside of school between Sauers and the student and that he believed the crimes had been going on for several months.
The Mobile County Sheriff’s Office told WALA the student had gone to Sauers’ home one time, but all other interactions took place in parking lots.
Police told WALA they had surveillance video of the teen getting into the backseat of Sauers’ car from the Walmart.
Sauers is a teacher and soccer coach at Faith Academy, a Christian private school in Mobile. He is still listed as the boys soccer coach on the school’s website.
Sauers has taught at Faith Academy for more than 13 years, as reported by WPMI. He has also taught 8th-grade science and 11th-grade Bible, according to his LinkedIn profile.
Bailey told WKRG the teen was one of Sauers’ students.
McClatchy News reached out for comment from Faith Academy and did not immediately receive a response.
This story was originally published March 15, 2023 at 9:39 AM with the headline "Bible teacher, soccer coach accused of sex crimes against 16-year-old student, AL cops say."
