PDF: Incident reports
A Catoosa County substitute teacher has been charged with inappropriate conduct with two students at Boynton Elementary School, authorities said.
James Osborne Combs is charged with child molestation in connection with a complaint filed at the school, according to Catoosa County Sheriff's Office reports. Mr. Combs is free on $40,000 bond, records show.
Principal Belinda Crisman contacted authorities, according to records.
Reports state that two children told Catoosa County Detective Tim Deal that Mr. Combs "touched them in a sexual manner."
Mr. Combs turned himself in on Feb. 19, records show.
Mr. Combs' legal counsel, Atlanta attorney Mark Yuracheck, said his client has been instructed not to comment.
"So far as I know, the district attorney is considering whether or not they're going to seek an indictment against him," Mr. Yuracheck said. "There is no indictment against him, so at this point we can't comment on an ongoing criminal investigation. We won't comment."
Catoosa Superintendent Denia Reese said in a prepared statement that Mr. Combs "completed the application process, background check, and required training classes to be placed on the substitute teacher list for Catoosa County Public Schools."
The investigation started after school officials received a complaint from a parent and student on Feb. 4 "regarding inappropriate conduct with a student," Mrs. Reese's statement said. The complaint immediately was relayed to the sheriff's department for investigation, she said.
Mr. Combs' name "was removed from the system's substitute list the day that the complaint was made," according to the statement.