Darrell Keen teaches math and is the running backs coach at Beech High School in Hendersonville.
The 32-year-old was arrested last month in Davidson CountyHENDERSONVILLE, Tenn. -
A Mid-State teacher arrested last week for allegedly having a sexual relationship with a student had a previous arrest history stretching back several years, Nashville's News 2 Investigates has learned.
Darrell Keen, math teacher and running backs coach at Beech High School, was arrested in Florida two years prior to being hired by the Sumner County school system.
According to the police report, Keen, 32, was charged for being intoxicated, resisting arrest and cursing at law enforcement officers.
In Tennessee, Keen was taken into police custody last Wednesday for allegedly taking two high school students to a local motel where he had sex with one of the teens on December 18, 2011.
The alleged incident occurred on the same day Keen was arrested by Metro police for allegedly assaulting his ex-girlfriend.
On Monday, Nashville's News 2 Investigates spoke with parents who have children in the Sumner County school system.
"I just wonder who is checking into the background of our teachers and protecting our children," Karen Pentecost said.
Karla Jackson added, "I think it is really sad that it has come to this. That we have to worry about our children being in school and getting educated."
Both parents said they have concerns over the screening process used by county officials to hire teachers.
"We need to screen our teachers even more," Jackson said.
Officials at the school board said Keen notified his supervisors of his arrest in December.
"He informed his principal about a week after he had been arrested," Jeremy Johnson with Sumner County Schools said.
According to Johnson, Keen was able to return to the classroom since he was only charged with a misdemeanor.
"It is a misdemeanor charge which under grounds of the law, we have no right to suspend someone for something not school related that is a misdemeanor charge and it is a pending charge," he explained.
School officials said they performed a TBI background check on Keen in 2005 and it came back clear.
"[The previous arrest] did not show up that I am aware of," Johnson said, adding, "I can't go off hypotheticals but we go off what TBI gives us and it didn't show up."
Keen is currently suspended without pay however if he is exonerated of the charges, he could be reinstated as a teacher with back pay.
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