Former Fairfax County teacher charged with taking indecent liberties with a child

RESTON, Va. - A former Fairfax County Public Schools teacher has been charged with having an inappropriate relationship with a student nearly four years ago, police said.

Timothy Threlkeld, of Manassas, was initially investigated in June 2014 when a relative of the 14-year-old female student reported that there was a suspicious relationship happening between the teenager and Threlkeld, who was a technology education teacher at Langston Hughes Middle School in Reston.

According to state records, there was "overwhelming evidence" of an inappropriate physical relationship. The records stated the teacher was spotted on a date with the 14-year -old girl at the movies and had physical contact with her twice, including in a locked classroom after school.

Fairfax County Public Schools said Threlkeld was put on administrative leave over the summer after the allegations surfaced. He resigned from Fairfax County Public Schools about a year later in 2015 and also gave up his teaching license after the school district asked that it be revoked.

However, police said on Tuesday that there was insufficient information to charge Threlkeld back in 2014.

Last year, investigators received additional information that indicated criminal acts did occur in 2014, which led to Threlkeld's arrest last November, according to police. The 40-year-old has been charged with four counts of taking indecent liberties with a child.

Parents were not alerted about the charges against Threlkeld by police or Fairfax County Public Schools until Tuesday despite being arrested in November.

Fairfax County police said "an internal communications error" led to them not reporting the former teacher's arrest to the public until now. The school district did not respond to questions about why they did not send a letter to parents about Threlkeld's arrest.

On the same year he was first investigated in 2014, Threlkeld was named Middle School Teacher of the Year by the Virginia Technology and Engineering Education Association.

He is scheduled to appear in court on Aug. 27.