A former D.C. high school teacher has pleaded guilty to sexually abusing a 16-year-old student — and the school district that never stops lecturing parents about equity and inclusion has yet to explain how a predator ended up in a classroom in the first place.
John Gass, 35, of Hyattsville, pleaded guilty Monday to charges of coercion and enticement of a minor. According to WJLA, Gass had also faced a charge of production of child pornography before his guilty plea. He was a history teacher at District of Columbia International School.
The details are disturbing. Investigators say Gass had been abusing the girl since the spring, meeting her outside of school on multiple occasions. According to WJLA, records show Gass climbed into the victim's bedroom through a window and recorded the abuse on at least two occasions. He also exchanged explicit images with the girl.
The investigation began only at the end of November, when the FBI received information from the Metropolitan Police Department after the victim disclosed the abuse herself. Gass was arrested in December. He is set to be sentenced on Dec. 11.
What the public still doesn't know is how Gass was hired in the first place. What background checks were run? What red flags, if any, were missed? Did any colleague or administrator notice warning signs before a teenager had to disclose her own abuse to trigger an investigation?
Neither outlet reported on the school's hiring process, and DC International School has not publicly addressed it. No administrator has been placed on leave. No one has been fired. The district that demands parents trust its judgment on gender ideology and racial equity apparently can't be bothered to answer the most basic question: how did you let this happen?
This is the pattern. School systems across the country wrap themselves in the language of inclusion and safety, then fail at the one job that actually matters — protecting children from predators in their own classrooms. When the institution fails, it circles the wagons. When a parent objects, they're called a bigot.
Gass will be sentenced in December. Whether anyone in the DC International School administration will face any consequence — or even basic scrutiny — remains an open question.
