A former Fulton County science teacher arrested last year under suspicions he sexually assaulted one of his students faces two new charges after recent accusations against him emerged.
Holly Springs police on Friday announced the new charges against Robert Vandel, saying investigators secured warrants against him for two counts of sexual battery with a minor.
The latest charges come less than six months after Roswell police arrested Vandel on Sept. 2 on a slate of charges in connection with allegations that he raped one of his students at the Fulton Academy of Science and Technology (FAST) charter school in early 2020. The child was under the age of 14 at the time, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution previously reported.
GBI officials at the time worried there might be more victims.
Those concerns appeared to come to fruition when Holly Springs police received a Nov. 1 tip about “inappropriate conduct” that involved a student at Lyndon Academy, a private college preparatory school in Holly Springs.
Linda Murdock, the academy’s headmaster, told Channel 2 Action News a female student came forward with allegations last fall shortly after Vandel’s initial arrest. Murdock said she sent the student to police.
Vandel was teaching at the school at some point last year. Murdock said she fired him after he was arrested in September and barred Vandel from returning to campus, the news station reported.
Once the victim identified Vandel as a suspect, detectives began investigating sexual misconduct allegations against him.
Police on Friday did not say exactly what those allegations were in a news release announcing the latest charges.
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