Outraged Oregon high school students blasted the school board for letting a teacher accused of pedophilia continue working despite mounting allegations.

The St. Helens School District was forced to cancel classes, place the superintendent and high school principal on leave and accept the board chair's resignation following the arrest of two teachers on child sex abuse charges.

Choir teacher Eric Stearns, 46, and retired math teacher Mark Collins, 64, were arrested on Tuesday after police conducted a two-month long investigation into historical sexual abuse at St. Helens High School.

During the investigation St. Helens Acting Police Chief Joseph Hogue subpoenaed the district for records of the two teachers, and found reports students filed over the years of inappropriate touching that the district did not previously disclose - as required by law. 

Furious students and parents attended the school board meeting on Wednesday, demanding answers as to why they allowed Stearns to continue to teach despite knowing about the investigation.

One female student told the meeting: 'He hugged me, kissed me on the head, and told me that he loved me..'

The girl, who was 14 at the time, added: 'My mom specifically made complaints about Mr. Stearns putting his hand around my neck as a 'vocal exercise' – that, too, went swept under the rug.. you are all to blame. You are all guilty.

'I am just disgusted with you guys for letting him near me and my friends... they were let around a pedophile,' a third student said.

School board chair Ryan Scholl told the crowd that Stearns was allowed to continue teaching because law enforcement had advised them not to place him on leave, reported KOIN.

Hogue denied that saying, 'at no point did the officers tell the school district or advise the school district in any way to not put the teacher on admin leave.'   

Student-led protests caused the high school to close on Thursday and all district schools were closed on Friday as dozens of enraged students and parents called for Superintendent Stockwell and St. Helens High School Principal Katy Wagner to resign. 

Stearns has now been accused of sexually abusing six students between 2015 to 2020, allegedly touching their necks, chests, buttocks or mouths inappropriately, according to the Oregonian.

He is now facing seven counts of second-degree sex abuse and one count of third-degree sex abuse, and had been teaching up until last Tuesday, a parent whose child was in his choir class told KGW.