GIG HARBOR, Wash. — A fourth young girl came forward, accusing a Key Peninsula teacher of sexual abuse at school.
The suspect is 34-year-old Jordan Henderson, who now faces three more charges of child molestation, for a total of 12 counts.
Prosecutors say the assaults happened at Evergreen Elementary School in the Peninsula School District.
Court documents say the victim was a fourth grader at the school who said her teacher, Henderson, would touch her inappropriately and threaten to come to her home if she told anyone.
Kevin Hastings represents three of the four victims in the case. All are under 12 years old.
“Jordan being charged with another victim was not a surprise to me,” said Hastings.
The fourth young girl to come forward brought Henderson back to court on Wednesday.
“It’s really unfortunate that it happened, and it’s even more unfortunate that I think that there’s probably more out there,” said Hastings.
According to court documents, the young girl described Henderson putting his hand on her lower back and hugging her from behind with his “boy part” pushing up against her.
“This is the only one that we have that’s actually on record where she’s reported that Jordan Henderson threatened to come by her house if she told anyone about what he was doing,” Hastings told KIRO 7 reporter Samantha Lomibao.
Henderson is out of jail after posting bail twice after being arrested in April and May.
Lomibao spoke with Henderson’s neighbors, who didn’t want to go on camera.
“(It’s) unsettling just knowing all the young kids in the neighborhood and just the questions and wondering,” a neighbor said.
Some of them expressed concerns about the charges, while others described him as a great guy who would never commit the crimes.
“That has not been proven in a court of law, so my heart just kind of goes out everywhere because I know it can be really rough for anybody wrongly accused,” a neighbor said.
Though that neighbor said it was too early to tell if the accusations were true, her heart goes out the victims.
“They don’t want to say anything to upset them or anything else -- I mean it’s, the road’s just starting for those poor victims,” she said.
Meanwhile, Henderson has been put on leave by the school district.