Sleepy Eye HS teacher charged with having sex with student

A teacher at Sleepy Eye High School in southern Minnesota has been charged with having sex with one of his female students, and police said this afternoon that they did not get the cooperation they needed from the school as they tried to investigate.

Police also said they are concerned there could be more victims of this teacher.

Calvin C. Collum, 47, of New Ulm, was charged Thursday with third-degree criminal sexual conduct, accused of being a person of authority and having intercourse with the 16-year-old student at his house within the past two weeks. He was arrested at his home several days later and was freed on $25,000 bail.

Senior investigator David Borchert of the New Ulm Police Department said school officials learned of the sexual allegations against Collum last Friday and suspended him that day with pay. Police only learned of the suspicions on Monday thanks to a tip from the public.

When police arrived at the school Monday, school officials advised them that they were conducting their own "internal investigation," Borchert said. "We didn't get the cooperation" expected, he said, adding that school officials had been interviewing students and had questioned Collum as well.

Police were allowed to pursue their investigation in the school once they returned with a search warrant the next day, Borchert said.

When school officials began their investigation last Friday, they were not looking into allegations against Collum of a sexual nature, said Superintendent Arla Dockter, but she declined to be more specific.

Dockter said that based on what school officials learned as of Friday, they followed their attorney's direction and notified the Minnesota Department of Education but not law enforcement.

Borchert said police "have information that leads us to believe there are more victims." Dockter said she was unaware of that aspect of the case.

Police say that classmates told them that Collum and the girl planned to move to Connecticut some day when she turned 19 and have children, having already picked names for the kids. "The suspect would work these names into his class lectures to delight the victim," the criminal complaint said.

One classmate told police that the girl and Collum often communicated by texting and through Facebook. The classmate knew the victim had spent weekends at the teacher's home.

Another classmate said Collum would often direct compliments toward the victim, including references to how her jeans fit.