November 17, 2015
A former middle school choir director in Delaware is accused of sexually assaulting one of his teenage students at least 27 times, police announced Tuesday.
According to Delaware State Police, an investigation was launched in September after Crime Stoppers received a tip about the alleged rape of a female student at the H.B. DuPont Middle School in Hockessin in 2010.
After an investigation, authorities say they learned the student, who was 13 years old at the time of the first incident, allegedly had a sex with the school's choir director – 43-year-old Gary F. Smith of Newark.
The alleged assaults lasted from April 2010 to August 2012, according to police. During that time period, police say numerous offenses were committed on school grounds.
Smith was arrested Tuesday and charged with 27 counts of third-degree rape, continuous sexual abuse of a child, first-degree sexual abuse of a child by a person of trust and sexual solicitation of a child under the age of 18.
He is being held at Howard Young Correctional Institution in lieu of a $815,000 cash bond.
Police said questions regarding Smith's status with the school should be directed to the Red Clay School District. A request for comment was not immediately returned.
Anyone with more information on Smith is asked to call the Major Crimes Unit at Troop 2, Glasgow, at 302-365-8567. Information may also be provided by calling Delaware Crime Stoppers at 1-800-TIP-3333, via the Internet at www.tipsubmit.com, or by sending an anonymous tip by text to 274637 (CRIMES) using the keyword "DSP."
