The Advocate and Democrat

The former Sweetwater High School in-school suspension teacher charged with two counts of aggravated sexual battery by an authority figure in May waived his case to a grand jury in Monroe County General Sessions Court proceedings Tuesday.

The grand jury will most likely hear the case against 31-year-old Cedric Holmes of Loudon in August and will decide whether to indict the former teacher.

Holmes also was charged in May with one count of statutory rape in Loudon County for an alleged sexual encounter with a Sweetwater High student that took place in that county.

The normal excitement surrounding graduation at Sweetwater High in May was tempered with the news of Holmes’ arrest just days before graduation.

“It’s extremely disappointing to me to hear this at what is a normally good time of year,” Monroe County Director of Schools Mike Lowry said at the time.

The 6-foot-5 inch, 240-pound Holmes, who also was a volunteer assistant basketball coach at SHS, was immediately fired from his job at the school.

Holmes began working for the school system in August 2007 as a non-certified employee and had passed all the background checks school employees must go through.

“There were no red flags,” Lowry said.

Sweetwater Police Detective John Scruggs on May 13 received information of inappropriate sexual contact between Holmes and underage female students.

Scruggs, SPD Chief Eddie Byrum and Detective Marty Kyle determined Holmes had sexual intercourse with a female SHS student but the sex had occurred in Loudon County, SPD said in a press release.

Detective Patrick Upton of the Loudon County Sheriff’s Department was notified and immediately conducted his own investigation resulting in the charge of aggravated statutory rape in Loudon County.

Further investigation led to information about other alleged victims at Sweetwater High School, police said.

Investigators said they determined sometime around March 15 and the following weeks, Holmes inappropriately and illegally touched and kissed a female student under the age of 16 on approximately 10 occasions at Sweetwater High.

Scruggs consulted with the district attorney’s office before charging Holmes with sexual battery by an authority figure.

His investigation later led to a second charge of sexual battery by an authority figure for alleged crimes against another female student.

School Resource Officer Laura Perian, Principal David Watts and other school officials assisted in the investigation, police said.

Upton said Holmes was not charged with the more serious charge of aggravated rape by an authority figure because he does not believe that the sex with the student that took took place in Loudon County was coerced and it did not happen on school grounds.

tommy.millsaps@advocateanddemcrat.com | 337-7101.

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