By ALYSSA CLIFTON
(WARRENSBURG, Mo., digitalBURG) – Notification that a substitute teacher was arrested at Ridgeview Elementary School on Wednesday was delayed several hours as school officials awaited information from the Missouri State Highway Patrol.
Joshua B. Woodard was arrested at the school on suspicion of 10 counts of child pornography, according to police reports.
Superintendent Scott Patrick said Highway Patrol and Warrensburg Police escorted Woodward off campus between 10 and 10:30 a.m. Patrick said no students were present during the arrest. However, parents were not notified about the arrest until 9 p.m. that evening.
“We knew that he had been arrested, but it wasn’t until about 7 o’clock Wednesday night that we received any details about the arrest, about what it was,” Patrick said.
Patrick said that’s when district officials began to prepare a press release to send out to parents and Ridgeview faculty and staff.
“We weren’t going to rush to put things out when we weren’t sure about the information we were going to release,” he said.
Woodard is being held in Johnson County Jail on a $500,000 bond. His initial arraignment was Friday at the Johnson County Justice Center. His next hearing is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. May 28.