School counselor arrested TWICE for soliciting child prostitute finally fired

Fairfax County Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Michelle Reid sent a letter out on Thursday, confirming the firing of Counselor Darren Thornton, 50, from Glasgow Middle School in Lincolnia. He was arrested once in 2020, and another time in June 2022 for solicitation of prostitution from a minor, both which the school knew about, the Chesterfield County Police Department told DCNF.

While Reid insisted that she and the school board “took immediate steps” to fire Thornton as soon as they were of the situation, a CCPD spokesperson said that they had notified Fairfax County Public Schools of Thornton’s first arrest on Nov. 20, 2020, and again after Thornton’s second arrest on June 9, 2022. At the time of the first arrest, Reid was not the superintendent of the school district.

"Our records indicate the superintendent of Fairfax County Public Schools was notified of Mr. Thornton’s Nov. 19, 2020, arrest via email on Nov. 20, 2020. So, FCPS was notified about the arrest via email the day after the arrest," Elizabeth Caroon, CCPD's media and messaging manager said. "FCPS was notified again when Mr. Thornton was arrested again on June 9, 2022."

Thornton was still employed when he was added to the National Sex Offender Registry on June 21, 2022.

Now, the school district is petitioning to get Thornton’s teaching license revoked, according to the letter.

"In operationalizing this expectation, I have initiated a comprehensive, independent investigation by outside counsel into the circumstances surrounding this situation," Reid said.

"This is being carried out by an independent third party who has complete visibility into all internal processes. While I am not able to speak to the specifics of the investigation at this time, I can confirm that it covers both internal and external processes."

"I want to be very clear, there is nothing about this situation that is acceptable," FCPS Reid told ABC 7 on Friday.