Former Capital School District employee charged with child abuse

DOVER, Del. – A former William Henry Middle School employee has been charged with child abuse following an investigation that began last fall.

According to police, the investigation began on October 19th, when the School Resource Officer learned of an incident involving 55-year-old Richard Powell. It was reported that Powell had caused injury to an 11-year-old victim while at school. At the time of the incident, Powell was employed by the Capital School District as a paraprofessional.

Dover Police have been working with the Capital School District and the Delaware Department of Justice in this investigation, leading to a warrant being obtained for Powell. Powell turned himself in on Monday, where he was charged with third degree child abuse and released on his own recognizance.

The Capital School District released the following statement:

“We want to address an incident that occurred last fall involving one of our former employees.

After investigating the incident, Capital School District contacted the Division of Family Services and has since cooperated with law enforcement. The District also informed the Delaware Department of Education of the incident and separation from employment, as we are required to do by law, and we have been cooperating with their investigators to provide information as requested.

Our district takes matters of student safety very seriously.

In light of this, we are committed to reassessing our training programs and procedures to be proactive with a focus on prevention. Our priority remains providing a safe and supportive environment for all students.”