St. Helens police have made two arrests in a case of alleged sexual abuse involving educators from St. Helens High School. According to a press release from the City of St. Helens, the arrests took place on Tuesday and involved a well-regarded current teacher at the high school, Eric Stearns, 46, and retired teacher Mark Collins, 64.

The culmination of the investigation led to detectives apprehending Eric Stearns within the 400 block of North 16th Street, as well as taking Mark Collins into custody on Port Avenue's 900 block. Intensive detective work, driven by grave allegations of sexual abuse, triggered a two-month probe by local law enforcement. After initial reports surfaced, interviews were immediately conducted by the police and a subpoena for relevant records was obtained, which identified former student victims and revealed additional potential victims, as reported by the City of St. Helens.

With the investigation wrapped up, the findings were delivered to the Columbia County District Attorney's Office, which led to the indictment of Stearns on seven counts of Sexual Abuse in the Second Degree and a single count of Sexual Abuse in the Third Degree. Collins, meanwhile, faces two counts of Sexual Abuse in the Second Degree and one count of Attempted Sexual Abuse in the Second Degree. Both suspects were placed in the Columbia County Jail awaiting further legal proceedings, as per the City of St. Helens.