WYOMING, Mich. — The case of an ex-middle school teacher accused of sexually assaulting a former student in 1996 is headed to circuit court.
Charles Elsenheimer, 49, of Wyoming was bound over Wednesday afternoon in Wyoming District Court.
He's charged with Criminal Sexual Conduct 1st Degree which is a felony punishable by up to life in prison.
Elsenheimer was a band teacher at Godwin Heights Middle School when the offense allegedly occurred. The victim, a middle school student at the time, came forward to police in late 2021, which launched an investigation into the allegations.
Elsenheimer also worked at EDUstaff as a substitute teacher from August through November 2021.
EDUstaff is a K through 12 substitute staffing organization serving hundreds of public school districts nationwide.
A spokesperson says Elsenheimer passed a background check as well as an Employer Reference Check, and he was terminated as soon as they received allegations of this criminal incident.
A spokesperson for Grandville Public Schools says he worked in the district for four days in early Fall 2021.
He also worked at Wyoming Public Schools in September and October of 2021.
Both assignments were at the elementary level, K through 4th grade.
During his probable cause conference Wednesday afternoon in district court, a judge set in place a condition Elsenheimer would have no contact with minors.
Right now, the prosecutors office as well as the Kent Court Sheriff's Office are not investigating any other open cases against Elsenheimer.
In the 1996 case, court documents show three of the victim's classmates at the time knew of Elsenheimer's inappropriate behavior and Elsenheimer admitted to police he had an inappropriate relationship while he was the victim's band teacher and stated 'he knew it was wrong.'
A Kent County prosecuting attorney said there's evidence to prove additional counts of Criminal Sexual Conduct First Degree should the case go to trial.
Investigators are asking if anyone has information regarding this case to please contact the Wyoming Department of Public Safety at (616) 530-7300 or Silent Observer at (616) 774-2345; 1-866-774-2345; or https://www.silentobserver.org.
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