Ernest Nichols, North Carolina Middle School Teacher, Arrested and Charged with Raping 15 Year Old Girl

Middle school teacher Ernest Nichols, 44, of Huntersville, NC, has been arrested and charged with raping a 15 year old girl. He made his first court appearance yesterday. He faces 27 charges, including multiple offenses of rape, second-degree sex offense, crime against nature, indecent liberties with children and kidnapping. He is currently being held in the Mecklenburg County jail on $810,000 bond.

Nichols is a physical education teacher at Ranson Middle School since 2004, but Huntersville police siad the victim was not a student at the school and the attacks happened at Nichols’ home on Willow Grove Way. The alleged victim is a friend of his family. Lt. Ken Richardson said the alleged attacks took place over a period of about six months, from last November until this spring. He said the girl, who was 15 when the alleged assaults took place but is now 16, did not come to police until Wednesday.

Nichols has been suspended with pay, pending the outcome of his case. Nichols was hired by CMS in 1991 and worked at several schools, including North Mecklenburg High and South Mecklenburg High, before moving to Ranson Middle five years ago. According to a spokesperson for the school district, CMS had recently started conducting random criminal-background checks on employees, and Nichols had been checked. The checks turned up charges in the early 1980s, related to check-writing, but officials decided that did not affect his ability to teacher. There was no history of sex offenses.

Photo credit: Ernest Nichols, Charlotte Observer