A former substitute teacher accused of statutory rape and sodomy was found dead Monday in his cell at the St. Louis County Justice Center in Missouri.
Thirty-year-old Brandon Holbrook was alone and under quarantine when a corrections officers found him, Doug Moore, the spokesman for County Executive Sam Page told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
The man was later pronounced dead at a hospital, and the cause is currently under investigation. In addition, there were reportedly no signs of drug use or suicide.
The outlet noted an autopsy was pending, adding that “Holbrook is the third inmate at the St. Louis County Jail to die this year.”
KMOV reported Tuesday he was a former Mehlville School District substitute teacher:
He had been charged with raping a former student, a 14-year-old girl from Bernard Middle School, the Post-Dispatch article continued:
Holbrook, of the 3100 block of Nebraska Avenue in St. Louis, was charged with three counts of second-degree statutory rape and six counts of second-degree statutory sodomy. Police said Holbrook apparently met the girl at the school in May and began grooming her via social media. Holbrook went to her home three times and raped her, charges said.
The Rape, Abuse, and Incest National Network (RAINN) defines grooming as “manipulative behaviors that the abuser uses to gain access to a potential victim, coerce them to agree to the abuse, and reduce the risk of being caught.”
The action may happen online or in person and is normally done by a relative or another trusted person such as a coach, teacher, or youth group leader.
When it comes to a child’s safety online, they and their parents are encouraged to stay alert because people are not always what they appear to be, according to the United States Department of Justice.
Meanwhile, two other possible victims contacted authorities once Holbrook had been charged.
At the jail, a corrections officer tried to revive Holbrook, who was also given Narcan as a normal procedure.
He had been in quarantine waiting on a second negative coronavirus test which was standard practice before an inmate was moved to areas with others.
“Holbrook was jailed on a $500,000 cash bail and had a bond reduction hearing scheduled for Tuesday, the day after he died. His preliminary hearing in the case was more than two weeks away,” the Post-Dispatch article said.