CMS teacher charged with taking indecent liberties with students turns himself in, police say

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — A Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools teacher accused of taking indecent liberties with a minor turned himself into authorities Saturday morning, police said.

Taji Brown, 29, is facing charges of 13 counts of indecent liberties with a child and 13 counts of indecent liberties with a student.

The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department confirmed to Channel 9 that more accusers have come forward with claims of inappropriate contact from a CMS teacher.

Detectives identified three additional male juvenile victims.

Brown is charged with sexually-abusing two boys while at his home mentoring program.

(Taji Brown)

Currently, CMS has no policy when it comes to out-of-school access between teachers and students.

In April, the Billingsville Elementary teacher was one of 20 CMS teachers honored for being positive leaders in their school.

He is now charged with sexually assaulting boys who spent the night at his home.

Those boys were attending a mentoring camp put on by Brown.

(Charles Naas)

In July, Alexander Graham Middle teacher Charles Naas was charged with indecent liberties and a sex act with a student.

Police said a teenage boy met with him for tutoring at a home.

"It is troubling, and I think we need to do a better job with our due diligence when we're hiring teachers," CMS Board Member Paul Bailey said.

(WEB EXTRA: CMS Board Member Paul Bailey talks about need to hire trustworthy teachers)

Bailey said background checks need to be more thorough on teachers and teachers should be able to make extra money tutoring while helping kids who need extra help.

"It's important for the teachers from a salary perspective, and it's important for the kids," Bailey said. "So I don't think there should be any policy that prohibits our teachers from doing tutoring."

But parent Caitlin Puterbaugh said there need to be some boundaries.

"I would think I would like to see some sort of rules in place. Let's meet in a neutral place, like a library," she said.

Bailey said hurting the thousands of teachers who are legitimately trying to help students would create more issues trying to retain good teachers.

CMS Board Chairwoman Mary McCray, who also reached out to Channel 9, said the board is limited in what it can say about what teachers do outside the classroom, but there are some ongoing conversations that could lead to discussions during a Policy Committee meeting.

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