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A fourth-grade teacher at an Oregon elementary school was arrested in an undercover operation and faces four charges, including the attempted rape of a girl in Redmond, Washington.
Andrew Bert Hammond, a 54-year-old teacher at McMinnville Elementary School in Oregon, was caught by police in an undercover operation in which they created fake profiles on location-based dating apps.
Hammond was charged with communication with a minor for immoral purposes, attempted rape of a child in the second degree, and attempted rape of a child in the third degree. He was imposed a $100,000 bail at the King County Correctional Center, where he is being held, authorities said.
Attempted rape via dating app
City police officers posed as multiple teenage girls on one of the dating apps and were first contacted by Hammond in October, according to the Police Department.
According to the police report, the detectives used two different fake profiles, pretending to be 13- and 14-year-old girls, and both established ongoing communication with Hammond. The subject did not desist from engaging in “sexually motivated conversations” despite knowing the age of the alleged minors.
After months of “sexually motivated communications,” Hammond proposed meeting the minors at a hotel in Redmond on March 25 to engage in sexual activity. He was arrested after checking into his hotel room.
Police executed a search warrant on his vehicle and found additional evidence indicating that the teacher planned to engage in sexual acts with the minors, including condoms, lubricant, handcuffs, and duct tape.
