VANCOUVER, Wash. — The arrest of a Hudson’s Bay High School teacher last week was prompted by allegations from a former student who reported that she had been sexually victimized by the teacher while she was a student in 2013, according to court documents filed Monday — although the teacher was already under investigation for separate incidents when the victim came forward.
The teacher, Shadbreon Gatson, was arrested Friday and booked on charges of sexual misconduct with a minor. Vancouver Public Schools officials confirmed in a letter to parents that Gatson had been placed on administrative leave in November and was then arrested due to “claims of inappropriate behavior,” but declined to elaborate, citing the ongoing investigation.
According to a probable cause affidavit authored by a Vancouver police detective, the victim whose allegations prompted the arrest came forward on Dec. 2, after Gatson had already been placed on leave. The victim told police and the school district that she had been sexually victimized by Gatson in 2013, when she was 16 and he was 31.
In court on Monday, prosecutors said there may be another allegation involving a student in 2024, and claimed that Gatson had received letters of admonishment in 2017 for failing to maintain boundaries with two other female students that year and a letter of direction in 2009 about how to interact with female students.
The victim who came forward on Dec. 2 said she decided to go to the police now because of her ongoing emotional trauma stemming from the incidents and her suspicion that Gatson may have victimized other students, according to the affidavit.
After interviewing the victim, the detective concluded that Gatson had “engaged in an ongoing sexual relationship with his student” that he apparently began by arranging for her to serve detention in his classroom after school, according to the affidavit.
Gatson allegedly engaged in sexual activity with the victim “on several occasions” in 2013 at both the school and his home, according to the affidavit. The detective also interviewed a friend of the victim, who said she went with the victim to Gatson’s house on one occasion and witnessed them being physically intimate.
In another incident, a custodian reported to district officials that he had interrupted Gatson and the victim while they were having sex in the school band room after hours, according to the affidavit. The former custodian remembered the incident in detail when interviewed by the detective in 2024.
The custodian’s report in 2013 prompted an investigation by the school district, during which Gatson and the victim both denied any inappropriate conduct. A disciplinary letter was added to Gatson’s file “along with additional accusations of misconduct with other female students between 2009 and 2017,” according to the affidavit.
A Vancouver Police Department spokesperson told KGW there are no records of police being contacted about the incident at the time.
Speaking to the detective in 2024, the victim said she had lied to school officials about the band room incident “due to her former romantic relationship with Shadbreon and Shadbreon’s direction to her at the time,” according to the affidavit.
The detective was also able to read journals that the victim kept and letters between her and Gatson that she had saved, some of which documented an inappropriate romantic relationship and sexual activity. The journals were a school assignment from Gatson, according to the affidavit.
The detective tried to interview Gatson on Dec. 4 “through a similar, but separate investigation pertaining to another student” at the school, according to the affidavit, but Gatson declined to make any statements and referred police to his attorney.
The judge set Gatson’s bail at $100,000 on Monday. His next court appearance is scheduled for Jan. 6. Gatson’s wife was in court on Monday but she and his lawyer both declined to comment.
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