Gari D. Tookes, director of FAMU’s Master of Social Work program, has been charged in the alleged sexual abuse of a male minor that investigators said went on for years.
According to a story first published in the Tallahassee Democrat, Tookes, 36, was arrested, and booked in the Leon County jail, on Thursday on charges of sexual battery, lewd and lascivious battery and lewd and lascivious molestation, according to court records.
According to the arrest report, the victim said Tookes began touching him "inappropriately" when he was in elementary school and that the last incident occurred when he was a young teenager.
The boy told investigators the abuse "literally happened all the time."
The Sheriff's Office said it got information about a sexual battery in late February from the Department of Families and Children who received a report through the state hotline detailing the sexual abuse and battery of a minor.
"Through investigative means, LCSO Violent Crimes detectives learned Tookes had criminal sexual contact with the victim for several years prior to the report,” the Sheriff's Office said in a news release.
Tookes, who was hired in August 2018, appeared to be a rising young star in the FAMU College of Social Sciences Arts and Humanities. Last March, the University touted him in a news release for having won a $1.2 million state grant to run a criminal justice project in Gadsden County. He was also a research grantee through FAMU's Medical Marijuana Education and Research Initiative.
"The Human Resources Department is reviewing the status of Tookes' relationship with the university," a university spokesperson told the Democrat Thursday night.
According to a story first published in the Tallahassee Democrat, Tookes, 36, was arrested, and booked in the Leon County jail, on Thursday on charges of sexual battery, lewd and lascivious battery and lewd and lascivious molestation, according to court records.
According to the arrest report, the victim said Tookes began touching him "inappropriately" when he was in elementary school and that the last incident occurred when he was a young teenager.
The Sheriff's Office said it got information about a sexual battery in late February from the Department of Families and Children who received a report through the state hotline detailing the sexual abuse and battery of a minor.
"Through investigative means, LCSO Violent Crimes detectives learned Tookes had criminal sexual contact with the victim for several years prior to the report,” the Sheriff's Office said in a news release.
Tookes, who was hired in August 2018, appeared to be a rising young star in the FAMU College of Social Sciences Arts and Humanities. Last March, the University touted him in a news release for having won a $1.2 million state grant to run a criminal justice project in Gadsden County. He was also a research grantee through FAMU's Medical Marijuana Education and Research Initiative.
"The Human Resources Department is reviewing the status of Tookes' relationship with the university," a university spokesperson told the Democrat Thursday night.