A former Ursuline Academy teacher faces up to two years in prison after he admitted to possessing or viewing nude child material.
Colin Higgins, 33, pleaded guilty on Aug. 27 in Butler County Common Pleas Court to two felony counts related to viewing material involving nude minors.
His attorney, Brandon Moermond, confirmed he taught at Ursuline Academy, an all-girls Catholic school in Blue Ash.
The school said in a statement to The Enquirer that Higgins hadn’t been on campus since April, the time when school officials were made aware of the investigation by law enforcement. He has since been terminated.
“We have no reason to believe that anything related to these charges involved Ursuline students, happened on Ursuline’s campus, or otherwise involved the Ursuline community,” spokesperson Laura Kammerer said in the statement.
The charges against Higgins were filed on Aug. 13. He faces up to a year in prison for each count.
Before he pleaded guilty, a judge ordered that Higgins avoid children and stay off the internet unless necessary as part of his bond. Higgans has now been ordered to register as a tier 1 sex offender, requiring in-person verification with the sheriff’s office every year for 15 years, a court document states.
Court records did not provide specifics on the circumstances surrounding Higgins’ actions. Moermond declined to comment further on the case.
A hearing for his sentencing is scheduled for 9:30 a.m. on Oct. 13.
Who is Colin Higgins?
Higgins was part of the language department at Ursuline, according to a school document from the 2021-22 academic year. He began language at Ursuline Academy in 2020, according to his LinkedIn page.
Higgins’ profile said he received a master in Spanish from Ohio University in 2017.
Ursuline Academy advertises itself as an all-girls Catholic college preparatory high school founded in 1896. About 500 students attend, according to its website.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Ursuline Academy teacher fired, guilty in nude child material case