Former North Central High teacher, coach on trial for alleged sexual conduct with two students

Andre Ervin was the teacher who gave high-fives and side hugs to students, who often called him by his first name, said Spokane County deputy prosecutor Hannah Stearns.

“He was the fun teacher,” she said.

But Stearns said the 48-year-old former North Central High School in-school suspension teacher and boys basketball coach crossed the line with two 16-year-old girls in his class almost one year ago.

Ervin is on trial for sexual misconduct, possession of depictions of a minor engaged in sexually explicit conduct and two counts of communication with a minor for immoral purposes.

Ervin was placed on leave from “all district positions” because of the charges, according to an email last year from Ryan Lancaster, Spokane Public Schools spokesman.

One of the students, now 17, testified Wednesday that she and her friend, the other victim in this case, were attending in-school suspension last March. The girls were talking about a boy one of them liked and his private parts.

The girl said Ervin overheard the conversation, crouched next to her and asked an inappropriate question. She said she laughed it off, but felt “very uncomfortable.”

She said Ervin helped another student before returning to her, saying she could not tell anyone about their conversation because he could get in trouble.

Meanwhile, Ervin’s attorney, Bevan Maxey, said Ervin told the girls to shut the inappropriate conversation down.

The girl told police that the next day she approached Ervin as he was seated at his desk to ask him a schoolwork question. Ervin put his arm out and pulled her in close so his face was at her “breast level,” holding her tight for an extended period, she alleged in court documents.

The same day, she said Ervin rubbed her back while she was at her desk.

The other teen said in court documents she and Ervin passed notes to each other while she was serving in-school suspension.

She said one of Ervin’s notes asked what she thought of him, and another said, “Are we flirting?” She wrote a note back to him that insinuated they were flirting, documents say.

She told police that, later, Ervin touched her thigh and knee and moved his hand up and down her leg for three to five minutes at her desk. After helping another student, she said Ervin returned to her desk, crouched again and rubbed her breast with his hand and gripped her thigh.

Ervin asked her if she could stay after class and told her he wanted to see her over the summer, she told police.

Maxey said the girl emailed Ervin at the end of the school day and asked if his actions were going to continue the next day. Maxey said Ervin apologized for invading her space and said it was tight in that area of the room.

The next day Ervin asked the student if she and the other girl “get down,” and if the student would put nude photos of herself on a USB drive for him, documents say. Ervin had her phone at the time because she turned it in to him at the start of the school day.

Shortly after, Ervin told her he wanted to see her nude photos, the documents say. She said she opened the phone and Ervin took it into the bathroom.

Maxey said the girl was not using her phone for school purposes so Ervin retrieved it, but did not see what was in the phone and did not take the phone to the bathroom.

Ervin told police he commonly keeps students’ phones during the school day. He recalled hearing the two girls having an inappropriate conversation and engaging with them about it in a “lighthearted way,” according to documents.

Ervin acknowledged passing notes with one of the girls and believed the girl was flirting with him based on her mannerisms, he told police. Ervin said he wanted to “verify his suspicions,” documents say.

He said he touched one of the student’s breasts and thigh, but that he had “slipped” when it happened.

Ervin told police he could have handled the situation better, acknowledged engaging in conversations he should not have and said he was not proud of himself.

Elizabeth Gear, a student-teacher at North Central at the time, told the court Wednesday she taught both girls last school year and could tell something was “very wrong” when they came to her the first day back from Spring Break, April 10. She said it was one of the worst days of her student-teaching experience when she learned of the girls’ claims.

“They were very frantic,” Gear said of the two girls.

She said one of the girls is usually goofy and happy, but had “tears in her eyes and was freaking out.”

She said she reported the incidents to the principal.

Maxey asked the jury of 12 men and two women to carefully examine inconsistencies in witness statements. He said Ervin was well liked and respected by school staff.

The trial resumes Thursday, and closing arguments are expected sometime next week.