CHARLOTTE, NC — A man accused of raping a woman nearly 20 years ago while working at Johnson C. Smith University turned himself in Monday morning.
59-year-old Michael Peterson turned himself in to police around 9am. On March 9th, CMPD issued arrest warrants for Peterson charging him with four counts of Statutory Rape and four counts of Indecent Liberties with a Child.
Detectives say the incident happened back in 1998 on the campus of JCSU, but wasn’t reported until December 2017. The victim was roughly 15-years-old when the crime occurred.
Peterson was employed at JCSU from 1998-1999, according to University officials.
Since August 2016 Peterson has been working as a teacher’s assistant with Lake Norman Charter. The school says his primary role was to provide additional support for students with disabilities at the high school and middle school.
Saturday morning, officials with LNC say Peterson abruptly handed in his resignation effective immediately. Later that day, the school resource officer informed them of the investigation.
The following ConnectEd message was parents:
“Dear Parents,
Earlier today Mr. Michael Peterson submitted his resignation to Lake Norman Charter effective immediately. During his approximately three years of employment with LNC his primary role was to assist teachers in the classroom by providing additional support to our students with disabilities at the high school and middle school.
Since receiving his resignation we have learned that Mr. Peterson is under investigation relating to a sexual assault crime against a minor stemming back to 1998. Although this current charge has nothing to do with our school or any of our students we felt that we needed to make our parent community aware. Everybody should remember that people are entitled to the presumption of innocence until proven otherwise.
If you have concerns relating to this matter contact Shannon Stein, LNC superintendent.”
