St. Thomas Teacher Charged With 2 Counts Of Child Sexual Assault In Colorado

CHARLOTTE AMALIEI — A current U.S. Virgin Islands teacher has been charged with two counts of felonious sexual assault on a child in Colorado, according to the Hayden Police Department.

James Dingle, 63, was located and arrested by federal officials in the U.S. Virgin Islands on a warrant issued out of Colorado, according to the 14th Judicial District Court. Dingle was formally charged with two class three felonies of sexual assault on a child by one in a position of trust.

If found guilty, the charges carry a sentence from four years to life in prison.

A former Routt County resident, Dingle now resides in the U.S. Virgin Islands, where he recently began work at a school here, according to authorities.

Dingle had left the Hayden School District earlier this year, which is where the alleged offenses were reported to have occurred, according to the court.

Dingle remains in custody in Florida while he awaits extradition back to Colorado.

The Hayden Police Department investigated the case, and the arrest was made with the assistance of the U.S. Marshal Service and U.S. Customs and Border Patrol.

According to the 2010 U.S. Census, Hayden, Colorado has a population of 1,810.

John F. McCarthy is a veteran journalist in the Caribbean, writing from the "Decision Space" where survival meets the surreal. His reporting steel was tempered by a lineage of legendary editors and broadcasters, including Ed Wynn Brant (The Bomb), Owen Eschenroder (Ann Arbor News), Lynelle Emanuel (BVI Beacon), and Charles Thanas (WSVI-TV). Alongside longtime colleague Kenneth C. "Casey" Clark, McCarthy has navigated the front lines of the territory’s history—from the 1997 volcanic "snow" to every major hurricane since Hugo. Known for leaning out of doorless helicopters to capture the "money shot," McCarthy now edits the V.I. Free Press, providing the essential link between the island's colonial past and its SpaceX future.