MADISON TOWNSHIP –The Richland County Sheriff’s Office is investigating a former substitute teacher and wrestling coach at Madison Middle School who allegedly had ongoing sexually explicit conversations with a 15-year-old girl.
David James Gilbert, 26, had worked as a substitute teacher for Madison Local Schools and coach for almost three years.
Gilbert was first approved by the school board as an on-call substitute teacher in the spring of 2024.
That fall, the board approved him for a long-term substitute contract as a high school financial literacy teacher for the 2024-2025 school year.
He returned for the 2025-2026 school year, this time as a long-term substitute for a middle school intervention specialist.
He’d been approved by the school board to serve as an on-call substitute teacher this year.
School board agendas show Gilbert was approved as a middle school track volunteer for the 2024 and 2025 seasons and cross country volunteer for the fall 2026 season.
Instead, Gilbert was relieved of his duties and barred from school grounds on Sept. 3, “pending the outcome of an administrative investigation.”
Gilbert resigned from his duties two weeks later, while the school’s investigation was ongoing, citing “personal reasons.”
Concerns emerged when Gilbert was taking polygraph test
Concerns regarding Gilbert’s alleged behavior emerged on Sept. 2, when he was taking a polygraph test administered by a trooper at the Ohio State Highway Patrol’s Akron post.
The trooper contacted Deputy Caleb Ivy of the Richland County Sheriff’s Office on Sept. 2, stating Gilbert had attempted to complete the test when things “started to go south,” according to an incident report obtained from the RCSO.
The trooper told Ivy that Gilbert began to “open up” to him about his conversations with a 15-year-old girl about sexual activities, according to an incident report.
Gilbert reportedly denied touching the victim and said the victim had not touched him. He also denied the two had ever exchanged nude images, but said they discussed having sex once the victim turned 18.
Ivy, who serves as Madison’s school resource officer, informed high school administrators and the victim’s parents the next day.
Supt. Rob Peterson said the district acted immediately — placing Gilbert on administrative leave and implementing “supportive measures” for the student involved.
“We have high expectations and standards for the professional conduct of all of our employees, especially when the conduct involves one of our students,” Peterson said.
“When we receive allegations of misconduct, we take those allegations seriously, investigate them thoroughly, and when warranted, report them to law enforcement and the (Ohio State Board of Education) Office of Professional Conduct as we did in this instance.”
Peterson also said students are trained to recognize the difference between healthy and unhealthy relationships in all of school buildings, including through the health class curricula at both the middle school and high school levels.
Gilbert allegedly told the victim ‘they know everything’
During an interview on Sept. 3 with Det. Garrett Nedrow of the Richland County Sheriff’s Office, the alleged victim told law enforcement she’d met Gilbert in April and had been in contact with him since. She said the two “would talk about everything” and that discussion of sexual activities began in July.
She told the detective both of them said they wanted to have sex with each other, but she had told Gilbert they would have to wait until she was 18 years old.
The victim also told law enforcement she had sent Gilbert selfies, including ones taken at school, but never nude photos. Gilbert would allegedly respond to the images with a heart emoji or tell her she looked nice.
Gilbert told the state trooper he had masturbated to the photos he received from her.
The girl told Nedrow she knew she shouldn’t have been talking about sex with him and that “they were just good friends.”
Nedrow asked the girl if she believed she and Gilbert were in a relationship. The girl responded that “it felt like it and they both thought of it as a relationship,” according to the report.
She also told Nedrow that she had contacted Gilbert to ask how the polygraph test went and that Gilbert appeared to be nervous, telling her that “they knew everything about them.”
Ivy and Nedrow attempted to contact Gilbert at his place of residence, but he was not home, according to the report. Gilbert’s mother told the officers he had left the house that morning and she hadn’t heard from him since.
Richland Source contacted the Ohio Department of Public Safety to ask why Gilbert was undergoing a polygraph test, but did not receive a response in time for publication.
Major James Sweat of the Richland County Sheriff’s Office said he couldn’t comment further due to the ongoing investigation.
Records from Gilbert’s personnel file confirm Peterson reported the allegations against Gilbert to the State Board of Education and that the department subpoenaed certain records and contact information for Gilbert’s “personnel/disciplinary/investigative file.”
As of Thursday, Gilbert’s substitute license remained active, according to the Ohio State Board of Education’s website.
Attempts to contact Gilbert for comment on this story were unsuccessful.
