Broughton teacher resigns amid new child sex-offense charges in Wake County

Steven Kohls resigned from Broughton Magnet High School after Wake County Public School System confirmed he had been added to a widening child sex-offense case. The 57-year-old teacher, who had worked at Broughton since 2016, appeared before a Wake County judge on six additional counts of statutory sex offense of a child by an adult, and the total number of charges tied to the case rose to 19.

Prosecutors allege the offenses stretched from 2005 to 2016 and involved the same child. Other charging documents described the case as covering a 10-year span and involving three child victims. Wake County officials said none of the alleged conduct happened on school property, a detail that has done little to calm concerns among parents at one of Raleigh’s best-known public high schools.

Kohls remained jailed without bond and has been ordered to have no contact with anyone younger than 18. Wake County sheriff’s deputies were first notified of an alleged sexual assault on May 2, 2026, and Kohls was arrested on May 13, 2026. The first round of charges initially totaled 13 before the newer counts were added.

Broughton’s principal told families Kohls had been suspended with pay before the resignation was confirmed. Wake County Public School System also said students and families had already been notified about the allegations. The Wake County district attorney said the allegations were first reported in 2022, adding a longer timeline that raises questions about when information reached investigators and what steps, if any, were available earlier.

The case has also prompted action outside the school system. Scouting America said Kohls has been removed and banned for life, another sign of how quickly the allegations have spread beyond the classroom and into other institutions that had worked with him.

For Wake County, the resignation changes Kohls’ employment status, but not the underlying criminal case or the concerns it has created for families at Broughton and across the district. Wake County Public School System is the largest school district in North Carolina, and how it handled notice, supervision and response in this case will remain under scrutiny as the investigation continues.