St. Helens High School Principal Kathryn “Katy” M. Wagner was arraigned in Columbia County Circuit Court on Wednesday afternoon on a six-count indictment, the latest development to rock the 2,800-student school district.

Wagner, 45, turned herself in to Columbia County Jail at 6:58 a.m. Wednesday and was arrested on a warrant. Just over four hours later, at 11:24 a.m., she was released from jail after posting 10% of her $55,000 bail.

Accompanied by her lawyer Jeffrey M. Jones, she arrived at the courthouse to a flank of parents, former high school staff and the two main St. Helens police detectives handling the case who lined a second-floor hallway, waiting to enter the courtroom. One woman wore a shirt that read, “Your Silence is Sus.”

Jones entered not guilty pleas on Wagner’s behalf to two counts of first-degree criminal mistreatment, felonies, and two counts each of first-degree official misconduct and second-degree official misconduct, misdemeanors.

The indictment accuses Wagner of failing to report alleged sexual abuse involving two teachers as required by law and failing to care for students under her supervision from approximately November 2018 to Nov. 26, 2024.

Circuit Judge Denise E. Keppinger ordered Wagner not to have any contact with the two high school teachers arrested earlier this month on sexual abuse charges, the alleged victims in those cases and not to hold any education-related employment or any other job that requires mandatory reporting of suspected abuse.

Jones had objected to the last condition, which Columbia County Deputy District Attorney Erin Leigh Brady had recommended.

“She is presumed innocent,” Jones told the judge.

He said that his client has “spent an awful lot of her life becoming an educator,” and argued that the final condition barring her from any education-related job was not necessary.

“Everyone knows Ms. Wagner and what she’s charged with,” Jones added.

But the judge said she found the restriction reasonable, given the charges Wagner is facing, and asked Wagner if she agreed to abide by them.

“I do,” Wagner said.

The principal’s arrest is the latest fallout from multiple criminal and administrative investigations into alleged sexual misconduct complaints against staff and administrators’ alleged mishandling of them.

It also follows just months after the district settled a civil rights suit for a record $3.5 million that was filed by a former student who alleged the district was aware for more than a decade of former track coach Kyle Wroblewski’s predatory behavior but did nothing before he was arrested for sexually abusing her.

Wagner’s indictment was issued exactly two weeks after two high school teachers — one current and one retired — were arrested on sexual abuse allegations.

Eric Stearns, 46, is accused of abusing six students between 2015 and 2024. He has pleaded not guilty to seven counts of second-degree sexual abuse and one count of third-degree sex abuse.

Mark Collins, 64, of Beaverton, a retired St. Helens High School math teacher, has pleaded not guilty to two counts of second-degree sexual abuse and one count of attempted second-degree sexual abuse. He’s accused of abusing three students starting in 2017, court records show.

Both Stearns and Collins were arrested on Nov. 12, setting off a firestorm that led to a student walkout at the high school and nearby protest. Students and parents have said that school administrators failed to act immediately to stem the misconduct after receiving complaints about inappropriate teachers’ physical contact with students.

St. Helens Acting Police Chief Jospeh Hogue told The Oregonian earlier this month that material obtained by police from a subpoena issued to the district verified that students at the time had reported alleged inappropriate physical contact involving Stearns and Collins to the school administration but that those reports were never shared with police or state officials as required by law.

About 35 people attended the brief hearing in court Wednesday, including TikTok creator Doug Weaver, who was identified as one of the people who prompted the investigations.

Students had messaged him directly and commented on a video he had posted in September about misconduct he said he experienced while at the high school years ago. He then sent an email to SafeOregon, a state school safety tip line, in September sharing comments the St. Helens High students had made about current and former teachers. Stearns was among those identified in the comments and Collins was named by students during the investigation, according to the acting police chief.

Weaver, a St. Helens High School alumnus in town for the Thanksgiving holiday, said he wanted to attend the principal’s arraignment in court, partly because he said she had “tried to discredit” him after his video was posted in the fall.

Wagner had sent a message to the student body, staff and parents, responding to one of Weaver’s TikTok videos, writing on Sept. 14: “Retraumatization and revisiting past issues that have been addressed make it difficult to move forward in a positive direction as a school community…Sharing videos on social media about events that took place over a decade ago without any context simply invokes fear, spreads rumors and harms our current students and staff, who are doing all the right things.”

Other former St. Helens High School teachers and parents also attended Wagner’s arraignment.

Shane Kennedy, executive director of an advocacy group called SAFE of Columbia that supports domestic violence and sexual abuse victims and a parent of a St. Helens High School sophomore, said she felt compelled to watch the arraignment. She said her daughter has had classes with the two teachers arrested, and has attended out-of-state choir trips led by Stearns. She was not a victim but is angered that students’ complaints were not addressed sooner, Kennedy said.

“I feel the need to do whatever I can here to support the students,” said Terri MacEllven, a former St. Helens High special education teacher who had reported to Wagner. “There’s been a history here for far too long. It shouldn’t have come to this.”

Wagner is due back in court on Jan. 22.

Police are also investigating alleged criminal conduct by a St. Helens Middle School teacher, who has not been charged. The Oregon Department of Human Services announced last week it was investigating both Wagner and Superintendent Scot Stockwell for alleged neglect due to failure to report child safety concerns.

Stockwell and Wagner remain on paid administrative leave.

Acting Superintendent Steve Webb announced this week that he plans to appoint an acting St. Helens High School principal. An outside, independent investigation will start Monday and focus on the district’s mandatory reporting policies, reporting of suspected harassment allegations and other misconduct, staff ethics, training and assess the district’s culture, Webb said.