A teacher in Ford County, GIBSON CITY, Ill. (WCIA), was dismissed last month following a police investigation into allegations that he sent inappropriate text messages to students. The school district has now provided additional information regarding these texts and other inappropriate behavior.
WCIA obtained a redacted version of the statement outlining the accusations against Robbie Dinkins, a former math teacher at Gibson City Middle School, through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request on Thursday evening.
The report reveals that Dinkins used emotional text messages to share personal stressors with students, such as the loss of loved ones. He also confessed to investigators that he occasionally texted students while under the influence of alcohol.
“Your texts were sent late at night and significantly crossed the boundaries of a student/teacher or athlete/coach relationship,” the district wrote to Dinkins. “Your text messages caused students distress over your safety and state of mind.”
The district gave Dinkins a warning of only contacting students and parents on school-sanctioned platforms, like Thrillshare and Remind, in July 2024. He continued to text on his phone and did not guide students to use other platforms despite the warning.
In addition, Dinkins would repeatedly meet with students alone, at his house, after hours on school property and in his car offering rides to students. At his house, students would “use medical equipment, organize soccer equipment, have meals, or just hang out.”
Dinkins also was physically affectionate with students, the reports notes, including hugging students in public and telling students he loved them both in private and in public.
All of these allegations “created at least the appearance of impropriety” of student-staff relationships, the board of education noted.
“You developed trusting relationships with students and their families and then violated that trust when you allowed those relationships to cross the professional boundaries expected by a teacher and a coach,” part of the statement reads.
The district noted that Dinkins completed training in Aug. 2023 and Aug. 2024 on what is grooming and what could be perceived as grooming.
Dinkins was also invited to testify in front of the board in closed session regarding the allegations. He declined; instead he wrote a statement to the board.
The school board voted unanimously to terminate Dinkins on April 23. He was previously placed on administrative leave.
A special prosecutor has been appointed by the Ford County State’s Attorney to investigate the case.
