ANCHORAGE, Alaska – A former Alaska “Teacher of the Year” is being charged with molesting a student during the time of his honor.

Schwantes in the union newsletter.

David Schwantes, now in his 70s and retired, was a 3rd and 4th-grade teacher at Mt. Spurr Elementary School on Elmendorf Air Force Base from 1968 to 1993, where the alleged abuse occurred, KTUU reports.

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During that time, he was named Anchorage “Teacher of the Year” in 1989 and Alaska “Teacher of the Year” in 1990.

He went on to be a substitute teacher in the mid-1990s and help with after-school programs.

“Schwantes started sexually abusing a student at Mount Spurr Elementary, the former student told Anchorage police in September. A detective with the department’s special victims unit began investigating, leading police to arrest Schawntes on Wednesday,” according to the news station.

Police believe he molested the student at the school and elsewhere, and that he may have other victims.

“At this time it is not known for how many years this abusive behavior went on, therefore Schwantes’ entire years of tenure must be examined,” Anchorage Police Department spokesperson Jennifer Castro says, according to the Alaska Dispatch News.

Schwantes was active in the NEA-Alaska/Retired group. So active, apparently, the union profiled him in the Spring 2013 newsletter, in an article titled, “Spotlight On… Mr. Pot o’ Gold.”

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The union reported Schwantes “is still active in political campaigns and keeping in contact with his legislators. He has attended many Delegate Assemblies and Representative Assemblies and just finished serving on the PACE committee.”

In newsletter claims the retired teacher had one last item on his bucket list: “being in Times Square on New Year’s Eve to watch the ball drop.”

The article concluded, now rather ominously:

Now, we haven’t put this mention in the story and if you are new to the ranks of the retired or are pre-retired, you may not know about ye olde pot o’ gold. But the next time you run into David, be sure to ask him about his freezer!

The unnamed victim has filed a lawsuit against Schwantes and the district, according to the Dispatch News.

The complaint alleges that the teacher sexually abused the victim for a decade, from 1988 to 1998. The former student is suing for damages in excess of $100,000.