A high school assistant principal who stands accused of sex crimes with a 10-year-old family member has been suspended with pay from his position at the school as he awaits trial, according to several reports.

“Melven Conway, the assistant principal at Ecorse High School was arrested at the school Monday morning on criminal sexual conduct charge,” WJBK reports. “The crimes allegedly happened about eight years ago and involved a relative of Conway who was 10 years old at the time.”

The girl, now a teenager, reportedly told several people about the incident before she officially came forward with the allegations in the spring of 2021. Conway has cooperated with investigators.

Originally, some reports said that Conway would be allowed to return to work while he awaits trial. He was released on a $7,500 bail after his Monday arraignment. But the school district reportedly confirmed that Conway will be suspended with pay until the matter is resolved.

“The Ecorse School District has been made aware of the arrest of Assistant Principal Melven Conway. We are going to work collaboratively with all law enforcement agencies involved as this investigation continues. As always, the security of our students and staff is our number one priority,” Superintendent Dr. Josha Talison said in a statement.

Monday, the school also sent home a notification of the arrest to parents.

“This morning an Ecorse Community High School staff member was taken into custody by law enforcement officials at the high school campus,” the letter, also sent by Talison, said. “At this time, the Ecorse Public School District has no additional information about the situation. The safety of our students, staff and community is one of our highest priorities. To the best of our knowledge aside from this staff member, no other Ecorse Public Students or staff are involved in this situation. We will continue to monitor this situation and deal with it as appropriate once more information is available.”

Ecorse Public Schools did not return The Michigan Star’s comment request.

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Pete D’Abrosca is a reporter at The Michigan Star and The Star News Network. Follow Pete on Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Melven Conway” by Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office. Background Photo “Ecorse High School” by Wayne County, Michigan.