A Missouri substitute teacher, who was jailed after being charged with raping an underage child, has been found unresponsive in his cell.
30-year-old Brandon Holbrook was arrested on allegations he raped a 14-year-old student he met at Bernard Middle School in St. Louis, where he worked as a substitute teacher. The St. Louis County Police Department announced Holbrook’s arrest on September 19.
Holbrook was accused of raping the minor in her own home on three occasions and threatening her to keep it a secret. “Through the investigation, it was learned that Holbrook engaged in sexual contact with the victim and made veiled threats if the victim disclosed the information,” police said.
According to court documents, Holbrook was accused of grooming the victim through social media and sexually abusing her at her home three times. Holbrook was awaiting trial at the St. Louis County Justice Center.
On Monday, he was found unresponsive in his cell by a corrections officer at about 4 pm. He was transported to a hospital where he was pronounced dead.
He was facing six counts of statutory sodomy second degree and three counts of statutory rape second degree.
Doug Moore, the chief communications officer for St. Louis County, said that there were “no signs of drug use or indications of suicide” in his cell. The cause of death had not yet been determined.
Holbrook was alone in his cell and under quarantine when he died.
“Holbrook had met with a mental health case worker earlier that day, and he was fine,” Moore added.
Police believed that he might have had other victims because he had been a substitute teacher at other schools in the St. Louis area.
The St. Louis Dispatch reported that Holbrook was the third inmate to die at the St. Louis County Jail this year.