Parents, Neighbors React To Allegations Against Former Norman Teacher

Parents and neighbors react to the arrest of a Norman middle school teacher.

He's accused of trying to meet up with a 9-year-old for sex.

Turns out, he was caught in an undercover investigation.

That El Reno police officer had been in contact with Joseph Love for quite some time.

This all started when Love placed an ad on Craigslist back in March trying to arrange a meeting with an underage male for sex.

8/4/2015 Related Story: Former Norman Teacher Accused Of Trying To Solicit Sex With Child

“It’s absolutely horrible,” neighbor Karin Fain said.

It was an investigation El Reno police say lasted several months.

The Craigslist ad read: "Any dads like to perv over their young sons, let's talk."

“You don’t think you’ll ever live next door to anyone like that, and then it happens. Wow,” neighbor Judith Guy said.

Neighbors tell us 25-year-old Love has only lived in this Norman duplex for a few weeks.

“Yeah, that shocks me, I had no idea,” neighbor Karin Fain said. “People are getting out of hand, they need to know what’s right and wrong."

Fain lives right next door.

“There’s a lot of kids on this street, and everybody’s outside watching the kids, and they all know about stranger danger,” neighbor Sarah Combs said.

Love was a language arts teacher at Longfellow Middle School.

“I mean you would think you could trust the teachers, but apparently not,” Combs said.  

“It’s sick. But, you know it happens, and unfortunately it happens more and more every day,” said Longfellow Middle parent Eric Sager. 

News 9 broke the news to Sager who says his children have gone to Longfellow Middle School for years.

“You know, you hear about everything all the time and you don’t realize how bad it is until something like that happens at your kids school, and then you realize how close it is to home,” Sager said. “Hopefully this is something they caught in time, and nip it in the bud and take care of it before any kids do get hurt.”

Norman Public Schools released the below statement: 

“Student safety is a priority for Norman Public Schools. We were informed today by the El Reno Police Department of charges filed against a temporary teacher assigned to Longfellow Middle School and we are cooperating with investigators. We have received the employee’s resignation, prior to the district’s recommendation for termination, and he is no longer employed with the district. The district soon will make appropriate Oklahoma State Board of Education notifications in compliance with recent state legislation."

Love was charged with four felony counts.

Right now, he's out on $60,500 bond.