A former public schoolteacher faces extradition to Bermuda from the United States to face a charge of sexual assault against a student, ten years after he was first accused.

The man, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, taught at the school at the time of the alleged incident on May 3, 2007, which was reported on the same day.

The teacher, an American citizen, was suspended from duties, but left the island that day on a flight to Nashville, Tennessee, before police were able to question him.

Charges were formally laid by the Bermuda Police Service in July 2007.

According to documents from the Director of Public Prosecutions’ office provided to this newspaper, a warrant appeared to have been issued in 2011, after The Royal Gazette reported that the accused had been charged with multiple counts of sexual abuse while working as a fourth-grade teacher in Huntsville, Alabama.

The Bermuda warrant was not considered urgent as the accused was facing trial, but local police were never notified that a grand jury failed to hand down an indictment — meaning that the charges were dropped, and leaving police on the island unaware of the accused’s whereabouts.

However, in December 2016, local police were informed by the US Customs and Border Patrol that the accused was returning to Mobile, Alabama aboard a cruise ship, and a fresh warrant was issued that same month. A request was extradition was filed by the Bermuda courts in January. As reported on Friday by the Huntsville news station WAFF in Huntsville, the accused was arrested last week and is now in federal custody.

An extradition hearing for his return to the island is set for August 30 in the US District Court for Northern Alabama.

• It is The Royal Gazette’s policy not to allow comments on stories regarding criminal court cases. This is to prevent any statements being published that may jeopardise the outcome of that case.