AURORA | A terminated Grandview High School teacher faces numerous sex-assault charges after Aurora police investigators said the man had a sexual relationship with a former student for about a year.
Technology teacher Robert Combs, 56, faces five charges of sexual assault on a child by a person in a position of trust after police said Combs developed a romantic and then sexual relationship with a student beginning in March 2022. The student was a juvenile at the time, police reported.
The student told investigators that they, on more than one occasion, felt compelled to have sex with Combs because the teacher had helped the student with academics and in applying to military colleges, according to an arrest affidavit in the case.
Cherry Creek officials, in a letter to Grandview parents on Tuesday, said the allegations against Combs for having “inappropriate sexual contact” with a former student came to light Oct. 23 last year, and that he was immediately placed on administrative leave.
Coombs was an engineering and technology teacher and had been at the school since 2002, according to school officials.
District officials said in the letter Combs was “separated” from the school district Nov. 13, and that he was arrested by Aurora police Feb. 23.
Aurora police investigators said Combs and the student met in 2021 through the Grandview Technology Student Association club. Combs was the club advisor.
A friendly relationship between the two during a club function at a Denver hotel in Feb. 2022 turned sexual, the student told investigators.
Combs had numerous students and other club-related people in his room during the event. One evening, the student returned to Combs’ hotel room, at Coombs’ request, after the other students left for the night, according to the arrest affidavit.
Combs initiated sexual conversation and then behavior, the student told police.
In the days that followed, Combs and the student exchanged numerous explicitly sexual messages, later retrieved by Aurora investigators.
Meetings between the two become increasingly sexual, according to the arrest affidavit. Some sexual incidents occurred at and near the school. Another incident occurred at a friend’s home where Combs was caring for their pets, police reported.
Police gained access to text recordings between the two, providing investigators with detailed, explicit sexual conversations.
Analyses of school internet systems also provided police with Combs’ online searches and behavior, linked to pornography and sexual material.
A school security officer messaged Grandview Principal Lisa Roberts March 30, 2022, saying that on that evening, he came across Combs and the student in a hallway and was struck by the interaction with the two:
“I was at Grandview on Tuesday night for the Wish Week dodgeball game. I was in the lower 300 hallway by the Lower Dean’s office. I ran into (the student) and Rob Combs walking from the Commons area from the weight room…I thought about the meeting the rest of the night, and then again…at the Innovation Campus this morning, it seemed odd and out of sorts. In a word, it seemed inappropriate. Please understand that I saw nothing to make me feel that something was going on between (the student) and Mr. Combs, it was just a ‘this looks and feels wrong moment.’”
Roberts had kept notes from a meeting with the student after the security guard made his comments.
The notes showed that the student said they were fond of the teacher for all the help he provided, and that there was “nothing inappropriate ever.”
Last fall, the student returned to tell Roberts they were “sorry” they lied to the principal during that conversation. The student then revealed details to Roberts about the sexual aspects of the relationship, according to the affidavit.
Roberts contacted the police about what the student told her, and the investigation got underway.
Coombs was slated for a court appearance Wednesday, and was released from Arapahoe County jail in lieu of $50,000 bond, according to jail records.
“The District is in full cooperation with law enforcement as this case remains open,” school officials said in a statement to parents. “The safety and security of our students and staff is our highest priority. We appreciate your partnership in these critical efforts. We are committed to keeping you informed about all aspects of your child’s education.”