One of Phila.’s ‘Most Wanted’ found teaching at school

One of Philadelphia's Most Wanted has been found. He was teaching at a city school in North Philadelphia and authorities say he fathered a daughter with a 14-year-old girl in 2006.

Arnesx Honore, 33, has taught math to eighth-grade boys since 2003 at the Hunting Park alternative school in North Philadelphia.

But also during that time, authorities say Honore had an ongoing sexual relationship with a young teenager from the summer of 2003 through April 2006 when the girl was 14 through 17.

When police learned of the allegations, the girl, then 17, had a 3-year-old girl she said had been fathered by Honore, said Chief of Detectives Keith Sadler.

According to court records, Honore was charged on April 1, 2006 with rape, aggravated indecent sexual assault, statutory sexual assault, sexual abuse of a minor and related offenses.

The case was scheduled for hearings four times, but the charges were withdrawn June 13, 2007 because a witness was unavailable, records show. It was unclear this morning whether that witness was the victim.

A month later, in July 2007, the District Attorney's Office refiled the charges and Philadelphia included his name among Philadelphia's 150 Most Wanted, a list released Friday of the city's most violent offenders. Honore's picture was published in a book and on Websites with others wanted on murder, rape, robbery and aggravated assault.

School administrators acted quickly after discovering Honore's name on the list of "We found out on Sunday and immediately called police," said Barbara Braman, spokeswoman for the school, which is operated by Community Education Partners. "Mr. Honore has been suspended pending an investigation."

Hunting Park serves 1,200 students with disciplinary problems at Front Street and Hunting Park Avenue.

Honore was not hired by the Philadelphia School District, spokeswoman Amy Guerin said.

"He is not, and never has been, an employee of the school district of Philadelphia. He was employed by one of our contractors, Community Education Partners," Guerin said.

Community Education Partners operates three schools for disruptive and low-performing students in the city. The Tennessee-based company was contracted by the district in 2000.

"We received a phone call late Sunday afternoon," Bramam said. "They said 'One of your employees is on the list.'

"Our personnel offices weren't open, but we verified he worked at the school," Braman said. "We were able to give police a better address for him than what they had on the Web site."

Braman said it was unclear how Honore slipped through the cracks.

CEP runs all the employee checks that the state and school district require, Braman said. The checks include a child abuse clearance and a state police criminal records check.

All CEP employees are reviewed every year and re-checked by an independent investigator who searches through county, state and federal databases, Braman said.

"We ran a check on Honore for the 2007-2008 school year," she said. "We're vigilant and aggressive about it. We more than meet the requirements."