Former Teacher Indicted on Identity Theft Charges
HUMBOLDT, Tenn. – A former Jackson radio host and pastor, who pleaded guilty earlier this year to peeping and trespassing, is facing a new set of charges. That investigation revealed Willie Ozier’s previous police record, which prompted the Humboldt City School District to take another look at their one-time math teacher. Ozier has now been indicted on a count of identity theft, accused of using someone else’s identity to ensure he was hired. “Something seemed off about him,” former student Tasharra Walker said. “It seemed like he was always nervous about something, but no one ever knew (why). Now everyone knows.” In 1999, records show Ozier was convicted of simple assault. In 2003, though charged with sexual battery, he pleaded guilty to a lesser misdemeanor count. Both of the convictions came in Madison County. “It’s already bad enough that the kids are learning stuff that they shouldn’t learn, but now they’ve gotta be worried about a teach in the system with sexual assault,” former student Jucana Lenzie said. Neither conviction showed up on his background check by the Humboldt School District. According to investigators, that is because Ozier used his father’s fingerprints. Both Ozier and his father have the same name. Investigators have not said how Ozier pulled off the elaborate scam. “It’s crazy, like how can you be working in a local school with kids with a background that you were sure of,” Lenzie said. “How could you use somebody else’s fingerprints to get yourself a job.” Although many parents and former students were horrified at the idea of Ozier faking his way into Humboldt High School, they said it is a major relief now knowing he is no longer walking the halls. “They (parents) are going to wonder like, OK, my child was in school for a year with this man, what happened?,” said Lenzie. “But now that he’s not there, I think it gives a better since of calm, that you can walk around knowing that it’s back to the same safe old Humboldt High School.” The Humboldt City School District said they now use and electronic option through the Postal Service to send fingerprints to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation instead of having applicants go to the police department to be fingerprinted.
