STERLING HEIGHTS, Mich. (WXYZ) — A former student at Warren Consolidated School of Performing Arts says drama teacher Mark Sharrow, who faces 12 felony counts related to child pornography and drugs, regularly crossed boundaries with students.
Mary Bonkowski graduated from the theater program just a few months ago and says Sharrow's behavior raised red flags long before his arrest.
"I wasn't fully shocked. We all thought he was weird with students," Bonkowski said.
Bonkowski says she worked alongside Sharrow on multiple occasions and even went on school trips with him to New York and Lansing. She says looking back, his behavior was off.
"We spent a lot of time together like after school um so it kind of felt like the boundary wasn't really there people would call him mark um instead of Mr. Sharrow," Bonkowski said.
Sharrow, 37, of Warren, has been charged with 12 counts related to child pornography and drugs. He is being held on a $1 million bond.
The Macomb County Prosecutor's Office says Sharrow was arrested Tuesday in Houghton Lake in connection with a criminal sexual conduct investigation. The school district says he was already on administrative leave for an internal investigation at the time of his arrest.
Warren Consolidated Schools Superintendent John Bernia addressed what the district's investigation uncovered.
"What we had uncovered in the course of our investigation was accusations that involved former students after they had graduated," Bernia said.
Bonkowski says she is relieved that those who came forward were taken seriously.
"I'm very glad that they had the courage to say something, because that's extremely difficult, especially because you don't know if you're going to be believed. I mean, historically, a lot of these things have been swept under the rug, so I'm glad that they finally listened and that it was taken seriously," Bonkowski said.
Bonkowski also described Sharrow's erratic behavior at school.
"He showed up to school a lot of the time in different moods, like sometimes he'd be very, very buddy-buddy and like, oh my gosh, I love you guys, we're the best friends. And then like an hour later, he'd screaming at people," Bonkowski said.
The district says it is working with police and is encouraging students to come forward with any information.
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