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The Associated Press
St. Paul, Minn.

After peeping incident, county attorney investigating

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Walter Happel
Walter Happel mug shot.
Courtesy of the Office of the Ramsey County Attorney

The Dakota County attorney's office is looking into whether St. Paul school district staffers broke the law by not reporting allegations against a custodian now charged with sexual misconduct.

Walter Happel is accused of peering at a student in a bathroom stall at Linwood Monre Arts Plus school in February. The 62-year-old faces eight sets of sexual misconduct charges.

• More: More training, security at St. Paul schools follow janitor sex abuse charges

The St. Paul Pioneer Press reports the district investigated in 2012, when a student complained the custodian slapped him on the buttocks. The district concluded it was not child maltreatment and did not contact police. Weeks earlier, though, a police officer had checked on a different complaint against Happel.

The district says it didn't contact police because an internal investigation did not deem the alleged 2012 incident to be abuse.