A kindergarten teacher who was moonlighting as a GED instructor at Roanoke County-Salem Jail is accused of sexually assaulting one male prisoner and assaulting another.

Jeffrey William Hodges III -- a former teacher of the year with a resume to match that accolade -- was charged Tuesday with sexual battery of a 35-year-old inmate and with assault and battery of a 24-year-old prisoner.

Both incidents are alleged to have occurred earlier this month during separate one-on-one instructional meetings between Hodges and each inmate.

Hodges, 51, of Rocky Mount, has taught kindergarten at South Salem Elementary School for at least the past 10 years, said Salem schools Superintendent Wayne Tripp. He taught in Franklin County before that.

School officials learned of Hodges' arrest late Tuesday and placed him on paid administrative leave Wednesday, Tripp said. The superintendent added that an experienced substitute teacher has replaced Hodges until his court case is resolved.

Tripp sent a letter home to South Salem parents emphasizing that Hodges is accused of committing no crime at the school or involving students.

The letter said Hodges is well-regarded in the community and has a history of good work evaluations.

"Up until now, there has been no reason to suspect or believe that the employee had ever engaged in any inappropriate behavior," Tripp's letter states.

Hodges was released on $5,000 bond after his arrest.

On Wednesday, a woman answered the phone at the home of a Jeff Hodges in Rocky Mount. "We have no comment," she said and hung up.

Hodges started working as a part-time GED instructor at the jail in March.

Roanoke County Sheriff Gerald Holt said he turned the investigation over to county police after he learned that a complaint had been made against Hodges.

The 35-year-old accuser told police that Hodges made sexual advances toward him and touched him sexually during a private meeting Oct. 9.

During the course of the investigation, another GED student claimed to have had a run-in with Hodges, said Roanoke County police Lt. Chuck Mason.

The 24-year-old inmate said Hodges made sexual advances and grabbed him during a private meeting Oct. 1, authorities said.

County police declined to name either accuser. The Roanoke Times does not name accusers in such cases because of the sexual nature of the crimes they are alleging.

Neither encounter was recorded on jail surveillance cameras, Holt said.

Mason said, "The detective would not have made a charge had he not thought the inmates' complaints credible."

Holt has placed Hodges on unpaid administrative leave.

Hodges' resume, which had been posted on a Salem schools Web site, depicts an award-winning teacher with an active role in the community.

The lengthy resume says he developed a social studies curriculum for Salem kindergartners, tutored child actors and mentored seven student teachers.

It also says Hodges has hosted at least 18 foreign exchange students, taught swimming lessons to disadvantaged youths while he was a lifeguard and swim instructor and collected money for the American Heart Association, among other activities.

In 1995 he was named teacher of the year for Lee M. Waid Elementary School in Rocky Mount and for Franklin County as a whole.