Police: Molestation allegations surface after foreign exchange teacher fired for hitting students

BELLEVUE -- A French exchange teacher faces two counts of first-degree child molestation after she allegedly groped two 8-year-old girls while they studied in her class.

Florence Fournier-Montgieux is back in France after she was fired from her job as a 2nd grade teacher in February.

Fournier-Montgieux taught at the French Immersion School of Washington in Bellevue. According to court documents, Fournier-Montgieux was let go from her position for "hitting children with notebooks and putting them down verbally."

It wasn't until May that two sets of parents came forward to Bellevue police and said their daughters were groped boy Fournier-Montgieux. Police investigated the claims and interviewed an 8-year-old girl who said Fournier-Montgieux had placed her bare hand down her shirt on three separate occasions.

The child allegedly told investigators the teacher's hands were "freezing" and that when she told the teacher to stop, Fournier-Montgieux pretended to stomp away upset.

Another student told investigators Fournier-Montgieux touched her navel area about 20 times.

School administrators were notified of the allegations, and all parents in the teacher's class were contacted.

Charges against Fournier-Montgieux were filed earlier this week. She is currently residing in France, as she left for the country well before the sexual assault claims were reported.

It is not yet know if she will be extradited to face charges.