JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- A teacher arrested earlier this week on claims he fondled one of his teenage students has faced similar accusations in the past, Duval administrators revealed on Friday.

Former Lighthouse Christian School teacher William Tinsley IV, 28, was arrested Wednesday morning and charged with sexual battery on a 17-year-old student. According to the police report, Tinsley assaulted the girl last fall in his Arlington home.

Tinsley was suspended after the school learned of the allegations against the teacher. Seven weeks later, he was fired after refusing to write a statement.

Lighthouse Christian Academy President David Eure told Channel 4 he was stunned when he learned about the sexual allegations made against one of his top teachers, but that he was even more surprised to learn that Tinsley had a similar problem at a public school three years ago.

Tinsley worked with the Duval County School District in 2005, and Duval administrators have said he was fired over "similar accusations."

Like a lot of companies, the Duval County School District has a three-month probationary period. Officials with the district told Channel 4 that during that time Tinsley was fired over allegations similar to those that got him fired from Lighthouse.

Tinsley, however, told the school a different story when he was interviewing for a teaching position at the private school, Eure said.

"He had told us that he had been surplused, which is pretty standard practice if they have more people than they need," Eure said.

A Duval County School District representative said after they fired Tinsley, they reported him to the Florida Department of Education.

The DOE said there had been no probable cause to take action against Tinsley's license.

"You have a system that seems like it could almost protect the wrong person," Eure said. "They could not say anything, apparently. When we had asked for information because nothing had been proven. If we have someone come to us with several accusations, we wouldn't hire that person. We only want the best for our students."

In the meantime, Eure said the school has worked to ease parents' fears by sending letters home with students and by contacting families individually.