CLAYTON — Law enforcement officials in St. Louis County say there could be more victims of a school principal accused of sexual misconduct this week and are encouraging parents to come forward.

Police on Thursday said they’ve received “numerous” phone calls from concerned parents since Cedric Gerald, the principal of Westview Middle School in Riverview Gardens School District, was charged with nine child sex crimes on Wednesday. Four of his students accused him of misconduct.

Police said more children may undergo forensic interviews.

“Based on the fact that we’ve got four identified victims that we’ve established thus far, yes there is concern there’s additional ones out there — whether they’re at Westview Middle or his previous place of employment,” Sgt. Brett Belcher of St. Louis County Police said at a press conference Thursday.

Gerald, 48, was the principal at Westview since the 2023-2024 school year. He came to Riverview Gardens from the Ferguson Florissant School District, where he was principal of McCluer High until March 2023.

Charging prosecutor John Schlesinger said all four of Gerald’s known victims were students at Westview.

Authorities charged Gerald with sexual trafficking of a child, sexual exploitation of a minor, possessing child pornography, attempted statutory sodomy, sexual misconduct involving a child under 15, sexual contact with a student, first-degree harassment and two counts of second-degree statutory sodomy.

Parents at the school of about 540 students were shocked to learn the news, said Ming Spencer, whose daughter attends sixth grade at Westview.

“This blindsided all of us,” Spencer said.

Superintendent Tanya Patton said in an email to Westview parents last week that there were reports of alleged misconduct about two district employees.

The email did not specify the nature of the misconduct, but Patton said the reports were from “unrelated incidents.”

Spencer’s daughter didn’t see Gerald at school after that, Spencer said.

A Riverview Gardens spokesperson referred questions about the second employee to law enforcement.

Belcher said police haven’t had any other information to present to the prosecutor’s office for additional charges, “but this is an ongoing investigation.”

St. Louis County Police’s investigation into Gerald began May 5, Belcher said — the same day as Patton’s email.

In December, Gerald was one of two men to accuse former Ferguson-Florissant Superintendent Joseph Davis of sexual harassment in separate lawsuits, both filed on the same day.

Gerald claimed in his suit that Davis invited him to happy hours and would attempt to talk about Gerald’s sex life because Gerald was a gay man.

When Gerald refused, he claimed Davis withheld resources from McCluer High.

Davis has denied the allegations. He filed his own charge of discrimination with the state against the school district on March 12, which is pending.

Gerald is being held on a $1 million cash bond. The first hearing in his case is scheduled for Thursday, May 22.

Riverview Gardens said that parents with specific concerns about Gerald’s conduct with their children should contact the superintendent at 314-869-2505, Tammy Vega with the Missouri children’s division at 314-605-0618, or Belcher at 314-615-5400.