Word of Mr. Kanealey, a Cleveland government and economics teacher, being charged with two counts of patronizing a prostitute, traveled astoundingly fast after the first picture of his mugshot was tweeted by a Cleveland student, gaining 30 retweets and 42 favorites in only a couple of hours. A flood of rumors hit the halls, continuously circulating without any official statement made or released by the administration or any other faculty members—their silence stemming from a place of legalities and the district’s Human Resources’ protective rules.

Patrick Kanealey’s arraignment—a procedure that occurs before a judge and provides the accused with a reading of the charges against them—was scheduled for two in the afternoon on Feb. 5, in courtroom four at the Justice Center located in downtown Portland. Kanealey is currently charged twice with patronizing a prostitute; these are class B misdemeanors that can lead to a minimum fine of $2,500 or up to six months in jail.

The charges were read during the arraignment, but the context of the situation and actions that led to the charges were not specified. Most of the conversation during the arraignment took place between the judge, Michael A. Greenlick, and Kanealey, discussing the lack of presence from his lawyer. Robert Smith, a private lawyer specializing in personal injury and criminal cases Kanealey hired to represent him, was not present at the arraignment because of another case that he was conducting in Eugene. Kanealey and the judge discussed what steps had to be taken in order for Smith to confirm that he was representing Kanealey in the case, and that Kanealey understood a court-appointed lawyer would be less expensive—the economics teacher assured the judge that he knew the difference in cost and would still continue to use his private lawyer.

A pre-trial date was set for when Kanealey and his lawyer would go to court with a plea of ‘not guilty’ before he left the room with another man to attend a meeting where more Multnomah County Court officials were waiting for him.