The latest teacher sex scandal involves a Texas kindergarten teacher from Lufkin who is accused of having sex with four high school students, including two at the same time.
Heather Lee Robertson, 38, was arrested April 22 on four counts of improper relationship between educator and student, KTRE reports. Police began investigating on April 20, after receiving information about a teacher and several students.
One student alleged that he and Robertson started their affair by “sexting” on Snapchat, which culminated with her inviting him to her apartment for sex.
According to what the student told police, a friend of his joined them on that occasion, and they both had sex with her. The second student reportedly corroborated the first student’s story.
In addition, two other students admitted to having a sexual relationship with Robertson on multiple occasions.
“We acted immediately and began our investigation,” said Hudson Independent School District Superintendent Mary Ann Whiteker in a statement to The Lufkin News. “We pursued with the correct protocol we have to follow. I accepted the resignation (Thursday) afternoon, and it has been submitted through the appropriate legal channels. Our investigation has been finalized.”
According to an arrest affidavit, Robertson confessed to the accusations, reports KTRE. However, she explained she was a heavy drinker and did not remember the all the details of the encounters.
Inappropriate relationships between teachers and students are common enough the Texas Education Agency keeps official track of it.
According to TEA spokeswoman DeEtta Culbertson, there were 141 such cases in fiscal year 2009-2010. That number increased to 163 for the 2012-2013 fiscal year, and to 222 for the 2015-2016 fiscal year. From Sept 1, 2016 to March 31, 2017, Culbertson there have been 159 reported cases.
Nationwide, inappropriate teacher-student relationships are so commonplace the website Zimbio published an article entitled “The 50 Most Infamous Female Teacher Sex Scandals.”
Topping the list is Mary Kay Letourneau, the teacher who was arrested for raping one of her sixth-grade students in 1997. After being released from prison in 2004, the two were married in a highly publicized wedding ceremony.
In 2016, the couple hosted a “Hot For Teacher Night” at a Seattle bar, notes Zimbio. The event was named after the Van Halen song which so offended Tipper Gore, ex-wife of then-Sen. Al Gore, that in 1985 she formed the Parent’s Music Resource Council to lobby the recording industry about creating a ratings system to label “obscene” songs and albums.
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