Notorious teacher sex scandals

Reports of teachers accused of unlawful sexual relationships with their students continue to make headlines. Here are some of the stories covered in recent years.

Lockhart, Texas, police said Sarah Fowlkes, a 27-year-old high school teacher, had an improper relationship with a 17-year-old student. She turned herself in after a warrant was issued for her arrest in March 2017.

Stephanie Peterson

Stephanie Peterson, a former middle school teacher, was arrested in February 2018 for allegedly having a secret sexual relationship with a 14-year-old boy, police said.

The teen told investigators in Volusia County, Florida, that Peterson, 26, would give him marijuana.

Peterson, also known as Stephanie Ferri, faced three criminal counts.

Sarah Jones

In 2012, Cincinnati Bengals cheerleader-turned-teacher Sarah Jones pleaded guilty to having a sexual relationship with a 17-year-old student. Jones taught at Dixie Heights High School in northern Kentucky. 

She avoided jail time as part of a plea agreement with prosecutors.

Debra Lafave

Debra Lafave, a reading teacher at Greco Middle School in Temple Terrace, Florida, was charged in 2004 with two counts of lewd and lascivious battery on a person under 16 for having sex with a 14-year-old boy.

Lafave pleaded guilty and was sentenced to three years house arrest and seven years probation. 

Debra Lafave

A judge ultimately granted Lafave early release from her sex offender probation after she gave birth to twin boys in 2011. But Lafave was still required to register as a sex offender.

Alexandria Vera

Texas middle school English teacher Alexandria Vera, 24, turned herself in to authorities June 1, 2016, after a warrant was issued on a child sex abuse charge.

Court documents allege Vera had a nine-month sexual relationship with a 13-year-old male student, who authorities say impregnated her. 

Cori Beard

An Illinois high school soccer coach was accused in March 2018 of sexually assaulting three students. 

Authorities said 28-year-old Cori Beard, a part-time assistant coach for both the boys and girls soccer teams, was allegedly involved in "unlawful sexual acts with three current Vernon Hills High School boys." She was charged with 12 counts of criminal sexual assault.

Hunter Day

An Oklahoma high-school teacher was arrested for allegedly having sex with a male student, after authorities said evidence was found on the boy's phone.

The teacher, Hunter Day, age 22, faces second-degree rape, possession of child pornography and other charges.

Day, who is reportedly married to one of the school's football coaches, was arrested in November 2017 and booked on an $85,000 bond.

Alaina Ferguson

In 2016, Alaina Ferguson, 23, was charged with sexual assault of a 16-year-old boy. He allegedly told police that the relationship was sparked by a note he left on an algebra test in which he wrote his Snapchat user name.

Carrie McCandless

In 2007, Carrie McCandless reportedly pleaded guilty to sexual contact with a 17-year-old student in Colorado. The former Brighton Collegiate High School teacher had been chaperoning a school camping trip. 

Stacey Dean Rambold

In 2013, Stacey Dean Rambold pleaded guilty in connection with the 2007 rape of a 14-year-old girl. The teen committed suicide in 2010 while the case was pending. 

During sentencing, the judge sparked outrage by suggesting the victim shared some responsibility and "appeared older than her chronological age." He initially gave Rambold a 15-year term with all but one month suspended, but that decision was later overruled.

Rambold was ultimately sentenced to 10 years in prison. 

Carrie McCandless

The 29-year-old was sentenced to 45 days in jail, five years of probation and a four-year deferred sentence.

Her probation was eventually revoked and she was sentenced to an additional 60 days in 2011. She remains a registered sex offender.

​Brianne Altice

Brianne Altice, a former Utah high school English teacher, pleaded guilty to sexually abusing three teenage boys who had been students.

Altice was initially free on bail after her 2013 arrest, but was jailed after allegations emerged that she continued a sexual relationship with one of the boys.

Haeli Noelle Wey

Haeli Noelle Wey, a former Texas math teacher, pleaded guilty in February 2017 to having improper relationships with two of her 17-year-old students.

Wey was 28 when she was accused of having months-long sexual relationships with the victims. She was sentenced to 10 years probation.

Mary Haglin

Iowa substitute teacher Mary Haglin was arrested July 22, 2016 and charged with having a sexual relationship with a 17-year-old boy. Haglin told CBS affiliate KGAN that she regrets what took place.

"I'm not shying away from this, I'm not running away from this. I'm facing this head on," Haglin said.

Virginia Houston Hinckley

Virginia Houston Hinckley, a 26-year-old St. Augustine, Fla. high school teacher, was charged with having unlawful sexual activity with a 16-year-old boy in 2015.

The two exchanged nude photos, according to the student, and allegedly had sex in a park.

Nicole Dufault

Language arts teacher Nicole Dufault, 35, of New Jersey, was charged with sexually assaulting 14- and 15-year-old boys in 2013 and 2014. They say some of the sex acts occurred on school property.

Dufault sought twice in 2016 to have the indictment against her dismissed, but a court ruled each time the charges should stand.

Mikey Henderson

Mikey Henderson, 32, a math teacher and assistant football coach at a high school in suburban Atlanta's Gwinnett County, was arrested and charged with sexual assault after allegedly having inappropriate contact with a student in May 2017.

Henderson played football for the University of Georgia from 2003 to 2007. 

Kathryn Ronk

A former teacher at a Detroit-area high school accused of having sex with a 15-year-old student was sentenced to 6 to 15 years in prison in 2015.

Authorities said Kathryn Ronk, 30, engaged in sexual acts with the teenager in classrooms at Bishop Foley High School in Madison Heights. 

Melody Lippert & Michelle Ghirell

Melody Lippert, 38, and Michelle Ghirelli, 30, were sentenced to probation after having sex with students on a November 2014 beach trip in California.

Both Lippert and Ghirelli worked at South Hills High School, located outside of Los Angeles.

Teacher accused of having sex in car with student

Police in Florida arrested Port St. Lucie High School teacher Tiffany Michelle Geliga in May 2017 after a 17-year-old male student alleged the two had sex in her car on two separate occasions. 

Danielle Watkins

Danielle Watkins, a 32-year-old teacher from Connecticut, pleaded guilty to having a sexual relationship with a student in 2014. Her 18-year-old victim reportedly told police that when he tried to break off the relationship, Watkins assaulted him and threatened to fail him.

Stacy Schuler

Stacy Schuler, a 33-year-old high school health teacher from southwest Ohio, was convicted of having sex with five students in 2011. 

According to The Middletown Journal newspaper, a former high school football player testified that he and a friend had sex with Schuler at her home. 

She was sentenced to four years in prison but was reportedly granted early release in 2012 after serving about a year.

Brittni Colleps

Brittni Colleps, a 28-year-old Texas teacher, was sentenced to five years in prison after having sex with students in her Arlington home in 2012.

Megan Crafton

Megan Crafton of Indiana was sentenced to probation after a sexual relationship with a 17-year-old male student. 

The part-time assistant cheerleading coach at Shelbyville High School admitted to performing oral sex on the teen in her car in January 2012. 

Carole Ann Hope

Police arrested 36-year-old South Carolina teacher Carole Ann Hope in 2011 after she allegedly had sex with a 14-year-old former middle-school student. 

Hope was sentenced to 10 years in prison in the spring of 2014.

Ashley Anderson

Ashley Anderson, a high school teacher in Iowa, was sentenced to up to five years in prison for inappropriate sexual relationships with four male students in 2011. 

The teacher, then 24, sent students nude photographs of herself and had sex with one student at his home, according to a complaint. 

George Edwin Thomas III

George Edwin Thomas III, a Texas high school teacher, was accused of recording female students in various stages of undressing without their knowledge in 2015 and 2016. 

He was indicted on six charges of invasive visual recording.

Gabriela Compton

In March 2012, Gabriela Compton got lifetime probation after having sexual contact with two students. Police say Compton sent a photo of her breasts to male students at Western Valley Middle School in Arizona.

In the course of an investigation, officers learned Compton previously had sexual contact with two male students, ages 13 and 14.

Gail Gagne

Gail Gagne, a 28-year-old Minnesota high school teacher and coach, was convicted of having sex with a former student and football player in 2008. Gagne was 25 at the time; the student was 16. 

She eventually received a one-year suspended sentence and two years' probation, and had to register as a sex offender.

Nadia Diaz

California high school teacher Nadia Christine Diaz was sentenced in 2012 to three years of probation and 30 days in an adult offender work program for having sex with a 14-year-old student in 2009. 

Diaz had been working as a social science teacher at Fresno's Washington Union High School.

Lauren Redfern

Denver-area high school teacher Lauren Redfern was sentenced to sex offender treatment in August 2012 after she was caught having sex with a 17-year-old male student in the teacher's bathroom.

Jeremy Brock Bumgardner

Jeremy Brock Bumgardner was arrested and charged with having inappropriate sexual behavior with a student in May 2017. 

Bumgardner was a history teacher and coach at Russell County High School in Alabama.  

Kristin Leone

New Jersey high school teacher Kristin Leone, 26, was sentenced to a year in jail in 2013 after she pleaded guilty to having sex with a 16-year-old student.

Kathyrin Murray

Kathyrin Murray, 29, a West Houston middle school teacher, was sentenced to a year in jail after having sex with a 15-year-old boy at his home in 2012 while his parents were away. 

Police said they later discovered that Murray had sex with the same boy at a hotel on the night of a school dance and in her classroom.

Kimberly Naquin

Kimberly Naquin, a geography teacher, pleaded guilty in March 2017 to having a sexual relationship with a female student, then 16, while employed at Destrehan High in St. Charles Parish, Louisiana. 

She was sentenced to probation and was required to register as a sex offender for 15 years.

Kacy Wilson

Former Osceola County, Florida, teacher Kacy Wilson pleaded guilty to having sex with a 16-year-old student and sending pornographic photos to the teen in 2012.

Sheral Smith

Sheral Smith, a former Mississippi private school teacher, was sentenced to seven years in prison after having sex with a 14-year-old student. The relationship reportedly began in the summer of 2008.

Gilbert Joseph Trujillo

Gilbert Joseph Trujillo, an elementary school teacher in Colorado, charged with sexually assaulting five female students between the ages of 9 and 10, was sentenced to 25 years to life in April 2017. 

Loni Folks

Loni Marie Folks, a Missouri elementary school teacher, pleaded guilty in 2008 to having sex with a 16-year-old student. 

The teen was a foreign exchange student from Italy staying in the home of Folks and her husband. 

Christian private school teacher charged

An Oregon Christian school teacher had a sexual relationship with a student when he was as young as 15, authorities said.

The teacher, Andrea Baber, also allegedly gave they boy marijuana.

In December 2017, Baber faced several charges, including third-degree rape and third-degree sodomy.

Tara Driscoll

Tara Driscoll, a New York teacher, was sentenced to six years probation stemming from sex with an underage student at a Long Island hotel in 2011. 

According to police, the victim's mother found out and contacted authorities. 

Amy Victoria Beck

Amy Victoria Beck stunned officials when she walked into police headquarters in March 2010 and told detectives she had carried on a nine month affair with a 14-year-old former student.

The 33-year-old former Burbank middle school teacher was sentenced to two years in a state prison.

Shawn Shaynak

Shawn Shaynak, a Brooklyn high school teacher, was sentenced to five years in prison after he was accused in 2014 of asking two girls to have sex with each other and taking a 15-year-old student to a nude beach without her parents' consent. 

He was also accused of sending explicit photos to four students, inappropriately touching and kissing other students, and giving alcohol and cigarettes to minors.

Lisa Glide

Soap opera actress-turned New Jersey high school drama teacher Lisa Glide was sentenced to five years probation for having sex with a high school student twice off campus in 2008. The 17-year-old victim says he pursued her. 

Heather Lynne Zeo

Heather Lynne Zeo, a high school math teacher in Pennsylvania, was sentenced in 2010 to up to 23 months in prison for having a sexual relationship with a student and having explicit conversations with another.

Amber Jennings

Amber Jennings, a 30-year-old Shepherd Hill Regional High School teacher in Massachusetts, was accused in 2004 of having a sexual relationship with a 16-year-old student. She faced charges of inducing a minor under 18 "to have unlawful sexual intercourse" and sending him nude photos of herself.

Amber Jennings

In September 2005, Jennings pleaded guilty to "disseminating harmful materials to a minor" in a plea agreement. 

She admitted emailing a 16-year-old student nude pictures of herself under the screen name "Redsox6606whore."

Sandra Beth Geisel

Sandra "Beth" Geisel, a former English teacher at an all-boys Catholic high school, was sentenced to six months in jail after she was convicted of having sex twice with a 16-year-old student, once in a press box above the school's football field. 

Sandra Beth Geisel

Geisel, seen in this 2005 mug shot, also had to register as a level one sex offender.

Pamela Rogers Turner

Pamela Rogers Turner, a Tennessee phys-ed teacher, was sentenced to eight years in prison for repeatedly having sex with a 13-year-old male student, including once in the school gym, in 2005.

Pamela Rogers Turner

Released after serving 9 months in jail, Rogers was arrested a second time in 2006 for contacting the same 13-year-old boy and sending him sexually explicit texts, photos, and videos of herself.

Pamela Rogers Turner

In July 2006, Rogers was ordered to seven years in jail for violating her probation. At the hearing she said: "I am willing to do anything to rehabilitate myself."

In 2007, she received an extra two years for again sending nude photos to the boy. According to the Felony Offender Information Lookup website, she was released from the Tennessee Prison for Women in 2012 at age 35.

Mary Kay Letourneau

Former Seattle-area grade-school teacher Mary Kay Letourneau, then 35 and a married mother of four, was charged with child rape in 1998 for her relationship with Vili Fualaau, who was in second grade when they met and 12 when their sexual affair began.

Mary Kay Letourneau

Mary Kay Letourneau had a baby with Vili Fualaau in July 1997 when he was 14. Letourneau pleaded guilty to raping him on August 1997 and served more than seven years in prison.

Mary Kay Letourneau & Vili Fualaau

After serving her sentence, Letourneau married Fualaau in 2005 and raised two children with him. The couple later poked fun at their situation by hosting "Hot for Teacher" parties at a Seattle nightclub, according to CBS affiliate KVAL.

The couple separated in 2017. 

Jamee Hiatt

Jamee Hiatt, a former Michigan elementary and middle school teacher, admitted to having a sexual relationship with a student beginning in 2014, when he was 13.

She pleaded guilty and was sentenced in January 2017 to spend 3 to 20 years in prison.

Heather Robertson

Officials in Angelina County, Texas, say 38-year-old Heather Robertson had sex with at least six high school students, two at the same time and two others on multiple occasions, between November 2016 and April 2017 at her Lufkin home.

Two teen boys told Hudson ISD police Robertson asked them to come over to her apartment, where they both had sex with her.

She was arrested April 21, 2017. Prosecutors later said there were at least six victims. She pleaded guilty to seven counts of sexual assault with a child and improper relationship with a student, and in September 2017 was sentenced to 10 years in prison.

Erin McAuliffe

North Carolina math teacher Erin McAuliffe, 25, was accused in May 2017 of having inappropriate sexual contact with three male students who attended Rocky Mount Preparatory School, where she taught. 

Police say one of the students was 16 and two were 17. McAuliffe was charged with three counts of sexual activity with a student and one count of indecent liberties with a minor.

Nataly Lopez

Nataly Lopez, a New Jersey middle school teacher, was accused in June 2017 of having sexual relations with one of her male students. 

She allegedly engaged in sexual acts with the student in her vehicle on two occasions and exchanged sexually explicit messages with him online. She was charged with first-degree aggravated sexual assault, second-degree sexual assault and third-degree endangering the welfare of a child. 

Laura Ramos

Laura Ramos, a Connecticut special education teacher, was charged in June 2017 with engaging in a sexual relationship with an 18-year-old student in the special ed program. 

Ramos initially denied wrongdoing before telling police she had a relationship with the victim from Dec. 23, 2016 to April 2017. 

nikki-varney

Nikki Varney, a science teacher at Williamsburg High School in Pennsylvania, was charged on Aug. 25, 2017 with eight counts related to unlawful sex with a minor, including two charges of institutional sexual assault. 

A 15-year-old boy told school officials and investigators that he and Varney had sex in a state park and at her home during the previous month.