Northern California teacher arrested for alleged sexual relationship with Washington minor
DAVIS — A teacher at a Davis junior high school is accused of having a sexual relationship with a 13-year-old in Washington state, authorities said Thursday.
Police in Centralia, Washington said officers had begun investigating Natasha Polk—currently employed at Harper Junior High in Davis, California—in October 2023 over an alleged sexual relationship with a young student.
Polk is accused of providing the boy with marijuana, alcohol and vapes in addition to having sex with him on numerous occasions. The alleged sexual relationship occurred when the student was in 8th grade and for a time after he completed middle school, Centralia police said.
Centralia police said Polk also used her status as a teacher to gain access to the boy when he was incarcerated in juvenile hall.
Polk allegedly continued to have contact with the boy when she moved to West Sacramento, California, which is just east of the city of Davis, in 2021. At one point later that year, police said Polk traveled back to Washington and rented an Airbnb in the city of Tacoma, where the two again had sex.
The investigation that began last October resulted in the Washington authorities requesting an arrest warrant for Polk. That warrant was issued on August 20, 2024, six days before the Davis Joint Unified School District's first day of school.
Centralia police said the detective on Polk's case drove south to California and arrested Polk, with the assistance of West Sacramento police, at her home on August 21.
Polk remained in custody at the Yolo County Jail on Thursday and was waiting to be transported back to Washington.
Upon learning of Polk's arrest, the Davis Joint Unified School District said it had placed her on administrative leave.
Maria Clayton, a district spokesperson, said Polk had been employed by the district since August 2022. Clayton said the district will continue to cooperate with law enforcement.
