Facebook | Beaumont Police Department
Samantha Lee Ciotta, a 32-year-old California high school teacher, was arrested and charged for allegedly having sex with an underage student.
Ciotta, 32, was booked on suspicion of unlawful sexual intercourse and oral copulation with a minor on Wednesday, September 21 in Beaumont, California.
According to The Patch, a Snapchat video allegedly showed Ciotta wearing only “a shirt and panties” while drinking alcohol with two shirtless minors. Police got a warrant to obtain Ciotta’s cell phone and her home.
Beaumont Police Department investigators allege that the 32-year-old teacher had sexual intercourse with a Beaumont High School student for several months. The unidentified student also told police that they had communicated inappropriately through various messaging platforms.
Ciotta was arrested on September 20 and charged with unlawful sex and oral copulation with a minor. She was released from custody on September 21 after posting $150,000 bail.
Ciotta had already been placed on administrative leave by the Beaumont Unified School District during the police investigation, authorities said. A district spokeswoman declined to say what date the leave began.
The student came forward to police within the past week, Beaumont police spokeswoman Mercedes McFayden said.
The student told detectives “there has been unlawful sexual intercourse occurring for the past few months,” police said in a news release. Investigators also found Ciotta and the student had “inappropriate communications … through various messaging platforms.”
In a statement confirming Ciotta was on leave, the school district said it is cooperating with police and was limited by privacy laws on what officials could say.
Ciotta, a married mother-of-one, was placed on leave by the Beaumont Unified School District during the investigation.
Ciotta, who began working in the district in 2015, was released from custody at the Larry D. Smith Correctional Facility after posting $150,000 bond.
