Taylor Brooks Boyles, a 27-year-old Alabama middle school teacher, has been charged with sexual misconduct involving a male high school student.
According to Lawrence County Sheriff Gene Mitchell, investigators were tipped off that Boyles, 27, had been engaging in inappropriate sexual contact with an 18-year-old student at Lawrence County High School.
Boyles, a recently divorced math and social studies teacher at Moulton Middle School, has been charged with engaging in a sex act with a student younger than 19, a felony punishable by up to 10 years in prison.
Via Moulton Adviser:
Mitchell said the arrest came on Monday afternoon after investigators, along with the assistance of the Moulton Police Department and the Lawrence County Board of Education received information that Boyles had been engaging in inappropriate sexual contact with a Lawrence County High School student.
After learning of the possible illegal contact, board of education staff members contacted law enforcement and the investigation began.
According to Lawrence County Superintendent Jon Bret Smith, Boyles has been put on administrative leave pending the completion of the investigation. Smith also said that none of the alleged acts occurred on a school campus and that no students were ever in danger.
Smith released a full statement on the incident:
“On Thursday, I was notified of a personnel issue involving a school employee. Within two hours, I had investigated the issue and placed an employee on administrative leave. At no time was any student put in danger. The alleged events did not occur on a Lawrence County school campus. The safety of the Lawrence County students is our utmost priority.”
Boyles, a 2012 graduate of the University of North Alabama who was hired as a full-time teacher in the Lawrence County School System in 2015, turned herself in at the Lawrence County Jail shortly after noon Monday. She was released after posting a $10,000 bail.
This is the latest in a string of teacher/student sex scandals this year. In November, Tennessee teacher Janet Smothers was arrested. Former nutrition teacher LaToya Parker was also arrested for a relationship with a student. Florida teacher Caroline Lawson was charged with sexual assault. 26-year-old Allyson Moran was also arrested for similar crimes. The 23-year-old high school teacher Katherine Ross Ridenhour was also arrested for an inappropriate relationship.
Furthermore, Hunter Day, 22, was also arrested after a sting operation. Megan Kotarski was also arrested on similar charges. Michelle Schiffer, a 23-year-old history teacher in Texas, was also charged and arrested for allegedly having sex with a teenage student. 29-year-old Alyssia Marie Reddy was arrested in Maryland for her crimes in New Jersey.
