Andrea Baber, a 29-year-old Oregon teacher, has been accused of having a sexual relationship with a student. Baber was arrested on Friday, December 15, at her home in Cottage Grove, Oregon. Baber was apprehended mere days after she and the teenager were alledgely caught in bed by Baber’s husband on December 5.
According to law enforcement officials, police first learned of Baber’s relationship with the boy after his father received an anonymous email asking whether he knew his teenage son was in a sexual relationship with Baber. Attached to the email were several photos of Baber and the boy in bed together, according to court documents.
“It was learned Baber began the relationship with the then 15-year-old student in 2016 and had engaged in a sexual relationship on a regular basis with the minor and provided him with marijuana,” a Douglas County Sheriff’s Office said.
Baber was arrested and charged with suspicion of third-degree rape, third-degree sodomy, contributing to the sexual delinquency of a minor, first-degree online sexual corruption of a minor and unlawful delivery of marijuana to a person under 18 years of age.
via CBS News:
Lt. Chris Merrifield of the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office said Monday that 29-year-old Andrea Baber was arrested after investigators obtained a warrant to search her Cottage Grove home. Baber taught at Logos Christian Academy in Springfield.
Merrifield says the relationship began in 2016, when the male student was 15 years old. Merrifield says the relationship continued on a regular basis, with Baber also providing the boy with marijuana.
Baber is charged with third-degree rape, third-degree sodomy, unlawful delivery of marijuana to a minor, online sexual corruption of a child and contributing to the sexual delinquency of a minor.
CBS affiliate KPIC reports that on December 15, detectives obtained a search warrant for Baber’s residence where detectives say they located additional evidence.The sheriff’s office identified Baber as a former teacher, but she remains on the school’s online staff directory. The website says Baber teaches writing and literature, and is married.
Baber was taken into custody and placed in the Douglas County Jail.
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. Samantha Fitzgerland, a 28-year-old, was most recently arrested and charged. Jordan Ondish was arrested for her inappropriate relationship with a 19-year-old, while 28-year-old Samantha Fitzpatrick was arrested on similar charges. Nicole Marie Andrews was arrested as well. 32-year-old Jessica Langford was arrested and charged with sexual assault-related crimes as well.