Sarah E. Kozar, a 25-year-old teacher in Minden, Louisiana, was arrested on Thursday, May 9, for allegedly engaging in illicit sexual contact with an underage student.
According to the Claiborne Parish Sheriff’s Office, Kozar — who was a teacher at Mount Olive Christian School — was officially charged with two counts of prohibited sexual conduct between educator and student and booked into the Claiborne Parish Detention Center.
Following her initial arrest, Kozar was eventually released on a $4,000 bond.
Prior to her arrest, the 25-year-old taught choir and fine arts teacher at Mount Olive Christian School, which is located in Athens, Louisiana. At the time of this writing, it is unclear whether or not Kozar is still employed at the school.
Kozar is just one of many education officials to be arrested and charged for inappropriate contact with an underage student in recent years.
Since the beginning of 2019 alone, a handful of teachers have been arrested on similar charges, including Beulah High School teacher Kelsie Schmidt in North Dakota, Rancocas Valley Regional High School teacher Alexandra Reiner in New Jersey, and 50-year-old Florida substitute teacher Angela Jean Stanton in Florida. Additionally, Texas teachers Meredith Null and Edna Longoria were arrested on similar charges.
As for why the number of these incidents has seemingly increased, studies suggest that smartphones are the primary reason for the spike in illicit relationships, as it allows teachers to communicate with the minors without supervision.
According to a report from the Texas Education Association, smartphones make easy for teachers to privately text and talk with students and also make it possible for teachers and students to share explicit images.
That is all the information that is available at this time. This article will be updated with new and relevant information should it become available at any time. If there is anything that we missed, please feel free to send an email to editor@teamcoed.com and we will respond as soon as possible.