Emma Ogle, a 63-year-old teacher at Garinger High School, has been arrested and charged for having a sexual relationship with a 17-year-old student, according to WSOC TV. Ogle serves as a career and technical education (CTE) health occupations teacher.
Since the allegations, Ogle has been suspended with pay pending the outcome of the investigation. She had been with the school district since 2005. Along with being a teacher at Garinger High School, the 63-year-old is also a registered nurse.
According to the reports, Ogle was arrested on Halloween night after a student reported the sexual relationship to another staff member at Garinger High School just hours earlier.
Ogle was charged with having sex with a student, crimes against nature with a student and felony indecent liberties with a student. Ogle’s bond was set at $10,000, according to the sheriff’s office website, and she has since bonded out of jail.
Since the beginning of 2019 alone, a handful of teachers have been arrested on similar charges, including 25-year-old substitute teacher Alexis Mercedes Boberg in Baltimore, 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.