A small-town Alabama high school cheerleading coach was arrested on Tuesday on charges that she had a sexual relationship with a male student.
The teacher is Katherine Nelson, reports The Birmingham News.
Nelson, 29, is an English teacher at Brookwood High School in Brookwood, Ala. (pop: 1,828), just east of Tuscaloosa. She also coaches cheerleading and golf, and directs musical theater.
The charge against the married teacher is engaging in a sex act with a student under the age of 19 (while also a school employee).
Investigators say the sex occurred back during the 2012-2013 school year.
The age of the student at the time of the alleged fling — or now — is not known.
Sheriff Ron Abernathy issued a statement explaining that the 2016 investigation had commenced based on a tip from the local school district.
“Nelson turned herself in at the Tuscaloosa County Jail and has since made bond. At this time the investigation has not shown any evidence to indicate that any other students or teachers are involved in the alleged incident,” Abernathy’s statement, obtained by Birmingham CBS affiliate WIAT-TV, said.
School district officials hastily removed Nelson’s biography from the Brookwood High School website. However, they weren’t fast enough for quick-thinking local Fox affiliate WBRC.
“I am so thrilled to be teaching at BHS!” Nelson wrote about herself. “I attended Brookwood schools from kindergarten until I graduated from Brookwood High in 2004. It is an honor for me to return as a teacher. I appreciate this school and community so very much. Both of my parents are educators, and I strongly believe that played a role in how I got a passion for teaching and a love for students.”
After explaining that she received her degree in secondary education from the University of Alabama, Nelson discussed her happy family life.
“I married Mattie Nelson in October of 2007, and we now live in Tuscaloosa,” Nelson wrote. “Mattie and I are very active in our church, Ridgecrest Baptist. I enjoy dancing, reading, cooking, traveling, and watching sports. I love Alabama Football! ROLL TIDE!”
Taxpayer-funded Tuscaloosa County Schools officials are refusing to discuss Nelson’s current employment status.
While no state is immune to the national epidemic of teacher-student sex stories, the stars really seem to have fallen on Alabama when it comes to the phenomenon. The state of about 4.8 million residents (a little over half the population of New York City) produces teacher-sex stories like so much kudzu. (RELATED: PROOF: Alabama Is The Teacher-Student Sex Capital Of The USA)
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