Authorities charged a 36-year-old former Idaho high school teacher for allegedly raping a teen boy after police discovered the boy behind the wheel of her car because she was “too drunk to drive,” according to multiple reports.
A Saint Anthony Police Department officer pulled the car over for allegedly having no visible taillights and found that former South Fremont High School teacher Jessica Lawson was not inside, Fox News reported Thursday, citing Fremont County Magistrate Court records. Instead, a teen boy was driving who told the officer Lawson had let him operate the car “due to her being too drunk to drive,” according police reports reviewed by East Idaho News.
The teen also reportedly told the officer he had smoked marijuana with the former teacher before getting behind the wheel. Police drove the teen home from the traffic stop. (RELATED: REPORT: Police Charge New York Teacher With Rape Of 14-Year-Old Student)
Lawson had allegedly recently finalized a divorce with her ex-husband, as well as child custody agreements, according to court records cited by Fox.
Lawson picked the teen up at 11 p.m. the night before and brought him to her house, the teen’s parents said, according to East Idaho News. There, Lawson allegedly got drunk and he got high and the two had sex, according to the outlet. The boy’s parents then called the police to report what their son had told them, Fox reported.
Prior to the parents’ call, Lawson allegedly called the teen’s mother and said she had given the teen alcohol and admitted there was marijuana present in her home, but said the teen did not smoke and denied “anything else had occurred,” Fox reported.
Police arrested Lawson and booked her into the Madison County Jail with a bond of $250,000, according to East Idaho News. A no-contact order was reportedly ordered for the teen.
Lawson is reportedly facing two felony counts of rape of a 16- or 17-year-old victim, another felony charge of delivering a controlled substance and misdemeanor dispensing alcohol to a minor.
Further court hearings have yet to be scheduled. Lawson could face up to life in prison if convicted, East Idaho News reported.