Teresa Whalin, a 28-year-old “integrated wellness” teacher in Douglas County’s Ranch View Middle School, exchanged nude photos with the minor, had sex with the teen, and created fake phone numbers to anonymously call the student in an effort to win the student back after their breakup, according to arrest affidavit obtained by several news outlets.
Most news reports on the case, including those reporting on the affidavit itself, do not specify whether the student was a boy or a girl.
The case represents yet another example of the disturbing trend of teachers — many of them young females — developing sexual relationships with their students.
The student was reportedly 12 years the teacher’s junior, suggesting the student was 14 when the two began having sex in April 2023 after they had gotten to know each other in the teacher’s gym class.
Douglas County Sheriff’s Department arrested Whalin earlier this week on charges of sexual assault, internet exploitation of a child, and stalking, according to Denver 7.
The teacher has been placed on administrative leave by the school district, where she had been working since the summer of 2021.
Based on the arrest affidavit, the student notified a counselor at the school that the relationship began after the teen began hanging out at the teacher’s office after school while she allegedly offered support for mental issues the student was having.
According to Denver7, which used the pronoun “they” in reporting on the arrest affidavit:
At some point, the student said they were interested in dating a classmate and broke off the relationship with Whalin, who “continued to drive near” the student’s home and their “walking path to and from school,” the affidavit reads. The student reported feeling fearful that they were being followed by Whalin, who they believed was “jealous” of the new relationship.
According to the sheriff’s department, the teacher has confessed to the relationship and knew her actions were wrong and deserved jail time.
Whalin was booked at the Douglas County Detention Center, where she’s being held on a $50,000 bond.
As Breitbart News has been reporting, sexual misconduct between teachers and students has been steadily increasing since at least 2008, representing a 250 percent increase by 2017.
According to a 2023 report by Psychology Today, rates of alleged sexual abuse involving educators showed a 53 percent increase for sexual assault and a 99 percent increase for rape or attempted rape from the last report in 2015-2016.
The actual rate may be even more, according to the magazine.
“However, as these statistics are based only upon official reports, they may greatly underestimate the scope of the problem, as (a previous study) found that only 6 percent of students officially reported the educator sexual misconduct they experienced,” the magazine reported.
Contributor Lowell Cauffiel is the author of the New York Times best seller House of Secrets , which documents one of the worst cases of child sex abuse in U.S. history, and nine other crime novels and nonfiction titles. See lowellcauffiel.com for more.
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