Teachers are entrusted with educating children. It is a massive responsibility as they often have to play the role of second parents who teach school lessons, moral values, and worldly wisdom.

Brilliant teachers leave lasting impressions and positive experiences on their students, but there are always exceptions.

The world has seen many teachers who betrayed their parents’ power entrusted to them. Some teachers cross the line and form inappropriate relationships with their students.

While students and teachers are encouraged to bond, it is plain wrong when the connection is built on sexual gratification. The only proper foundation for a teacher-student relationship is respect.

Jennifer Caswell is a former English teacher at Hollis Middle School in Oklahoma. In April 2014, she resigned from her position amidst an allegation of sexual misconduct with a student.

During the early stage of the inquiry into the allegation, authorities had no evidence to support the claim and investigated only based on a parent’s complaint.

As the case developed, the police finally arrested the teacher and charged her with multiple counts of sexual assault.





Twitter


10 /10 To Raise An Eyebrow

During the early stages of the investigation, there was no hard evidence to suggest that Caswell had committed the sexual crime of any sort against the student, known simply as M.C.

It was a mere rumor that M.C. and Caswell spent time together on many occasions without the presence of anybody else to observe the interaction.

When the student was questioned about the matter, he said there was nothing wrong with them and that she was an excellent teacher.

The revelation about the seriousness of the case happened on June 18 when Caswell was caught red-handed at a hotel in Mississippi.

dvoevnore / Shutterstock.com


9 /10 Best Western Hotel Room







About 650 miles away from Hollis, Oklahoma, in Olive Branch, Mississippi, Caswell was taken into custody on suspicion of statutory rape.

The police found Caswell and M.C. together in a Best Western hotel room. Before the arrest, M.C. had his summer break and visited his mother.

It appeared that Caswell knew where the boy was and instructed him to go with her at some point during the holiday.

M.C. jumped out of the church parking lot through a fence and immediately entered a vehicle where Caswell was already waiting inside.



8 /10 Allegations Re-Evaluation

The arrest in Olive Branch prompted investigators to re-evaluate previous allegations of sexual misconduct against Caswell reported a few months earlier.

The suspicions were correct all along; Caswell has had sexual contact with M.C. more than several times throughout April and May, including at least twice at Hollis Middle School.

On August 14, 2014, in Harmon County District Court, Jennifer Caswell was charged with multiple counts of second-degree rape and enticing a child as well as one count of forcible sodomy.

She turned herself in at Harmon County Jail on August 15 and was released the same day on a $100,000 bail.

Twitter

7 /10 School District Investigation

Before the inquiry turned into a full-blown criminal investigation, the Hollis Independent School District of Harmon County and the Hollis Public School Board of Education took the initiative to look deeper into the allegation regarding Jennifer Caswell and M.C. When questioned by school district officials, M.C. claimed that there wasn’t any inappropriate contact between him and Caswell.

The suspicion was ruled as nothing but false rumor by March 11, 2014. That said, there was a second report of similar nature after the internal investigation concluded, and the information warranted a follow-up inquiry.

YouTube

6 /10 Whispering And Giggling

After the interview, M.C. was put into a period of in-school detention, removing him from Caswell’s classes. However, he returned to his usual schedule about a week later.

On March 28, more reports of similar nature came in. Students claimed to have seen M.C. and Caswell spending time together outside class; the two were whispering and giggling.

The school principal and vice-principal scheduled another interview with M.C. Like the previous questioning, M.C. said it was a mere rumor.

It remains unclear if the principal and vice-principal also came to the same conclusion as district officials.

Facebook

5 /10 A Dark Classroom

Yet another red flag came about on April 14 when M.C. participated in an after-school event.

During the event, a supervisor noticed that the boy was nowhere to be found at his post. A quick search revealed that he was with Caswell in a dark classroom.

Unlike the previous reports, this time, the allegation came with hard evidence: footage from surveillance video.

District officials were promptly notified of the finding, and they needed to send a more vital message about the allegations. A more severe investigation is on the way.

4 /10 Administrative Leave

The District Superintendent was about to put Caswell an administrative while the school investigated the matter. The investigation officially began on April 7.

Instead of taking an administrative leave, Caswell chose to resign on the same day. Both Caswell and M.C. maintained that the rumors were unfounded despite the evidence during the inquiry.

They claimed there had never been any inappropriate relationship, let alone sexual misconduct or abuse. However, it did not take long until a shocking revelation came surface.

3 /10 House Visits

Just three days after the school’s investigation began, Hollis Middle School Principal received reports suggesting that Caswell and M.C. had been spotted in a car together in the evenings, going around town.

Furthermore, the teacher bought her young student chewing tobacco from a liquor store.

The school principal contacted the student’s father and informed him about the finding, and the father was aware of the frequent house visits by the teacher.

At this point, the investigation conducted by the school was pretty much restrained because Caswell had already resigned.

2 /10 The Arrest

In the month following the school year’s conclusion, all rumors and allegations seemed to have gone quietly. M.C. took the time to visit his mother in Mississippi, but Caswell never really went away from his life.

Caswell followed him across the state from Oklahoma. She was finally arrested in Olive Branch when she took M.C. to a hotel.

Jennifer Caswell pleaded guilty to three counts of second-degree rape, two counts of enticing a child, and one count of forcible sodomy. In June 2015, she was sentenced to 10 years in prison.

Twitter

1 /10 $1 Million Lawsuit

It was not the end of legal trouble for Caswell. About two years after the sentencing, Caswell was ordered to pay $1 million in settlement for the boy.

U.S. District Judge Robin Cauthron said the payment was for the intentional infliction of emotional distress.

In the aftermath of the sexual misconduct, the boy was said to have experienced feelings of isolation, self-blame, and depression.

The school system also agreed to pay M.C. an amount of $125,000 to settle a lawsuit that the school participated in covering up the misconduct.

Continue Reading
Comments

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

1 Comment

Send this to a friend