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Teacher charged over sexual relationship with student

A married female Texas high school teacher has been charged with having a sexual relationship with a student, and suspended from her job.

A Lockhart High School administrator tipped off local police earlier this month about a possible "inappropriate relationship" between a teacher and student at the school, about 56 kilometres southeast of Austin.

Detectives found a 17-year-old male student had been in contact personally and by text messages with biology teacher Sarah Fowlkes, 27, the Houston Chronicle reported.

Married Texas high school teacher Sarah Fowlkes has been charged with having a sexual relationship with a 17-year-old student. Picture: Lockhart Police Department
Married Texas high school teacher Sarah Fowlkes has been charged with having a sexual relationship with a 17-year-old student. Picture: Lockhart Police Department

"Their contact was of a sexual nature," police said.

The teacher reportedly turned herself in to police late Monday morning. The pictures released by the Lockhart Police Department show the attractive blonde with a big grin on her face.

She was charged with engaging in "sexual contact with the intent to arouse or gratify the sexual desire of" the alleged student, local reports said.

Fowlkes faces up to 20 years in prison for the second-degree felony.

Fowlkes faces up to 20 years in prison for the second-degree felony. Pictures: Facebook
Fowlkes faces up to 20 years in prison for the second-degree felony. Pictures: Facebook

Lockhart Independent School District confirmed in a statement that Fowlkes had been suspended "for having an improper relationship with a student".

“As soon as we learned of the report, we acted swiftly to involve law enforcement and CPS [Child Protective Services] to conduct a thorough investigation," Superintendent of Lockhart Independent District Schools Susan Bohn said.

The statement confirmed Fowlkes had been a teacher in the district since October 2014.


Lockhart Detective Jesse Bell told local news KXAN this was the first investigation the department had of a teacher having an inappropriate relationship with a student.

"Seventeen years old is obviously older [than most students] but at the same time it doesn't make anything right.

The suspended biology teacher smiled in her mugshots Picture: Lockhart Police Department
The suspended biology teacher smiled in her mugshots Picture: Lockhart Police Department

"If the kid is in school, parents trust the school to take care of their kids so it's definitely not right - that a teacher in a position of power over a student be able to take advantage of a student," he said.

She has reportedly been married four years ago, and the night before her arrest she was having dinner with her husband at a restaurant, celebrating her birthday.

Today's top news stories - March 24