Current:Home > reviewsMissouri dad knew his teen son was having sex with teacher, official say. Now he's charged. -SecureWealth Bridge
Missouri dad knew his teen son was having sex with teacher, official say. Now he's charged.
View
Date:2025-04-12 14:51:19
A Missouri father has been arrested after authorities say he allowed his 16-year-old son to have sex with his high school teacher over at least a two-month period late last year, newly released court records show.
Police arrested the 36-year-old father on Jan. 4 on one count of endangering the welfare of a child, saying he knew about the sex and that the two were using other students as their lookouts, according to Pulaski County Criminal Court records obtained by USA TODAY.
USA TODAY is not naming the father to protect his son's identity.
Meanwhile the teacher, 26-year-old Hailey Clifton-Carmack, was arrested in Texas after fleeing Missouri, according to a Monday Facebook post by police in Garden Ridge, just outside of San Antonio.
Clifton-Carmack was a math teacher at Laquey High School in the unincorporated community of Laquey, about 75 miles south of the state capital, Jefferson City.
She faces charges of statutory rape, endangering the welfare of a child, sexual contact with a student and child molestation. USA TODAY was working to track down Clifton-Carmack's attorney, if she has one.
'Scratches down his back'
According to the arrest warrants in the case, the alleged crimes took place from Nov. 1 through Dec. 23 when the victim was 16.
Pulaski County Sheriff's Department detectives learned about the allegations when a witness came forward and told authorities that the 16-year-old boy had shown them photographs of scratches down his back and said that they were from his teacher "after they had sex in her driveway," charging documents show.
The teen told the witness that he was the reason for his teacher's divorce, and said they had overheard them speaking intimately on the phone. In addition, the affidavit continues, the witness said the teacher is “too friendly with students and sometimes will dress inappropriately at school," often "openly discussed her personal life in class," and at one point got in trouble with the administration for "being too close with students."
When detectives visited the school on Dec. 8 to serve a search warrant on the suspect's phone, charging documents show, Clifton-Carmack denied having any kind of relationship with the boy.
'Giving her test answers':High school teacher accused of inappropriate sexual relationship
Teacher 'used students as lookouts'
As the investigation unfolded, on Dec. 23, detectives reported they got a tip the teacher was traveling to Texas but planned to visit the boy before she left town.
On Jan 3, another witness met with detectives and said they had been to the boy's home and spoke with his father, who said he knew the teacher and his son "have been in a sexual relationship and have used students as lookouts while they had sex during school."
When the witness told the boy's father they were going to police with the information, the complaint continues, "he responded by telling her they are going to do it behind my back so I may as well let it happen."
The report goes on to say he told her he would "lie for his son if he had to."
When detectives spoke to the father, he reportedly acknowledged that the teacher had been at their home before she left for Texas.
Timeline of warrants, arrests
Clifton-Carmack had not returned from Texas by Jan. 3, and people living at her registered Missouri address told detectives that she had moved to the state to be with family and did not know if she planned to return.
A warrant was issued for her arrest the next day, the same day the teen's father was arrested and booked into the county jail in Waynesville, Missouri.
And the day after that on Jan. 5, Garden Ridge police in Texas say they were contacted about Clifton-Carmack, whom they described as "a fugitive from justice who was suspected of fleeing the state of Missouri," according to their Facebook post.
Clifton-Carmack was subsequently arrested and was still in custody in Texas as of Wednesday, a Comal County jail spokesperson told USA TODAY.
The teen's father was released on a $50,000 bond and is due in court for a preliminary hearing on Feb. 5. USA TODAY has been unable to reach him.
District: 'The alleged misconduct is inexcusable'
The Laquey RF School District could not immediately be reached by USA TODAY on Wednesday.
But, according to KRCG-TV, Superintendent Kent Stoumbaugh said the district was aware of the case, "took immediate action" and that the teacher has not been in the district since Dec. 8, the same day detectives visited the school to look through the teen's phone.
"We do not anticipate her return," the superintendent wrote in a statement released to the outlet. "We understand that charges are not the same as a conviction and the employee is to be considered innocent until proven guilty. We must stress, however, that the alleged misconduct is inexcusable and does not meet the professional standards for district employees."
If convicted of felony child endangerment, prosecutors said, the boy's father faces up to 10 years in prison. Clifton-Carmack faces up to 25 years behind bars if convicted of all four charges.
Natalie Neysa Alund is a senior reporter for USA TODAY. Reach her at [email protected] and follow her on X @nataliealund.
Jayson Boebert facing charges:Lauren Boebert's ex-husband arrested after reported fight
veryGood! (7)
Related
- All That You Wanted to Know About She’s All That
- Ophelia Dahl on her Radcliffe Prize and lessons learned from Paul Farmer and her youth
- With Wild and Dangerous Weather All Around, Republicans Stay Silent on Climate Change
- How Boulder Taxed its Way to a Climate-Friendlier Future
- Why members of two of EPA's influential science advisory committees were let go
- Fossil Fuel Subsidies Top $450 Billion Annually, Study Says
- Why Melissa McCarthy Is Paranoid to Watch Gilmore Girls With Her Kids at Home
- Vaccination and awareness could help keep mpox in check this summer
- Hackers hit Rhode Island benefits system in major cyberattack. Personal data could be released soon
- Living Better: What it takes to get healthy in America
Ranking
- US wholesale inflation accelerated in November in sign that some price pressures remain elevated
- Worst Case Climate Scenario Might Be (Slightly) Less Dire Than Thought
- Kim Kardashian Reveals What Really Led to Sad Breakup With Pete Davidson
- Taylor Swift Announces Unheard Midnights Vault Track and Karma Remix With Ice Spice
- Trump issues order to ban transgender troops from serving openly in the military
- Hunter Biden to appear in court in Delaware in July
- House sidesteps vote on Biden impeachment resolution amid GOP infighting
- 'No violins': Michael J. Fox reflects on his career and life with Parkinson's
Recommendation
Could Bill Belichick, Robert Kraft reunite? Maybe in Pro Football Hall of Fame's 2026 class
American Climate: A Shared Experience Connects Survivors of Disaster
Draft Airline Emission Rules are the Latest Trump Administration Effort to Change its Climate Record
An abortion doula explains the impact of North Carolina's expanded limitations
McConnell absent from Senate on Thursday as he recovers from fall in Capitol
U.S. Military Precariously Unprepared for Climate Threats, War College & Retired Brass Warn
Debt limit deal claws back unspent COVID relief money
National MS-13 gang leader, 22 members indicted for cold-blooded murders