A North Carolina teacher, accused of having an inappropriate sexual relationship with a 12-year-old student, is being held on a $2.5 million bond since her arrest Friday, according to the Scotland County Sheriff’s Office.
Brianna Nicole Stanley, 23, taught at Carver Middle School until last week when, reportedly, she was charged with three counts of felony statutory sex offense against a child less than 13, five counts of felony indecent liberties with a student by a teacher, five counts of felony sexual activity by a teacher, and one count of felony third degree child exploitation related to child pornography.
Lt. Jessica Sadnikov told WPDE Stanley then was booked into the Scotland County Detention Center, They set her bail at $2.5 million.
Scotland County Schools spokeswoman Meredith Bounds told the Laurinburg Exchange a parent recently notified district officials about a “potentially inappropriate relationship between a teacher and student at Carver Middle School.” She said administrators removed Stanley from the classroom immediately. Local law enforcement launched an investigation, ultimately, charging the teacher on multiple counts of sexual misconduct with a minor child who was her student at the time the relationship took place. On Thursday, Stanley resigned.
“The school system is devastated by the allegations of this serious breach of trust by an employee,” said Bounds in a statement Friday. She indicated Scotland County Schools would not comment further at this time because “this is an ongoing criminal investigation.” However, she added: “Our focus now is on supporting our students and supporting law enforcement in their investigation.”
According to the middle school’s website, Stanley taught seventh grade science. The Laurinburg newspaper noted this marked Stanley’s first year of teaching with the school district.
Over the weekend, the Scotland County Detective Division deleted a Facebook post that provided details about the case and Stanley’s arrest, according to WNCN. Not everyone in the community agreed with this action. On Monday, deputies defended their decision on Facebook, saying they removed the post mainly to “protect the dignity and safety of the minor child involved.”
The officers explained, “The information was removed after a number of comments were made on the post, regarding sexually charged or explicit statements about the minor child involved and the defendant. The comments included statements about the minor child, and a number of other statements regarding the (victim) minor child’s character, truthfulness and overall reputation.”
They also said, “The purpose of making arrest posts is for information sharing. That post, in particular, was viewed more than 22,000 times and shared more than 300 as well as posted and published by various news sources.”
Detectives continued, “Our first duty first and foremost as a law enforcement agency is to protect (and serve). Our agency will always place the safety, security, emotional and overall well being of our victims as top our priorities, especially when they are minor children.”
The officers emphasized the importance of maintaining privacy for victims “especially when they are children and we encourage them to report crimes committed against them.” They thanked the community for their “understanding” on this matter.
Scotland County is located near the South Carolina line.
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