A Missouri teacher is accused of raping multiple students and offering them alcohol, drugs, and money to keep quiet, authorities announced Wednesday.
Carissa Jane Smith, 30, used her long-term substitute teaching position at Dixon Middle School and her paraprofessional role at Dixon Senior High School to groom minor boys, the Pulaski County Sheriff’s Department alleged in a statement following her arrest this week:
Multiple victims reported that Smith, who is married and has children, gave “money, marijuana and/or alcohol to students in return for sex or to allow her to perform oral sex,” police said.
The alleged crimes occurred at her Dixon residence and various other locations including “gravel roads or on the side of the road.”
One of the victims told police that he was in middle school when Smith first asked him for sex and began sending him nude photos of herself over Snapchat, and another victim said that she forced him to ejaculate inside her.
When he complained to her that what she allegedly did “was fucked up,” charging documents obtained by the Daily Mail state that Smith offered him more money.
In another incident, the victim said he consumed marijuana with Smith and a former Dixon School District nurse, Lacey Beam.
“Eventually Smith dropped Beam off at her home and took the boy to McDonald’s because her husband was home with their children,” the outlet reported, pointing to court documents.
“[The victim] stated Mrs. Smith told them not to talk about it or else they would get into trouble. Mrs. Smith stated, ‘You know you can’t talk about this with anybody?’” court documents said.
The alleged encounters began in August 2023 and continued until September 2024 — even after she resigned from the school district the month before, the New York Post reported.
In a letter sent home to parents obtained by the outlet, Dixon R-1 School District Superintendent Travis Bohrer said that the district was made aware of the allegations earlier in the year but were not able to comment as the investigation was still ongoing.
“This is very disturbing and distressing information for everyone in our school community,” Bohrer said of Smith’s alleged actions, adding that the district has been cooperating with law enforcement, conducting their own internal investigation, and has spoken with the families of the victims.
The number and exact ages of the victims are unclear.
Smith has been charged with eight counts of statutory rape, one count of statutory sodomy, three counts of sexual contact with a student, two counts of sexual misconduct with a student, one count of patronizing prostitution, two counts of sexual trafficking a child, and two counts of hindering prosecution.
The disgraced teacher is being held in the Pulaski County Detention Center on a $250,000 bond, the sheriff’s office said.