A former Gwinnett County high school school teacher has been arrested after allegations surfaced that she had an inappropriate relationship with one of her students.
Sarah Katherine Brooks, 25, was booked into the Gwinnett County Jail on Friday, and she faces a felony charge of sexual assault by persons with supervisory or disciplinary authority, jail records show.
On Tuesday morning, Archer High School principal Ken Johnson sent a letter to parents that said a police investigation was launched after school officials learned of the alleged relationship between Brooks and a high school senior at the school. Brooks, whose name had previously not been released, resigned amid the investigation, AJC.com previously reported.
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“On Monday we received a report about this situation and our school immediately contacted the police and the school district's Division of Human Resources,” Johnson wrote. “As this has been and continues to be an active police investigation there are not many details I can share. However, I can tell you that the teacher has resigned from Gwinnett County Public Schools and the school system will be forwarding information about these allegations to the Professional Standards Commission.”
The student’s mother told Channel 2 Action News that Brooks and her 17-year-old son had sex during off-campus tutoring. Brooks was his physical education teacher, she said.
The two had sex at least three times since October, including once at the student’s home while she was at work, his mother said.
In his letter, Johnson called the alleged inappropriate behavior between the teacher and student unacceptable.
“While this is not a situation we have experienced at our school previously, one time is too many,” he said. “Ethics matter, and the trust our community places in its educators matters to Archer and to Gwinnett County Public Schools. This is not something we take for granted.”
Brooks was released from jail on a $11,200 bond, jail records show.
The investigation is the latest in a string of sexual relationships between educators and students in the state’s largest school district.
In December, a former South Gwinnett High School band director pleaded guilty to sexually abusing four students in less than three years on the job. Villie Jones pleaded to 20 charges of sexual assault by a person with supervisory or disciplinary authority and was sentenced to 10 years in prison and 20 years of probation.
RELATED: Ex-Gwinnett teacher pleads guilty to sexually abusing 4 students
And in 2017, former Parkview High teacher and Georgia Bulldogs receiver Michael “Mikey” Henderson was arrested on sexual assault charges after authorities discovered he had a sexual relationship with a student in his geometry class that lasted more than two years.
MORE: Gwinnett teacher charged with sex assault released on bond
According to police, Henderson had between 20 and 30 sexual encounters with the student, all of which occurred on school grounds. He pleaded guilty and was sentenced to five years in prison and 15 on probation.
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