After being released on bond, a former Fulton County middle school teacher made more than a dozen attempts to contact the student he’s accused of kissing, prosecutors told Channel 2 Action News.
The teacher is now back in jail.
Timothy Benton was originally arrested on May 27 of last year and charged with child molestation and enticing a child for indecent purposes. Benton, a now-former social studies teacher at Crabapple Middle School, reportedly admitted to kissing a student in his classroom and said he had developed “affectionate feelings” for the juvenile.
He posted $50,000 bond and was released a few days after his original arrest, but prosecutors now tell Channel 2 that bond has been revoked.
Authorities say Benton contacted the victim 15 times after his release from jail, which violated the terms of his bond. Online records show the former teacher was re-booked in the Fulton County jail on Jan. 9.
Benton, 60, reportedly told police he had known the alleged victim for three years before realizing he had "affectionate feelings" for the student.
“Mr. Benton stated numerous times that he did kiss (the juvenile) on the lips and texted (the juvenile) that he wanted to see her, but he was trying to do the best that he could due to the nature of how he started to feel for the juvenile victim,” an incident report from Fulton County Public Schools police said.
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