Booster Club Mom Indicted For Sex With At Least 9 Students

Englewood, TN – An Englewood mother involved the McMinn Central High School’s booster club has been charged with having sex with at least nine boys at her child’s school.

The investigation began on Dec. 9, 2021 when an anonymous letter was left in the office of McMinn County Director of Schools Lee Parkison that alleged a parent of a student at the high school, 38-year-old Melissa Blair, had been having sexual encounters with students, WBIR reported.

School officials notified the McMinn County Sheriff’s Office, which was also notified by the Tennessee Department of Children’s Services and an investigation was launched.

Sheriff’s deputies executed a search warrant on Blair’s home on Dec. 15, 2021 and interviewed her, WBIR reported.

McMinn County Sheriff Joe Guy said the search yielded evidence that furthered the investigation.

He said that was when more victims started coming forward to accuse Blair of sexually assaulting them, including two victims who are now adults, WBIR reported.

The school system banned the former booster club member from school property and all school activities.

Her child has since transferred to another high school, according to WTVC.

Blair was not a teacher or employee of the school, just a parent who had occasion to interact with a lot of students as she volunteered with the boosters, WBIR reported.

Investigators determined that Blair had talked to her victims – boys between the ages of 14 and 17 – on social media, and then traded items with them in exchange for sexual encounters.

The alleged sexual assaults on the juvenile boys went on from spring of 2020 through nearly the end of 2021, according to the sheriff’s department.

Sheriff Guy said that one of Blair’s alleged victims was 14 years old when she started having sex with him, WBIR reported.

He said the other victims ranged in age from 15 to 17 years old.

The sheriff said his office suspected that there may be more victims who have not yet come forward, WBIR reported.

A McMinn County grand jury indicted Blair on 23 felony counts on Feb. 15.

She has been charged with 18 counts of aggravated statutory rape, four counts of human trafficking by patronizing prostitution, and one count of solicitation of a minor, according to WBIR.

Blair turned herself in to the McMinn County Sheriff’s Office the same day she was charged.

She was booked into jail and her bond was set at $100,000, WBIR reported.

“This case is difficult and shocking to even seasoned detectives,” Sheriff Guy said. “We want to offer support and resources to these victims and their families.”