Tom GantertWilliamstown, KY – A Kentucky high school teacher has been charged with rape and sodomy for multiple sexual encounters she had with a 15-year-old male student over summer break.
Grant County Schools sent out a letter to parents in the district on Aug. 22 that explained that the Grant County High School administration had been tipped off about the illicit affair between the 23-year-old Kendall Burk and a student the day before, WLEX reported.
“The district followed proper protocol for a preliminary investigation and notified the School Resource Officer (SRO); the Grant County Sheriff’s Office subsequently followed with their investigation. The teacher has been removed from duties,” the letter from Grant County Schools Superintendent Matthew Morgan said.
Burk was arrested and charged with four counts of third-degree rape and four counts of sodomy, according to WKYT.
The school district relieved Burk of her duties after she was charged.
She was in her second year as a science teacher at Grant County High School, WLEX reported.
The teacher told police she had sex with the student four times during the summer vacation.
Court documents said that Burk told investigators that two of the sexual encounters had happened at her home and two other times she and the 15 year old had sex in her car.
The last time the teacher and the student had sex was on July 3, according to WLEX.
None of the sexual encounters occurred on school property.
“While these events, of course, sadden us, our first priority –and that of the law enforcement with whom we work – is and must always be the protection and safety of our students. We express our appreciation to those who worked with us to this end,” the superintendent said in the letter to parents.
Burk was released on house arrest from the Grand County Detention Center on $25,000 bail, WLEX reported.
The former teacher isn’t allowed to have any contact with her victim or any other minors as a condition of her release.