Holly MatkinTunnel Hill, GA – A former high school English teacher will serve at least three months in prison after a drug investigation revealed that she was sexually assaulting one of her juvenile students.
Raquel Eleana Spencer, 29, pleaded guilty to sexual assault by a person with supervisor and disciplinary authority on March 8, the Whitfield County Clerk of Court confirmed, according to the Daily Citizen-News.
She was sentenced to serve 90 to 120 in a minimum-security detention center that also provides life skill classes, counseling, and substance abuse classes, followed by over nine years on probation.
Spencer was formerly employed as an English teacher at Northwest Whitfield High School, where she also coached cheerleading and track, the Times Free Press reported.
She was arrested on Feb. 25, 2018, after three teachers notified school administrators that she was acting strangely.
The teachers said Spencer was speaking rapidly, and kept switching topics during conversations.
The assistant principal ultimately asked a school resource officer to intercept Spencer to help assess whether or not she appeared to be under the influence of drugs.
Spencer consented to a search, and was found in possession of heroin, according to Whitfield County Sheriff’s Office documents.
While she was sitting in jail on the drug possession charge, investigators conducted a search of her cell phone.
That’s when they discovered that she was exchanging sexually explicit text messages with one of her students.
The teen later told investigators that they had been having sex for the past year.
Spencer was hired by the school district in 2013, and resigned from her position after her initial arrest.
In exchange for her guilty plea on the sexual assault offense, the heroin possession charge was dismissed.
The court also ordered Spencer to complete 300 hours of community service, pay a $1,000 fine, and register as a sex offender, People reported.