The Oklahoma County Sheriff’s Office said Deer Creek High School teacher Sarah Hull-Degroat, 23, sent sexual messages and a photo of her topless to a 15-year-old student through Google Docs, which allows users to share and edit documents with others. — Coffee work photo created by Racool_studio - www.freepik.com
A high school teacher sent in her resignation after school officials in Oklahoma uncovered evidence that she used Google Docs to send sexual messages to a student, reports say.
The Oklahoma County Sheriff’s Office said Deer Creek High School teacher Sarah Hull-Degroat, 23, sent sexual messages and a photo of her topless to a 15-year-old student through Google Docs, which allows users to share and edit documents with others.
School officials were notified of the communication between the teacher and student when software flagged words in the Google Doc relating to sex, the sheriff’s office said in an affidavit for a search warrant. Messages showed the two were planning on meeting on Friday, Dec 2, before school officials intervened.
Lenis DeRieux, the assistant superintendent for the Deer Creek School District, told sheriff’s officials “it appeared there may have been sexual contact between the minor student and Hull-Degroat”, according to the affidavit.
Oklahoma County Sheriff Tommie Johnson III announced the arrest of Hull-Degroat last week. She was charged with soliciting sexual conduct or communication with a minor by use of technology, Johnson said in the news briefing streamed by KOKH.
Hull-Degroat was placed on administrative leave by Deer Creek Schools, according to KOKI.
“A teacher is not meant to be that kind of a friend. You know, they’re supposed to be a role model,” Deer Creek Superintendent Dr Jason Perez said, according to KFOR. “They’re supposed to be a mentor to the students and that’s the relationship we expect for all of our staff. Period.”
Hull-Degroat’s employment status was on the agenda for the Deer Creek Board of Education meeting scheduled for Monday, Dec 12, but she reportedly sent in her resignation beforehand.
“It didn’t really shock me to receive the resignation,” Perez told KFOR.
The school board will act on her resignation during next month’s meeting, and the district is requesting that her teaching certificate be revoked, KOKH reported.
Deer Creek High School is in Edmond, about 20 miles north of Oklahoma City. – The Charlotte Observer/Tribune News Service
