PULASKI COUNTY, MO- There are reasons why parents are pulling their children out of public schools, and the following could be one of the reasons.
The Pulaski County Sheriff’s Office reports that a married substitute teacher has been charged with offering money, alcohol, and marijuana to students in exchange for sex, the New York Post reports. In one case, she slept with a student on a gravel road.
Carissa Jane Smith, 30, of Dixon, Missouri, paid students to keep silent about the encounters, which started in August 2023 and continued until September 2024. In return, students would allow her to perform oral sex on them, the Sheriff’s office said.
One victim said that Smith, who is a mother, forced him to ejaculate inside her. The student told her that “was f***** up,” at which point she offered him additional money, charging documents allege.
Smith formerly taught at a school in Dixon and would have sexual relations with students at various locations, including her home, the side of the road, and on gravel roads, investigators said. In one case, Smith asked a student who was in middle school to have sex with her.
That student said he met Smith when she was a substitute teacher, and she gave him her Snapchat information.
“Smith began sending him pictures of her breasts and buttocks, along with her nude in the shower,” charging documents obtained by the New York Post read. She then offered the student money in exchange for sex, however, she told him to remain silent about it.
“[The victim] stated Mrs. Smith told them not to talk about it or they would get into trouble. Mrs. Smith stated, ‘You know you can’t talk about this with anybody?’” the court documents said.
Students would typically be paid $100 to have sex with her or to let her perform oral sex on them but paid some with alcohol or marijuana.
In one case, Smith smoked marijuana with the victim and Smith’s friend, Lacey Beam, a former school nurse for the Dixon School District,” according to court documents.
Court records said Smith dropped Beam off at her home and then took the victim to McDonald’s because her husband was home with their children.
The Sheriff’s Office said Smith could face additional charges if more victims come forward. Court documents said she was hired in September 2022 as a long-term substitute at Dixon Middle School. She was later hired as a paraprofessional and long-term sub at Dixon High School until her resignation this past August.
In a letter to parents, Dixon R-1 School District Superintendent Travis Bohrer wrote that the district learned about the allegations regarding Smith earlier this year but could not comment due to the ongoing investigation.
He said that the district fully cooperated with the sheriff’s office and that school administrators also conducted an investigation.
“This is very disturbing and distressing information for everyone in our school community,” Bohrer said of Smith’s arrest while adding that the district has been in contact with the victims’ families.
Smith was arrested on Nov.12 and is being held on a $250,000 bond.
She is charged with eight counts of statutory rape, one count of sodomy, three counts of sexual contact with a student, two counts of sexual misconduct with a student, one count of patronizing prostitution, two counts of sexual trafficking of a child, and two counts of hindering prosecution.
Dixon is located 130 miles southwest of St. Louis, the Post wrote.
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