Screengrab via WSPA
A track coach and biology teacher who got married in August 2017 in South Carolina was allegedly caught at the side of the road in a state of undress with a student. WSPA reports that Elizabeth Heaton Taylor, 27, was found with the student by a Greenville County Sheriff’s deputy on the evening of February 15 on Holland Road in the town of Simpsonville, about 10 miles south east of Greenville. The pair were in Taylor’s white Ford Explorer. The station’s report says that Taylor gave authorities a fake name but later told the deputies that she and the student had sex on two separate occasions.
Greenville Online reports that both of the alleged encounters occurred some time after January 1.
Here’s what you need to know:
Taylor Has Been Fired From Her Job
Mauldin High School
Taylor is facing charges of sexual battery with a student 16 or 17 years of age. On February 16, Taylor was fired from her job at Greer High School, district spokeswoman Beth Brotherton told Greenville Online. Taylor’s profile in the science department section of the Greer High School website has been removed.
The former educator has been booked into the Greenville County Detention Center with a $10,250 bond.
Taylor Was Married in August 2017
Screengrab via The Knot
Taylor’s maiden name is Heaton. In August 2017, Taylor married Alex Taylor in Greenville, according to their wedding announcement in The State. That announcement says that Taylor attended Mauldin High School, graduating in 2009. From there, Taylor went on to study biology and secondary science education at the University of South Carolina, graduating in 2015.
The announcement goes on to say that the couple honeymooned in Jamaica and planned to live in Simpsonville. When asked how they met by the State, Taylor said she had known her husband since middle school but they only got together when they met later at the University of South Carolina.
The school’s mascot, Cocky, was present at their wedding. A separate wedding announcement says that Taylor’s older brother was friends with her husband and that’s how they met.
Taylor went on to describe the proposal saying, “Alex’s family is Greek, and they invited me to celebrate Greek Easter at his parents’ house on Lake Murray. Before lunch, just the two of us went out on the boat to meet Alex’s sister-in-law and her children. As we approached the dock where we were meeting them, I asked Alex why the kids were standing so still. As we got closer, I saw that they were holding a sign that said “Will you marry Uncle Owl?” (their name for Alex). I turned around to see Alex on his knee on the boat with a beautiful ring; he asked me to marry him, and of course I said yes.”
Taylor Lists Her Hobbies as ‘Hiking, Shopping, Running & South Carolina Football Games
Getty
Taylor began teaching at Greer High School in the fall of 2015, according to an article in the school’s newspaper. The article refers to Taylor as a biology and earth science teacher. Taylor gives her hobbies as “hiking, shopping, running, and, of course, going to South Carolina football games.” When asked about her opinion of the school, Taylor said, “I like it a lot. So far it’s very good.”
Female Educators Make Up a Small Fraction Teacher/Student Sexual Assault Convictions
Slate reported that female educators make up 4 percent of convicted rapists in teacher/student scandals in 2006. While in 2016, former Department of Education chief of staff, Terry Abbott, wrote in the Washington Post that teacher/student sex scandals were on the rise. For example, in Kentucky in 2011, the state saw the number of teacher/student sexual relationships nearly double.
In November 2016, Texas State Representative Tony Dale sought to pass legislation that would prevent, as Dale says, teachers merely resigning and moving. Dale said of his legislation, “HB 218 increases penalties and close loopholes that allow educators who engage in inappropriate relationships to resign and obtain employment in another district. This bill seeks to allow Texas the tools we need to get rid of teachers who prey on our children.”
