Sheriff\'s Department Brittney Whetzel
Brittney Whetzel, a high school English teacher in South Carolina, is accused of sexual battery for allegedly having sexual encounters with two students.
Whetzel, 28, taught at Battery Creek High School in Beaufort, South Carolina. She is but the latest in a string of female teachers throughout the United States to be accused of sexual misconduct with a student. Another woman was also arrested in connection to the Whetzel case on accusations of providing alcohol to minors.
Here’s what you need to know:
1. Whetzel Was Accused of Sexual Encounters With Two Students
South Carolina teacher Brittney Whetzel, 28, arrested and charged with 2 counts of sexual battery with 2 students who are at least 18-years-old, and 3 counts of providing alcohol to minors.
Assistant teacher Akina Andrews, 23, was also charged with supplying alcohol to minors.
A week before Whetzel was arrested, Sheriff’s investigators “received a report of criminal activity on the part of two female Battery Creek High School employees that occurred at a Lady’s Island residence between April 9th and April 10th,” the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Department alleged in a press release.
“After conducting numerous interviews, investigators met with a Beaufort County magistrate and obtained warrants for the two school employees.” According to WYFF4.com, Whetzel “is accused of giving alcohol to three of her students at her home and having sexual encounters with two of them.”
Sheriff’s officials revealed that investigators “arrested 28-year-old Brittney Whetzel—a teacher at Battery Creek High School—at her Lady’s Island home on warrants charging her with two counts of Sexual Battery with a Student and three counts of Transfer of Beer or Wine for an Underage Person’s Consumption. Following her arrest, Whetzel was transported to the Beaufort County Detention Center.”
2. Another Employee was Accused of Providing Alcohol to a Student
Akina Andrews
As part of the investigation, another employee also ended up under arrest. She was identified as 23-year-old Akina Andrews, also an employee of Battery Creek High School.
Andrews “turned herself in to investigators in Beaufort, where she was arrested on warrants charging her with three counts of Transfer of Beer or Wine for an Underage Person’s Consumption. Andrews was transported to the Beaufort County Detention Center and incarcerated. And like Brittney Whetzel, Andrews has yet to receive a bond hearing for her charges,” The Sheriff’s Department’s press release stated.
“Questions regarding administrative actions taken by school officials should be referred to the Beaufort County School District,” the release concluded. “The Sheriff’s Office appreciates your partnership and commitment to the safety of our community.”
3. Whetzel Was Placed on Administrative Leave
Brittney Whetzel’s mugshot.
The school district took swift action, releasing a statement that reads, “The teacher arrested this morning (Brittney Whetzel, English teacher at Battery Creek High) was placed on administrative leave last week after the school district notified the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office of potential criminal activity. The district has been cooperating with law enforcement in its investigation.”
Jail records showed she was being held in the Beaufort County, South Carolina detention center as of April 17, 2018 on multiple potential charges. Her Facebook page has been deleted. She had a YouTube channel in which she had posted two videos of school plays.
4. Whetzel Taught English at the School
This South Carolina HS English teacher was arrested for allegedly having sex with two students and providing alcohol to three
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According to WJCL-TV, Whetzel was an English teacher at the school, and Andrews was a media assistant.
The district has deleted Whetzel’s teaching website, but the cache of it remains and says, “I am from the Washington D.C. area and went to Clemson University. I majored in Secondary English Education and graduated in 2013. I previously taught in the Upstate at Boiling Springs High…”
According to Fox Carolina, Whetzel “taught English at Boiling Springs High from August 2013 to June 2016.”
5. Multiple Female Teachers in the United States Have Ended Up in Trouble With the Law
TwitterLoryn Barclay.
Female teachers or educational professionals ending up in mugshots has become a too common phenomenon over the past few years.
Dori Myers, a teacher in the Bronx, was accused of having oral sex with a juvenile, charges she denies.
Cassandra White, an English teacher in Oklahoma, is even accused of taking out a marriage license with a teenage boy. Hunter Day, an Oklahoma teacher, was accused of sending nude photos to a student. Among other recent cases: Loryn Barclay, a former substitute teacher at a Missouri High School, was accused of having sexual contact multiple times with a 17-year-old boy. Shawnetta Reece, a gym teacher from Georgia, was accused of having an inappropriate relationship with a 15-year-old boy.
Tracy Miller, a West Virginia teacher, was accused of sending nude photos to students. Nataly Lopez, a 27-year-old former substitute teacher at a middle school in New Jersey, was accused of having sexual contact with a student. Lindsey Jarvis, a 27-year-old middle school teacher’s aide, was accused of the rape and sodomy of a student who was under the age of 16. Jarvis was arrested in Fayette County, Kentucky, on June 16. Then there’s Laura Ramos. She is a 31-year-old Connecticut high school teacher who is accused of having sex with a special education student. And there’s Tiffany Geliga.
