Amber Anderson. (GoCrusaders.com)
A 27-year-old math teacher at a private Christian school in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, has been arrested on charges that she sexually assaulted a student at the school two years ago.
The mother of the then-15-year-old Christian Life Academy student reported that the teacher, Amber Anderson, seemed to have a “close” relationship with her son after uncovering text messages on his phone in 2013, according to the Times-Picayune. But she didn’t learn about the sexual nature of the relationship until recently.
Anderson was arrested April 21 and charged with felony carnal knowledge of a student. She has been fired from her job at the school, according to WBRZ.
In a statement on its website, the school said:
Please join Christian Life Fellowship as we reflect on the current events in the news. While we are grieved at the allegations, we are thankful that it has been exposed. Christian Life Fellowship and Christian Life Academy has zero tolerance for this behavior and our position at this time is that of prayer. We pray for God to keep His gracious hand upon all those involved. We pray for healing and His peace, which surpasses understanding, be with them.
Here’s what you need to know:
1. Anderson Is Accused of Having Sex With the Boy Multiple Times Over 2 Months
Amber Anderson (East Baton Rouge Sheriff’s Office)
The now 17-year-old victim told police he had sexual intercourse with Anderson on multiple occasions between July and August 2013, according to court documents.
The victim said he began texting his teacher in April 2013, when he was a freshman at the school, after getting her number from another student. They became “extremely close” and the message “became sexual in nature,” according to the affidavit.
In July, he began to meet with Anderson outside the school, he told police. The victim said he would walk from his home to a nearby fast food restaurant to be picked up by Anderson. They then drove her residence, which was nearby, and had sexual intercourse, he told police. This happened “multiple times throughout the summer months.”
At the end of the summer, his mother found out that he had been texting with Anderson, but he had deleted most of the messages by then, so she didn’t know what was really going on. She told police that she reported the messages to the school administration and confronted Anderson, telling her to stop messaging her son.
2. Anderson Said She’s Sorry for ‘Taking the Victim’s Innocence’
Detective Keon Washington said in his affidavit he spoke to Anderson about the allegations and she “admitted to being involved in an intimate relationship with the victim.” She also admitted to picking up the victim and taking him back to her home.
Anderson told Washington it was a “mistake” and she apologized “for taking the victim’s innocence,” according to the affidavit.
3. She Sent the Student Naked Pictures During Late-Night Text Message Exchanges
Amber Anderson.
Police said in court documents they obtained the victim’s cell phone records from the July and August 2013. Detective Washington said he found “numerous calls, texts, and picture messages exchanged between the accused and the victim between the months of July and August of 2013.” He said many of the messages and calls were made between 10 p.m. and 2 a.m.
The victim told police he and Anderson exchanged nude pictures of each other in those messages.
4. The School’s Founder Said He Was Not Aware of the Allegations Until Anderson’s Arrest
The school’s founder and lead pastor, Jere Mililli, told WAFB that no one reported the relationship between the student and Anderson to him two years ago.
“I do not know anything about this,” Melilli told the news station the day of Anderson’s arrest. “This is the first day that I have heard anything of this nature. We would have taken care of it then and she would no longer have been working for us that day I heard.”
5. She Worked for the School Until Her Arrest & Was Recently Prom Coordinator
Amber Anderson arrested and charged with felony carnal knowledge of a juvenile.. @WBRZ #BREAKING http://t.co/Zi8sc868JT
Mililli told WAFB that Anderson was fired from her position at the school. She worked there for three years.
According to her now-deleted biography on the school’s website, Anderson came to the school after graduating from Mississippi State University. She is originally from Laurel, Mississippi.
A junior and high school math teacher, Anderson was removed from her classroom by deputies on April 21. She was booked on the charge and later released on $25,000 bail.
Students told WABZ reporter Brett Buffington that Anderson coordinated the school’s recent prom and was at the event April 18, just days before her arrest.