Bay City Police Rachel Gonzalez.
Rachel Gonzalez, a former Bay City, Texas elementary school fourth grade teacher, is accused of having an inappropriate relationship with a 13-year-old student.
The father of the boy allegedly caught the pair together in the back seat of a car, according to KHOU-TV. Police spelled the teacher’s name as Rachel Gonzalez, but court records give her name as Rachel Gonzales, 44. She’s but the latest in a string of female teachers accused of having inappropriate relationships with underage teenagers throughout the United States.
Here’s what you need to know:
1. The Father Allegedly Encountered the Teacher & Son in a Parking Lot
Rachel Gonzalez.
According to the Bay City Police Department, the teacher was arrested after police were called to Bay City High School on December 15, 2017, where detectives “were advised of a case of Improper Relationship Between Educator and Student that occurred on Thursday, December 14, 2017.”
The booking report says Gonzales was held in the jail on accusations of online solicitation of a minor under age 14, and an improper relationship between educator/student.
Bay City ISD PD had “received information that Teacher Rachel Gonzalez, 44, Bay City, had allegedly been caught in the back seat of a vehicle with the 13-year-old victim by the child’s father. The vehicle had been parked in a parking lot located in the 5200 block of Oak Manor Blvd.,” police said in a statement they released on social media.
2. Police Allegedly Found Evidence of an ‘Improper Relationship’ on the Teenager’s Phone
At the request of the District Attorney, Bay City ISD PD “turned the case over to Bay City PD Detectives for investigation,” police wrote. “During the investigation Detectives got a search warrant to seize and access the phone belonging to the victim. At that time, they were able to locate evidence indicating there was an improper relationship and Detectives requested warrants for the arrest of Gonzalez.”
On December 22, 2017, at approximately 4:40 p.m., Officers served the warrants on Gonzalez. “She was transported to the Matagorda County Jail where she was booked in on charges of On-Line Solicitation of a Minor and Improper Relationship Between Educator and Student,” reported the police. Gonzales had a Facebook account, but it’s since been deleted. She’s been released on bond.
3. The Teacher Was Once Described as Making and Flying Paper Airplanes
A brief article about Rachel Gonzales ran in the Bay City Independent School District newsletter. It was headlined, “Prepositions & Paper Planes.” The story says that she was a fourth-grade teacher in the school district.
“Rachel Gonzales’s Cherry fourth grade classes studied prepositions and prepositional phrases and reinforced their knowledge through a hands-on activity which had the students flying paper airplanes. Yes, this teacher ENCOURAGED the making and flying of paper airplanes! Students took turns creating prepositional phrases based on where their planes landed,” it reads. Cherry is an elementary school in the District.
“The groups then used the prepositional phrases to construct complete sentences. So, the plane might have crashed ‘below the bush.’ Or it might have soared “over the swing set.” Or maybe it landed ‘under the bench.'”
4. The School District Says the Teacher Resigned After the Allegations Arose
The School District released a statement saying that it had received “a report of an alleged inappropriate relationship between a student at one campus and a BCISD teacher from another campus. The District immediately involved the Bay City ISD Chief of Police in order to evaluate the report, and quickly turned the matter over to the Bay City Police Department for a full investigation. The teacher in question resigned from BCISD prior to the District learning of the allegations.”
The District’s Board of Trustees President added in the statement, according to KHOU-TV: “While I cannot provide additional information at this time that could possibly compromise the legal process underway or the safety and well-being of BCISD students, I want to assure our parents and community that student welfare is our top priority. We are committed to providing a safe school environment for BCISD students and staff.”
5. Multiple Female Teachers in the United States Have Been Accused of Sex-Related Allegations
TwitterLoryn Barclay.
Over the past two years, many female teachers have been accused of having sex or an inappropriate relationship with a high school student. 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.
