Harris County Jail Samantha McFerrin, a former teacher from Texas, is accused of sexually assaulting two students.
Samantha McFerrin is a 29-year-old Texas woman and former Houston area teacher who is accused of sexually assaulting two students, police say. McFerrin was charged with aggravated sexual assault on a child under the age of 14 and sexual assault of a child between the ages of 14 and 17, according to Harris County court records. She was arrested on March 3.
McFerrin, who worked at the Space Center Intermediate school in the Clear Creek Independent School District before her arrest, is accused of sexually assaulting a student who was 14 and a student who was 13, KTRK-TV reports. Police say the 14-year-old victim “had sex (with McFerrin) in her truck at least 15 times,” the news station reports. The 13-year-old victim said McFerrin performed oral sex on him in her classroom, according to police. McFerrin was an eighth-grade math teacher at the school. She has since resigned.
McFerrin, of League City, Texas, was booked at the Harris County Jail and later released after posting $70,000 bail. Her attorney, Chris Tritico, told KTRK-TV that she will be wearing an electronic monitor while she awaits trial. Tritico told the news station McFerrin, “will contest the allegations and looks forward to her day in court.”
Here’s what you need to know about Samantha McFerrin:
1. McFerrin Is Accused of Exchanging Nude Photos With the Victims & Buying a Laptop for One of Them to ‘Keep the Relationship Quiet,’ Police Say
Samantha McFerrin.
Samantha McFerrin was arrested after police began investigating her following tips made to the administration at Space Center Intermediate School, KTRK-TV reports. McFerrin worked as an 8th-grade math teacher at the school in Houston, the Clear Creek ISD said. According to police, school officials received information about “inappropriate communication” between McFerrin and students at the school in February 2020.
Police said the first victim, who was a 14-year-old boy at the time, was sexually assaulted by McFerrin multiple times beginning in August 2018. They started communicating on Snapchat before the sexual assaults, police said. The second victim, who was 13 at the time, told police McFerrin “pursued him” in fall 2019 and requested he come to her classroom, where she “gave him oral sex,” the news station reports.
According to police, McFerrin is also accused of buying a computer for one of the victims so that he would “keep the relationship quiet.” She also befriended a female student and confided in her about what she was doing, police said.
“It’s something we take very seriously. These are still children we’re talking about, they’ll be affected by these cases probably for the rest of their lives,” Preston Burns, a prosecutor in the Harris County District Attorney’s Child Abuse Division, told KTRK-TV.
2. McFerrin Is Married to Her ‘High School Sweetheart’ & ‘True Best Friend’
Samantha McFerrin with her husband.
Samantha Ashley McFerrin, whose maiden name is Samantha Gonzales, is married, according to her Facebook page. She wrote in her Facebook bio, “I married my high school sweetheart and my true bestfriend.”
She adds, “I’m an 8th grade math teacher and deal with a crazy group of kids but love it! Coaching basketball seems to be my calling! … My family is very important to me, even if we don’t always get along. I definitely have OCD I talk all the time, but hate to talk. I’m not outgoing but love to be around people. I stress over everything. I love green sauce and margaritas! My favorite color is purple. I hate drama in my life but then again like to hear gossip. I love sleep and now greatly cherish it! One day I will live in Colorado!”
McFerrin has been married since November 23, 2014, according to her Facebook profile. She and her husband got engaged in February 2013. In 2011 she wrote on Facebook, “Happy 6 year anniversary to the craziest, funniest, most loving person I know, I know we will have many more years to remember! I love you more than anything.”
3. McFerrin Is From Deer Park, Texas, & Went to the University of Houston Clear Lake
Samantha McFerrin.
Samantha Gonzales McFerrin is originally from Deer Park, Texas, and now lives with her husband in League City, according to her Facebook profile. She wrote on Facebook that she graduated from Deer Park High School.
McFerrin then studied for one year at Lee College in Baytown, Texas, according to her Facebook profile. She said she graduated from the University of Houston Clear Lake in 2014 with interdisciplinary studies middle school generalist degree.
McFerrin, who says her motto is, “don’t sweat the small stuff,” also wrote on Facebook, “I have achieved my major life goals in the past year and look forward to another great one! The amount of people that support me on a daily basis is incredible and I couldn’t be more greatful for all of the wonderful people in my life!”
4. McFerrin, Who Worked in the Deer Park & Dickinson School Districts Before Working in Clear Creek, Was Reported to the Texas State Board of Educator Certification
Samantha McFerrin.
Samantha McFerrin had worked at Space Center Intermediate school since July 2016 as an eighth-grade math teacher and a basketball coach, according to her Facebook profile. She resigned from those positions after the investigation began, the school district said.
McFerrin previously worked at the Alpha Childcare Development Center from October 2010 to January 2012. She then worked in the Deer Park ISD, her hometown school district, as a substitute teacher from 2012 to 2014. Her first full-time job was teaching eighth-grade math for the Dickinson Independent School District from 2014 to 2016.
McFerrin has been reported to state officials, according to her school district. “We believe current and former students of Ms. McFerrin’s may have information related to the law enforcement investigation,” Superintendent Greg Smith told KTRK-TV. “Based on the information received, I am filing a report with the State Board of Educator Certification. This is the governing board which investigates educator misconduct and determines whether a teacher’s certification should be suspended or revoked.”
5. McFerrin Faces 5 Years to Life in Prison on the Aggravated Sexual Assault Charge & 2 to 20 Years in Prison if Convicted of the Sexual Assault Charge
Samantha McFerrin.
Samantha McFerrin was charged with aggravated sexual assault of a child under the age of 14 and sexual assault of a child between the ages of 14 to 17, according to Harris County court records. The aggravated sexual assault charge is a first-degree felony and the sexual assault charge is a second-degree felony, according to Texas state law.
If convicted of aggravated sexual assault, McFerrin could be sentenced to between 5 to 99 years in prison on the first-degree felony, according to Texas law. The second-degree felony sexual assault charge carries a potential sentence of 2 to 20 years in prison if she is found guilty.
McFerrin, who is free on bail, is scheduled to appear in Harris County court on May 12, 2020, for her arraignment on both charges, according to online court records. She has been ordered to have no contact with the two victims in the cases against her, records show. McFerrin does not have a prior criminal history.
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