Darci L. Lake, a 23-year-old former substitute teacher in Ohio, is accused of having inappropriate sexual relationships with two students, including a 14-year-old boy.
On Wednesday, January 3, Lake pleaded not guilty to nine counts of sexual battery and faces a maximum of five years in prison for each count.
According to court documents, Lake was a substitute teacher with Maysville Local Schools near Zanesville when she began sexual relationships with two students.
via Zanesville Times Recorder:
Zitnik said Lake was hired through Renhill Group, a company that staffs districts with substitute teachers throughout the state, and Lake is no longer contracted with Maysville.
Barrie Howell, president of Renhill Group, said in an email that Lake has been terminated from the company, and prior to being hired at Renhill, all state-required background checks on Lake came back clear. According to the indictment, each of the two victims were students in the district. One was 16 years old and turned 17, and one was 14 years old and turned 15.
Lake was 22 years old when the offenses began, according to the indictment. Seven of the nine counts listed in the indictment occurred between Feb. 1 and Nov. 1, 2017. The other two counts occurred between March 1 and Aug. 31, 2017.
Lake was arrested on December 21 and posted a $200,000 bond.
This is the latest in a string of teacher/student sex scandals over the last couple of years. In November, Tennessee teacher Janet Smothers was arrested. Former nutrition teacher LaToya Parker was also arrested for a relationship with a student. Florida teacher Caroline Lawson was charged with sexual assault. 26-year-old Allyson Moran was also arrested for similar crimes. The 23-year-old high school teacher Katherine Ross Ridenhour was also arrested for an inappropriate relationship.
Furthermore, Hunter Day, 22, was also arrested after a sting operation. Megan Kotarski was also arrested on similar charges. Michelle Schiffer, a 23-year-old history teacher in Texas, was also charged and arrested for allegedly having sex with a teenage student. 29-year-old Alyssia Marie Reddy was arrested in Maryland for her crimes in New Jersey. Samantha Fitzgerland, a 28-year-old, was most recently arrested and charged. Jordan Ondish was arrested for her inappropriate relationship with a 19-year-old, while 28-year-old Samantha Fitzpatrick was arrested on similar charges.
Nicole Marie Andrews was arrested as well. 32-year-old Jessica Langford was arrested and charged with sexual assault-related crimes as well. A teacher from Oregon, Andrea Baber, was accused of having a sexual relationship with a student. Robin Dunlap, a teacher in Florida, was arrested for sending illicit photos to a 15-year-old boy in Texas. Teacher and tennis coach Jennifer Olajire-Aro was also charged. 42-year-old Heather Butts of California was arrested on a second-degree felony charge. Nancy Leigh Ann Brann, a former Christian school teacher, was arrested for having sex with a student. Coine Audiat pleaded no contest to having sex with a minor in 2016.
