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Brady Glenn Allen, a 30-year-old teacher from Utah, has been arrested after he was caught making an attempt to meet up with a 13-year-old student.
According to the Salt Lake Tribune, the 13-year-old student was actually an undercover officer posing as a student on a chatting application. The official was working with the FBI Child Exploitation Task Force.
Allen was later arrested after agreeing to meet with the “student.”
Once he arrived at the location, Allen was arrested and admitted to attempting to meet the student while also admitting he had asked for nude photos.
Allen has since been placed on administrative leave by the Weber School District.
“We were told that the alleged criminal actions of Mr. Allen were not related to any activities that took place at Roy High School, and it did not involve any students,” district officials said in a statement to the Salt Lake Tribune.
Over the course of the past year alone, a handful of teachers have been arrested on similar charges, including 25-year-old substitute teacher Alexis Mercedes Boberg in Baltimore, Beulah High School teacher Kelsie Schmidt in North Dakota, Rancocas Valley Regional High School teacher Alexandra Reiner in New Jersey, and 50-year-old Florida substitute teacher Angela Jean Stanton in Florida. Additionally, Texas teachers Meredith Null and Edna Longoria were arrested on similar charges.
As for why the number of these incidents has seemingly increased, studies suggest that smartphones are the primary reason for the spike in illicit relationships, as it allows teachers to communicate with the minors without supervision.
According to a report from the Texas Education Association, smartphones make easy for teachers to privately text and talk with students and also make it possible for teachers and students to share explicit images.
