North Carolina teacher arrested for 'indecent liberties' with student, felony sex acts
The 39-year-old teacher faces as much as a decade in prison if convicted on all six counts.
A North Carolina teacher has been accused of committing felony child sex crimes against an underage student. The teacher has been arrested and suspended from her teaching job.
On July 1, the Randolph County Sheriff’s Office received a report regarding sexual allegations involving a teacher and a student at Randleman High School.
In North Carolina, taking indecent liberties with a student is a Class I felony for school personnel — such as teachers, administrators, and coaches — who are at least four years older than the underage victim.
On Wednesday, 39-year-old Britney Marie Vernon was arrested following an investigation by sheriff's office detectives.
Vernon was charged with three counts of felony "indecent liberties" with a student and three counts of felony sex acts with a student. She faces as much as a decade in prison if convicted on all six counts.
In North Carolina, taking indecent liberties with a student is a Class I felony for school personnel — such as teachers, administrators, and coaches — who are at least four years older than the underage victim.
North Carolina General Statutes § 14-202.4 reads :
The crime is defined as intentionally or attempting to commit a lewd or lascivious act on a student, or taking or attempting to take an action against the student's body for sexual gratification. The harm must occur while the victim is a student at the school where the defendant works, but the student doesn't have to be enrolled at the same school. A student is defined as anyone enrolled in kindergarten or grades 1–12, and the school can be public, charter, or non-public. Consent is not a defense to this charge.
In North Carolina, Class I felonies are the least serious felonies and are punishable by three to 12 months in prison. Felony sex acts with a student is a Class G felony, which is punishable by eight to 31 months in prison. Vernon was served at the Randolph County Detention Center and issued a $75,000 unsecured bond.
The Randolph County School System confirmed to WFMY-TV that Vernon is a career and technical education teacher at Randleman High School. Vernon reportedly had worked for the school district since 2018 and has been at the high school since August 2023.
The school district said it had suspended Vernon with pay. Her first court appearance is scheduled for Aug. 12 at the Randolph County District Court.
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Blaze News has reported since May about 11 female teachers and school employees who have been accused or convicted of child sex crimes, including a former Arkansas teacher who was sentenced to more than a decade in federal prison for taking a student out of state to engage in illegal sexual acts and sexually abusing a minor as many as 30 times throughout the 2021-2022 school year.
In addition, a female teacher was accused of sexually abusing a student at the "elite" New York City prep school where convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein once taught.
A New Jersey special education teacher at an intermediate school was arrested last month and charged with one count of first-degree aggravated sexual assault and one count of second-degree endangering the welfare of a child.
Earlier this month, two former Georgia school employees were accused of sexually abusing students. The pair were self-described as "ride or die" friends who were involved in each other's weddings.
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Paul Sacca