John Jefferson
Left: Jennifer Massey (Comal Independent School District). Right: Massey in a mug shot (Comal County Sheriff’s Office).
A 51-year-old educator in San Antonio, Texas, faces a felony charge after someone called the sheriff’s office about “suspicious” activity with a juvenile male student on a school night last week — just minutes away from the high school where she’s taught art.
The Comal County Sheriff’s Office said little about how they concluded illicit sexual activity had taken place between Jennifer Massey of Selma and a student — only that the “preliminary investigation revealed the two individuals engaged in sexual contact” around 6 p.m. last Thursday.
Time and the playing out of the legal process could shed light on whether that means the defendant was caught in the act or if the totality of the alleged circumstances — a teacher and student alone at an under construction home minutes away from school — led deputies to connect the dots through other investigative means.
So far, deputies have alleged that they uncovered the offense at the 22000 block of Citadel Point in Garden Ridge, apparently the location of a construction site for a home. That location, Google Maps shows, is a seven-minute drive away from Davenport High School, where Massey worked as an art teacher.
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Texas Penal Code § 21.12 criminalizes improper relationships between teachers and students as a second-degree felony if a defendant “engages in sexual contact, sexual intercourse, or deviate sexual intercourse with a person who is enrolled in a public or private primary or secondary school at which the employee works” or if the defendant “knows” that the victim is enrolled in school elsewhere.
While there are affirmative defenses to the charge under the law, the 51-year-old Massey would have to be married to the victim or not “more than three years older” than the student for those defenses to apply.
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Local CBS affiliate KENS reported that the Comal Independent School District as already taken the first step towards permanently severing ties with Massey by placing her on leave. In addition, the principal reportedly told concerned parents that Massey “will not be returning” to teach at Davenport High School.
The school’s website and calendar shows that it observed “Crime Prevention Month” as of Oct. 1, two days before Massey’s arrest.
The court docket indicates Massey had a bond hearing on Friday, but it’s not immediately clear what the result was.
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