Authorities investigate Deer Creek teacher accused of inappropriately messaging student

OKLAHOMA CITY — A search warrant from the Oklahoma County Sheriff’s Office reveals the department is looking into a Deer Creek High School teacher accused of inappropriately messaging a minor student.

“Investigators were made aware Deer Creek Schools has in its possessions evidence that is vital to an investigation,” Sheriff Tommie Johnson III said.

According to the search warrant, the teacher created a Google Doc that she shared with the minor through their student email. The school’s software flagged certain words relating to sex and alerted school officials.

“Anything that goes on the internet or computers, there’s always timestamps and digital footprints left behind. So, you can always track that down,” Johnson said.

The search warrant says the teacher sent a nude image to the minor. There was also a lot of text communication between them that was sexual in nature.

Deer Creek Schools’ assistant superintendent stated that it appeared there may have been sexual contact between the two, and they were planning on meeting on Dec. 2 before school officials intervened, according to the search warrant.

“Through our systems, we were alerted to this inappropriate activity,” Deer Creek Schools officials said in a statement. “The staff member has been placed on administrative leave by the district and taken into custody by the Oklahoma County Sheriff’s Office.”

The sheriff’s office said they’re still looking at the timeline, if the district knew of the relationship beforehand and if there are any other victims.

“You obviously want your kids to have a level of privacy,” Johnson said. “But to protect them, sometimes you have to see who are you talking to. What does your email look like?”

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