SEBRING, Fla. — A Sebring High School teacher has been charged with 10 counts of sexual battery after she had sex with a 15-year-old student, the Highlands County Sheriff's Office announced Friday.
Ariel Madden Reed, 30, a critical thinking teacher, was arrested Friday and booked into the Highlands County Jail.
She'd been on administrative leave since Wednesday when the Special Victims Unit opened its investigation. That investigation was launched after a school resource deputy reported the male teen had nude photos of Reed on his cell phone.
Deputies say Reed engaged in sexual conduct with the teenager at her home, in her car and even in her classroom between November 2020 and February 2021.
"I want to commend the staff at Sebring High School for taking immediate action and quickly notifying the school resource deputy, as well as the Special Victims Unit for working quickly to develop this case," Sheriff Paul Blackman wrote in a statement. "We take any allegations involving children very seriously and are continuing to investigate."
Reed had worked for the district since 2015. Before transferring to the high school in 2019, she'd taught at Avon Park Middle School and served as an office staffer at Woodlawn Elementary School and the district office.
“We are committed to providing a safe learning environment in all Highlands County schools, so we are shocked and saddened by these allegations. School administration and district officials are fully cooperating with the Highlands County Sheriff’s Office as they investigate this matter,” Deputy Superintendent Andrew Lethbridge wrote in a statement. “No further comments will be made as this is an ongoing investigation.”
Reed’s husband, Jonathan Patrick Reed, 37, was also arrested on Friday after deputies say he interfered in the execution of a search warrant.
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