A Texas high school teacher has been arrested for allegedly having sex with three teenage male students. Ashlyn Faye Bell, 24, is accused of having sex with the three teens, two of whom are aged 17 and one who is 16 years old, on separate occasions at her residence in New Boston, Texas in November last year.
Bell, who is the mother of at least one child, was working as a teacher's assistant and in the library at a high school in the Texarkana, Texas, from Aug. 5, 2019, to May 22, 2020.
Overheard Conversation Led to Police Investigation
The case was brought to the attention of New Boston police by a teacher who reported a conversation she overheard among a group of male students. The boys were allegedly teasing one of the students that he might be the father of a pregnant school employee.
When the teacher confronted the student, he told her that Bell had already "told him he was not the daddy."The first boy was interviewed in mid-June and told investigators he had a sexual encounter with Bell over Thanksgiving break in 2019.
Exchanged Messages Over SnapChat
The first boy said the two were talking to each other via the popular messaging app SnapChat and Bell agreed to meet him at a truck stop. From there, Bell drove the boy to her home with her child asleep in a car seat in the vehicle's back seat, according to the student. He said he and Bell then engaged in sexual activity in her bedroom after she tucked the child in bed and then dropped the boy to his residence afterward.
The first student allegedly told investigators of other students who had engaged in sexual intercourse with Bell. The second alleged victim said he began associating with Bell outside of school because she was tutoring him. He reported that he went to Bell's home several times and that on the third visit the two engaged in sexual activity in the fall of 2019.
A third boy said he knew Bell because she was working in the library. He allegedly said the two began communicating outside of school via SnapChat. He reported that after the night of the Texas High football team's last playoff game Nov. 22, he "jokingly told Bell he was coming to see her."
Later in the night, Bell allegedly sent the third boy a SnapChat message asking him if he was coming over. Bell allegedly had her child in the car seat when she picked him up from his home and drove him to her residence in New Boston. The third boy told investigators Bell took him home at approximately 5:15 a.m. and that she picked him up again for sex the following weekend.
Charged with Sexual Assault of a Child
Bell was taken into custody in late June on two counts of improper relationship between educator and student involving the 17-year-old boys and a charge of sexual assault of a child involving the 16-year-old boy. All three offences are punishable by two to 20 years in prison. Bell is currently free on bonds that total up to $150,000.
