A Florida high school teacher, who dubbed herself 'biology bombshell,' resigned from her job after a group of girls accused her of making inappropriate comments, including discussing her sex life and showing photos of penis of boy students. Tiffany Johnson, 39, left Howard W Blake High School in Tampa Bay recently citing unspecified 'personal reasons.'
She resigned before the district could fire following complaints that she would often make comments about her personal life, discussing teenage boys' bodies and joking about having sex with students. She wasn't charged with any crime.
Sex Starved Teacher
Johnson's resigned lately but alarms about her inappropriate behavior were raised long back when Madisyn Slater, a senior at the school, saying that she would crack dirty jokes about her sex life in the class. Slater alleged that Johnson would often tell students things like she was not wearing underwear and would wonder aloud about the size of a student's penis, and discussed using vibrator to pleasure herself.
"It was clear that Ms. Johnson on many occasions made inappropriate comments and overall did not conduct herself in a professional manner," a spokesperson for the Hillsborough County Public Schools told theTampa Bay Times, which first reported the incident. "As our district was moving toward termination, Ms. Johnson resigned."
In February, Slater mustered courage and wrote and email to School Superintendent Addison Davis, wherein she said that she has been hearing stories about Johnson and her antics in the classroom from her peers for four years, and urged officials to look into it and take appropriate action.
Davis took the matter seriously and thanked Slater for speaking out. He also assured her that the district would look into her complaint "immediately" and if required take action.
Exposed Finally
Slater became an important link in the entire episode of exposing Johnson. A few days later she along with her friend Jessica Chapa just was summoned to the assistant principal's office and asked to fill out an official witness statement that would form the base of the complaint.
Chapa then opened up about Johnson. Chapa shared how Johnson as a teacher would tell her students that she couldn't wait until her students turned 18, presumably so that she could have sex with them. Other students soon started speaking up.
One student said that Johnson would talk to her about her sex life and show her photos of men on her phone, while another student, Rebeca Braukman, recounted how on one occasion, a boy asked Johnson to touch her breasts, and she let him. Braukman also said that the biology teacher had discussed the sensitivity of her nipples during sex in class.
A third girl, Angelica Ayala, told Chapa how one time, Johnson had confided in her about a trip to a male strip club and showed her a photo of a dancer's penis. After that, Ayala said she decided to keep her distance from the teacher as much as she could without having to skip class.
However, even as students continued to complain and were gathering statements documenting Johnson's conduct, she continued teaching. In fact, Salter also once called the school principal Jesse Salters for failing to put Johnson on an administrative as the district investigated the complaints against her.
The principal was allegedly upset with Slater and the other girls for directly complaining to the superintendent instead of going to her. That said, the girls at the school were not the only victims of Johnson. Some male students said they also found her remarks inappropriate and "icky."
Things finally started changing in March after a district investigator arrived to question the students about Johnson. Later officers from the Tampa Bay Police Department also came to the school to conduct their own investigation. Following that, Johnson was removed from the classroom in April.
According to a report in The Times, she admitted to making some of the inappropriate comments mentioned by Slater and the other students. She also was said to have acknowledged talking about not wearing underwear, but claimed it was said as part of a lesson on vaginal health.
However, she denied showing the girls photos of men she had sex with. She denied letting any student touch her. The school was just preparing to fire her following the investigation she resigned citing "personal problems."
