A glamorous art teacher at a high school in Mississippi has been arrested for allegedly sending indecent photos of hers to a 16-year-old student. Emily Swinkowski, 27, is facing charges of enticing a child and child exploitation in connection with the incident. This is the most recent instance of an alleged inappropriate teacher-student relationship in the United States.
Swinkowski was arrested while employed at Water Valley High School for allegedly sending the student her nude photos. A different student came across the nude photos and reported the incident to the principal. The school then contacted the police following which an investigation was launched, as stated by District Attorney Jay Hale.
Sending Her Nudes
Swinkowski resigned and surrendered to authorities last Monday. She was released on a $50,000 bond. Tracy Walder, a former FBI Special Agent and CIA Officer, informed Law & Crime that an increasing number of cases like these are emerging because people are entering the teaching profession at a relatively young age.
"I do wonder if part of it is this excitement of having that kind of power over an individual, which is pretty gross," she said.
Incidents of young teachers engaging in sexual harassment and abuse of students persist across the nation.
Jessica Lawson, a 36-year-old Arizona native, served as a teacher at South Fremont High School from 2021 until 2023.
On November 6, a teenage boy, about 16 or 17 years old, was stopped for driving because his car's tail lights were hidden. Authorities found out that Lawson, who the boy claimed permitted him to drive because she was too drunk, owned the car.
According to court records, the boy acknowledged carrying marijuana at the time.
That evening, police drove the minor home, but his parents gave investigators more information the following morning.
Parents claimed on November 6, at 11 p.m., Lawson picked up the teenager and took him to her home in Saint Anthony, Idaho.
Sexual Predator
After becoming wasted and stoned at her apartment, she and the teenage boy had sex there.
The boy's mother claims that Lawson acknowledged some of the accusations. She admitted to kidnapping him from his residence and bringing him to her place so she could give him alcohol.
She denied that "anything else had occurred," though, and clarified that she didn't offer him the marijuana that was in the house.
Another former South Carolina teacher was arrested and charged last week for preying on a 17-year-old high school football player.
Reagan Anderson, 27, was charged with two counts of sexual battery involving a student at the private Holly Hill Academy. The married mother-of-two was accused of sexually assaulting the teenager, first on October 22 on Bunch Ford Road and then again on October 28 in a parking lot outside a Pizza Hut.
