A substitute English teacher at a Florida high school has been arrested after an alleged video shared on Snapchat showed her having sex with a student, authorities said.
Ayanna Davis, a 20-year-old substitute teacher at Lakeland High School, was arrested Friday on sexual battery charges, the Polk County Sheriff’s Office announced in a news release.
The investigation started on Dec. 3 after a student at the school reported to school resource officers the existence of a video on Snapchat showing Davis having sex with a student, the sheriff’s office said. The student told authorities the video was shown to a large group of LHS football players.
Deputies have not seen the video and are trying to locate it, NBC affiliate WFLA reported.
A public defender representing Davis did not immediately respond to an NBC News request for comment. Attempts to reach Davis at a number listed in her name were unsuccessful.
Davis admitted to detectives that she had unprotected sex with the student on four occasions, twice at his home and twice at her own, according to the sheriff’s office. Her account aligned with what the victim told authorities, the office said in the release.
Following the interview, detectives with the Polk County Sheriff’s Office arrested her on two counts of sexual battery by custodian and offenses against students by authority figure.
Separately, a warrant by the Lakeland Police Department charges her with an additional two counts of sexual battery.
Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd slammed the incident as a “clear violation of sexual battery laws.”
“She was in a position of influence over the victim, and she took advantage of that for her own twisted pleasure,” Judd said.
Davis — who was not a Polk County Public Schools employee, but worked under a staffing company — is no longer allowed to work at any Polk County Public Schools site, the sheriff’s office said.
“We expect substitute teachers to uphold the same high standards of conduct and professionalism as our full-time educators,” Superintendent Frederick Heid said in a statement. “The charges against this person are disgraceful and a complete violation of the trust that teachers build with their students. There is no room in our schools for this type of conduct.”
Davis made her first court appearance Saturday and a $60,000 bond was ordered against her for all five charges, according to the release. She posted bail and was released from custody on Tuesday, according to Polk County Jail records. Her arraignment is slated for Jan. 10.
