A married high school teacher in Florida admitted to police officers that she had sex with a 17-year-old student in her classroom, and the shocking revelation was captured in bodycam footage.
On April 29, Heather Mashburn-Smith was arrested after being accused of having sex with an underage student in her classroom at Port Charlotte High School.
“Can you just show us where in the room the sexual activity took place?” a deputy from the Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office asked Mashburn-Smither, 37, according to the bodycam footage released by Law & Crime on Thursday, August 20.
Mashburn-Smith then walked the officers to the back of the classroom and pointed to a pair of desks.
“I feel like it was these desks,” she said. However, she then changed her direction and pointed to another set of desks. “I’m pretty sure it was these ones,” she said.
“As far as the intercourse goes, this is the desk that we leaned back on,” she added, explaining that she had been on top of the teen facing him while he sat on a chair.
Mashburn-Smith went on to describe the positions the pair were in and which directions they were facing when they were sexually intimate.
Their relationship allegedly began with the pair flirting over Snapchat, and the teenager reportedly told Mashburn-Smith that she was “pretty.”
The teen then began to make extra trips to Mashburn-Smith’s classroom, according to an affidavit viewed by the New York Post. The pair eventually kissed, while Mashburn-Smith said that they had sex at least two times.
Mashburn-Smith told authorities that she would sometimes leave a crack in the side door so the victim could come into her room after football practice, according to the bodycam footage. She said that he would knock and she would let him in on other occasions.
“It’s not like I let him in and we went right to it or anything,” she told the officers in the bodycam footage. “We would hug and talk … like I said, it was not premeditated sex.”
Later in the bodycam video, Mashburn-Smith was shown being placed in handcuffs and taken out of the school building and to the police station.
Mashburn-Smith allegedly complained to the teen about her marriage and even told the victim that she wanted to leave her husband for him when he turned 18.
The victim allegedly grew concerned about how strong her feelings were for him and stopped communicating with her. The student even went as far as to block her on Snapchat, according to the affidavit.
Court documents state that Mashburn-Smith admitted everything to police and said she “made a mistake.”
She has since been charged with unlawful sexual activity with minors, and she was also suspended from her teaching job.
It’s not currently clear whether Mashburn-Smith has entered a plea or retained legal counsel following her arrest. The Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office did not immediately respond to Us’ request for comment regarding the case.
Parents, teachers and guardians interested in learning more about protecting children from exploitation can find useful tools and information at Know2Protect.
