A middle school art teacher in Texas has been arrested after she was accused of “child grooming” and allegedly admitted to having a crush on a teen boy.
Haley Krista Radabaugh was arrested on May 15 after multiple students at Barbara Bush Middle School came forward with allegations that involved the teacher and a student, the Irving Police Department confirmed to Us Weekly.
Students told a school resource officer that Radabaugh, 28, “was known to be having inappropriate sexual conversations with at least three middle school students and providing drugs to students,” according to the arrest warrant viewed by NBC 5.
Radabaugh allegedly started sending sexually suggestive messages to a student on Instagram, which included messages like, “There was a kid I crushed on hard before you,” and “I’ll tell you what. You send me a photo of you, and I’ll send you one of me.”
Investigators went on to say that Radabaugh sent “a photo of what appears to be herself getting out of the shower.” The photograph was allegedly taken “mid-chest up” and seemingly showed her entire face. While the photo did not show any nudity, investigators confirmed that Radabaugh was nude at the time it was taken.
Radabaugh also allegedly used “flirtatious kiss emojis” in the messages and “called the victim ‘babe,’” according to charging documents.
The arrest warrant went on to state that “the victim described himself as being disgusted and losing sleep after the defendant messaged him.”
Following her arrest, Radabaugh has been charged with child grooming. It is not currently clear if she has entered a plea or retained legal counsel following her arrest.
Radabaugh has since been released from custody after she posted a $250,000 bond.
Carrollton Farmers Branch ISD confirmed that police are investigating the allegations made against the “former” employee.
“While we are limited on what we can disclose, we are deeply distressed and disheartened by these incidents,” a district spokesperson added in a statement, per NBC 5.
The Irving Police Department had no additional information to share about the case when contacted by Us.
Katia Gonzalez, who works with Alliance for Children in Fort Worth, told the outlet that child abuse most often happens “with somebody that you would never imagine would hurt a child.”
Gonzalez, who is not directly involved in the case, also said social media “friendships” between minors and teachers are always considered inappropriate no matter what topics they’re discussing.
She added that child groomers often use “electronic grooming dynamics” to start isolating their victims.
“We see a lot of our cases that actually led to sexual abuse started out with electronic communication to the point where a lot of youth serving organizations, such as schools or educational settings, have specific policies to prevent and prohibit contact with kids outside of those school activities,” Gonzalez said. “There are a lot of platforms that are developed specific for communication that’s appropriate, that’s safe, where everything is visible and there’s not that isolated communication.”
