Teacher arrested for sex with student, 13
|
The defendant, Pamela Joan Turner, 27, was taken into custody Monday afternoon in Clarkrange on sealed indictments returned by the Warren County grand jury Friday. She is free on $50,000 bond, charged with 15 counts of sexual battery by an authority figure, which carries three to six years on each count, and statutory rape, which carries one to two years on each count.
“We intend to pursue this to the fullest extent possible,” said District Attorney Dale Potter. “We see this as a betrayal of the trust parents place into those who teach our children.”
The indictments claim Turner had an ongoing sexual affair with the boy, an eighth-grader, between November 2004 and January 2005, concluding when lawmen were tipped to the illegal tryst by an unnamed source. The incidents, which lawmen do not believe the boy’s parents knew about, occurred at various times and places, some happening at Centertown School while others transpired at homes and even during out-of-town games at locations in other counties.
The encounters ranged from touching and petting to various sexual relations and intercourse.
Potter said there could be charges in other counties as a result of those alleged incidents outside Warren County. Lawmen have also learned Turner may have lived with the victim’s family for a time after separating from her husband, Warren County High School boys basketball coach Chris Turner.
The Turners are presently in the process of divorce after papers were filed by Mr. Turner on Jan. 14 of this year, claiming inappropriate marital conduct on behalf of his soon-to-be ex-wife. They have been separated since just before Christmas and had been married just over a year before the separation.
The Turners began teaching in the local system at the same time a year and a half ago. Her official title at Centertown was that of physical education teacher and girls coach for the fifth- and sixth-grade basketball team. Mrs. Turner has been placed on leave as a result of the criminal indictments, something school system director of instruction Bobby Cox says is the norm in criminal cases. Cox noted a routine background check was conducted prior to her hiring, but no prior incidents were found.
“We do FBI background checks on everyone,” Cox said.
Mrs. Turner had taught for five years prior to her indictment, with most of her teaching career spent outside Warren County. She is the daughter of legendary Clarkrange girls basketball coach Lamar Rogers, who has won numerous state championships. He accompanied the defendant to Warren County Jail on Monday, running behind her as his daughter scrambled from the patrol car to the booking room. Turner pulled her hat over her face to avoid cameras.
The defendant was also a standout basketball player, playing with the Tennessee Tech women’s team. She also gained short-term fame by being named “Ms. Monday Nitro” during broadcasts by World Championship Wrestling from spring break in Florida in 1997.
Turner will appear for arraignment Feb. 23, at which time it is believed she will enter a not-guilty plea and be given a plea or assignment date. A trial if there is one, will likely not occur for about a year given the current backlog of criminal cases.