Laura Elizabeth Whitehurst, 28, taught English to sophomores at Citrus Valley Highschool until recently. After she got pregnant by one of her students, a 16-year-old boy, it is uncertain whether she had been teaching “The Scarlet Letter” or “Lolita.” Whatever the arrangement, the student’s mother wasn’t at all happy about it. The teacher began as an advisor to the youth, but what she was advising him to do may be elicit. They started talking after school, and began an affair that lasted a year. She gave birth to a baby on June 18, and a few weeks later, the boy’s concerned mother contacted the police.
The police, after meeting up with the teacher, placed her under arrest. She has since been released, posting $35,000 bail.
“Nothing is as important to us as the safety of our students and the District takes this arrest very seriously. We are fully cooperating with the police in their investigation of this matter … Our heart goes out to the victim and his family.”
Shawn Rhyn, Redlands police Cmdr. Said that “One thing led to another, and he ended up at her residence, and it’s been going on, going for approximately one year now … She was open with her pregnancy. I don’t know what her story was to everybody else, but it was an open pregnancy. The school district knew about it.”