Ex-Magnolia teacher accused of having sex with student

A former Magnolia Junior High School teacher faces felony sexual assault charges after police say she repeatedly had sex with a 15-year-old boy.

Allison Dean, 30, was arrested Thursday on eight counts of sexual assault, which each carry a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison and a $15,000 fine. Dean is free on $25,000 bond pending trial.

Rebecca Jones, a Magnolia lawyer representing Dean, denied the boy’s claims.

“She maintains her innocence and the allegations are wholly fabricated and false,” Jones told The Associated Press on Friday.

An investigation into Dean began after the boy’s mother found several text messages on her son’s phone related to drug use and a caller refused to offer a name, an affidavit by police claims. When questioned by his parents, the boy admitted having sex with a teacher at his school, according to the affidavit.

The affidavit alleges that Dean gave the boy, who was not in any of her classes, her cell phone number. The relationship intensified and the two often met at the Genestet water well near Waldo, where they had sex and smoked marijuana together, the affidavit alleges.

Dean surrendered to police, but declined to give a statement while in custody, said Lt. Kevin Booth with the Columbia County sheriff’s office.

“The only additional evidence we have is the victim’s statements and statements from school officials,” Booth told the Banner News newspaper of Magnolia. “We are currently trying to get phone records.”

Dean resigned her position teaching English and communications at the school last week. The new school year began Monday.

Dean is the second Magnolia Junior High School teacher to face sex-related charges in recent months. Donna Lou Sanders, a former special education teacher there, faces 12 felony counts that accuse her of arranging for a 12-year-old girl and a 13-year-old girl to have sex with others on several occasions.