Sonya Ann Wilks Bailey, Alabama Teacher Arrested For Having Sex With Student

Etowah County sheriff's officials announced Tuesday that a female teacher was arrested for being sexually involved with a student, reports said.

Sonya Ann Wilks Bailey, 51, was charged with three felonies including one count of second-degree sodomy, one count of second-degree rape, and one count of a school employee engaging in a sex act with a student.

According to ABC33/40, the Arab woman was a teacher at West End High School in Etowah County and had been working there for about 15 years. Bailey resigned from the Etowah County Board of Education on Aug. 28 after the incident came to light.

“Mrs. Bailey’s resignation was accepted by the Etowah County Board of Education on Aug. 28,” Alan Cosby, school superintendent, said. “Her resignation was accepted after these allegations came to light. We are fully cooperating with the sheriff’s office and district attorney’s office in this case.”

Bailey was also accused of sending sexually-explicit pictures to the student. The alleged victim’s age and any other details are unclear.

Although it was not revealed by the authorities what subject Bailey taught, AL.com reported that she was a teacher of commerce and information technology. She was an alumnus of Alabama A & M University, having received her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in business education from there. The page on the school website containing her biography—which has since been taken down— said Bailey was married and was the mother of two children. She also had two grandchildren. It also included a quote saying, “I enjoy working with the students of WEHS and trust that they will leave my class having learned something beneficial toward their future,” reported AL.com.

Sheriff Todd Entrekin of Etowah County said about the incident: "This type of ridiculous behavior is completely uncalled for by someone who was trusted by the community to teach our kids."

Bailey was sent to the Etowah County Detention Center on a property bond of $60,000. She is serving time at community corrections and is not allowed to have any contact with the victim or their family.

According to Gadsen Times, Bailey is the third Etowah County teacher to be charged with inappropriate relations with students in the last two years. Earlier in January 2016, Andrea Elliot Means, 29, was arrested for allegedly having sex with a student. She was indicted in and charged with one count of a school employee engaging in a sex act or deviant sexual intercourse with a student who was under 19 years of age.

Another teacher, Kayla Lynn Hodges from Anniston was arrested in February last year after being accused of four misdemeanor counts of a school employee having sexual contact with students. According to reports, she allegedly sent sexual photos and text messages to four high school students while she was a teacher at Gaston School, where she taught math for students in seventh and eighth grades. Like Bailey, both teachers resigned after the incidents came to light.