Who Is Samantha Fitzpatrick? Wisconsin Teacher Sexted, Lured Underage Student For Sex
A Wisconsin teacher was charged with sexual assault for luring an underage student into having sex, police said Tuesday. Samantha Fitzpatrick, 28, allegedly got involved in an "inappropriate relationship" with a 17-year-old student of Ripon High School while she was a teacher there.
Police launched an investigation after receiving a tip about the alleged affair and later another teacher came forward to tell police that she heard about a romp session between Fitzpatrick and the boy. However, Fitzpatrick denied the claim when the teacher confronted her. Fitzpatrick abruptly resigned from her position at the school before summer break in May.
"In October, a student came to (the teacher) and reported that someone told her that Victim A (the boy) had gone to a party at a hotel in Oshkosh and he had arrived at the party late," a criminal complaint filed Tuesday read, according to local media Ripon Press. "Victim A told a student that the reason he arrived to the party late was because he was at Fitzpatrick's and he just had sex with her."
An initial investigation by school officials at the time was abandoned due to a lack of evidence.
Following an investigation, police said they found "extensive electronic communication by phone including the use of Facebook Messenger," according to the complaint. Those messages were sent between November 2016 and May 2017. Some of the messages showed Fitzpatrick professing her "love for the victim," the complaint stated. Phone records also show 67 phone calls from the victim's phone to Fitzpatrick's phone.
The complaint also states that an officer saw "sexually graphic messages" between Fitzpatrick and the victim. According to reports, the alleged affair lasted for six months between 2016-17. At the time, Fitzpatrick was reportedly married.
Fitzpatrick was arrested and later bailed Wednesday after posting a $1,000 bond. If convicted, she could face 35 years in prison in addition to a $130,000 fine, according to Wisconsin state law. Three of the charges she faces are felonies.
On Wednesday, the Ripon Area School District issued a statement to parents:
"In May of 2017, the district shared the attached information with high school parents about an investigation regarding allegations of improper conduct by former employee Samantha Fitzpatrick. We are sharing this information with all district parents today as we are aware the investigation involving former employee Samantha Fitzpatrick is complete and a criminal complaint with charges has been issued. We have just received this information and will respond once we have an opportunity to review and understand the criminal complaint."
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