A Manatee, Florida, teacher has been arrested after she allegedly sent a nude photo and engaged in sexual activity with a middle school student.
Oliver Fell, 28, is now facing charges of lewd conduct with a student by an authority figure and transmission of harmful material to a minor, according to a news release from the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office. That lewd conduct is further defined as soliciting or engaging in a romantic relationship with a student.
Fell Sent the Student an ‘Explicit Photo of a Breast’
Authorities said that they first learned of Fell’s alleged offenses on March 3, when a middle school student told a school resource deputy from the MCSO that Fell had allegedly been communicating with him on social media for over three months.
That student also alleged that Fell sent him an “explicit photo” on Snapchat in early January, according to the release. The allegations were reported to the school district and the MCSO Crimes Against Children Unit, sparking an investigation into the student’s claims.
During the investigation, detectives were able to confirm the student’s allegations, according to the release, and after obtaining a search warrant for his phone, they allegedly found evidence that the communications between Fell and the student led to lewd conduct.
Those detectives also said that an “explicit photo of a nude breast” found on the boy’s phone “belonged to the teacher,” according to the release. The release also said that additional information obtained in early May helped strengthen the case, though no further details were provided by the MCSO.
On June 2, an arrest warrant was issued and Fell turned herself in later that day. She remains in custody at the Manatee County Jail and is being held on a $2,500 bond.
School Principal Sent a Letter to Parents, Said Fell was ‘Reassigned to a Position Away from School’
The principal at Carlos E. Haile Middle School, Irene Nikitopoulos, spoke out about the charges in a letter addressed to parents on Monday.
She wrote that it “took several weeks of investigation to confirm the allegations of the illegal communications” and said that “once law enforcement had sufficient confirmation, our school and district were informed and Ms. Fell was immediately reassigned to a position away from our school where she had no contact with students.”
She also said the school and the district would fully cooperate with the investigation, which is ongoing.
