Former H.S. Teacher Accused Of Having Sex With Students
NORTH TEXAS (CBSDFW.COM) - Authorities in Haltom City are releasing information about the indictment and arrest of a former high school teacher, accused of having sex with at least four students.
It was December 21, 2012 when police arrested former Haltom High School computer technology teacher Tonya Flink. She was charged with Improper Relationship Between Educator/Student, posted $10,000 bond that same day and was released.
According to Haltom City police, it was more than a year prior, on September 23, 2011, that the department was notified about an incident between Flink, who had already resigned from the school, and a student.
According to the affidavit for search warrant, the parents of a student contacted Birdville Independent School District officials to report that their son was having an improper relationship with one of his teachers. The adults claimed their son had told them that he and Flink, 39, were living together and had been dating for some time.
To substantiate the claim they gave authorities phone records showing there had been some 850 calls between Flink and their son during a six-month span.
As investigators began looking to Flink's conduct they found at least three other male victims. One young man, who had since graduated from high school, agreed to talk with investigators. He told police his relationship with Flink started with tutoring and escalated to flirting, calls, texts, gifts and ultimately a sexual relationship.
All of the alleged improper relationships, with male students between 17- and 18-years-old, occurred during the 2010-2011 school year.
Corporal Joe Hackfeld, with the Haltom City Police Department, said that once legal action was taken, it was swift. "After our investigation we presented it to the district attorney's office [and] they decided to do a direct indictment on this case," he said.
A direct indictment sends a case directly to trail and doesn't require preliminary hearings or even a completed inquiry.
Flink, a mother of three, began working at Haltom H.S. in the fall of 2007. The arrest affidavit lists her resignation date as August 12, 2011. Three days after leaving the Birdville ISD, Flink was hired at Amon Carter-Riverside High in Fort Worth, as a health science terminology teacher. A Fort Worth ISD spokesman said it was about six weeks after her hire that administrators learned of the allegations at Haltom H.S. and placed her on leave. FWISD officials say Flint eventually resigned from the district.
A pre-trial hearing is scheduled for Flink next week.
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