Student tried to blackmail Kathanna Culp, Houston high school teacher, after affair, report says
(CBS) HOUSTON - Kathanna Culp, a 28-year-old high school teacher in Houston, Texas, has been fired for allegedly having sex with a student and hosting "pot parties" for teens, CBS affiliate KHOU reports.
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Culp was arrested earlier this month after she was fired from Northbrook High School in December. Culp allegedly confessed to her principal that a former student was blackmailing her, according to Spring Branch Independent School District Police Chief Chuck Brawner.
Culp told police the teen was angry when she ended their 7-month relationship and he demanded money in exchange for keeping quiet, the station reports.
The school district began an investigation and interviewed the former student, who is now 19. He told investigators that he and Culp had a sexual relationship during his senior year that lasted from March 2012 until November 2012, after he graduated, the station says.
He reportedly admitted they had sex several times, mostly at her home.
The former student told police he lived with Culp on-and-off during that period and she even drove him to school.
He said Culp invited other students, including some who were only 14, to her home and gave them marijuana and alcohol. Brawner said those students backed up his story.
The teen said Culp took him on trips and he showed police cell phone photos to prove it. The photos included the pair "in compromising positions, including naked pictures of Culp," Brawner said, according to the station.
The school district also investigated Facebook, Twitter messages and phone calls between Culp and the student, which corroborated his story.
Culp, who became a full-time teacher at Northbrook in the fall of 2012, has a law degree and worked as a child advocate with the ACLU, the school district says, according to KHOU.
When the station sent Culp a text message, her attorney replied saying they would have no comment until their day in court.
