‘Teacher of the month’ indicted for statutory rape of a minor student in Tennessee

A high school geometry teacher in Chattanooga, Tennessee, who was voted “teacher of the month” last year, is facing charges of aggravated statutory rape for having sex with a minor student.

Casey McGrath, 28, taught 10th grade at Central High School until she was suspended with pay in May 2022, after authorities began investigating her alleged “inappropriate physical contact with a student that does not result in harm” of a “sexual nature”, according to her personnel file obtained by WTVC.

She was not rehired for the current school year and was suspended without pay on March 31, Steve Doremus, the Communications Officer for the Hamilton County School District, informed Fox News Digital.

On Aug. 14, a grand jury indicted McGrath on charges of “unlawfully and knowingly engaging in sexual penetration with a person of at least 13 years of age, but less than 18,” noting that she is “at least 10 years older than the victim.”

The geometry teacher was arrested on Aug. 18 and posted a $10,000 bond to get out of jail. Her court appearance is set for Sept. 6 for her arraignment.

McGrath had also worked as a teacher at East Ridge Middle School and as an assistant volleyball coach at Central High School, according to her personnel file and an article in the school’s newspaper that has since been deleted from its website.

In the article, published in October 2021, McGrath said that she enjoyed “getting to interact with students and build relationships with them” and that she hoped her “students would believe in their own capability to do math” and “know that she cared about them as a person, not just a student.”

A student praised McGrath as a “very kind teacher” who “took her time and made sure [he understood] what [he] was being taught during a difficult time for everyone.”

“She’s a very involved teacher,” the student said.

“I can tell she respected her students, which makes me have respect for her in turn.”

ALSO READ| Donald Trump’s angry mugshot: How Georgia law forced him to face the camera

The 28-year-old graduated from Lee University with a degree in mathematics and from Vanderbilt University with a master’s degree in secondary education for mathematics, according to the article.

She had taught for five years total, two of them at Central High School.

Aggravated statutory rape is a class D felony in Tennessee and carries a prison sentence of two to 12 years.

Disclaimer: The copyright of this article belongs to the original author. Reposting this article is solely for the purpose of information dissemination and does not constitute any investment advice. If there is any infringement, please contact us immediately. We will make corrections or deletions as necessary. Thank you.