A former teacher’s aide from Oklahoma has been arrested on rape charges after she allegedly slept with a 16 year-old student just a few days into her new job.
https://twitter.com/AnnieBElder1/status/1595420642345730048
Teacher’s Aide Arrested
KSWO-TV reported that Ashley Waffle, 22, had only been working for the Granite School District for two weeks when she allegedly began her sexual relationship with the student. She started her job for the school district on October 10, and she has been accused of beginning communications with the student on October 25.
It didn’t take long for rumors of the sexual relationship to spread around the school, and officials called police about the situation on November 9. By this time, it is believed that Waffle had sexual intercourse with the male student at least twice at her apartment, and she was fired the next day.
Waffle is now facing fifteen years in prison after being hit with two charges of second-degree rape.
https://twitter.com/AnthraxJones/status/1595234136771514368
School District Responds
Granite Public Schools’ Superintendent Missy Berry sent a letter to parents trying to distance the district from Waffle, describing her as a “temporary teacher’s aide.”
“Ashley Waffle was briefly a Temporary Teacher’s Aide for the Granite Public Schools,” Berry wrote. “Ms. Waffle was employed on October 10, 2022 and her employment terminated on November 10, 2022. Ms. Waffle is no longer an employee of the Granite Public Schools district.”
“Granite Public Schools has been working with law enforcement on this matter and will continue to provide any assistant possible,” she added. “Granite Public Schools is aware that Ms. Waffle has been arrested. Granite Public Schools will make no further comment on this matter at this time.”
Law And Crime reported that Waffle made her first court appearance on November 17, with bond being set at $100,000. She reportedly made bail and is no longer in custody.
The investigation into Waffle’s alleged crimes is being led by The District 3 Drug Task Force, and Greer County Undersheriff Steven McMahan told Oxygen that bringing this task force in for a probe of this nature is not out of the ordinary.
“They don’t just handle drug cases, they handle [other] offenses,” he explained. “Sometimes smaller departments will call them in to assist in an investigation because they have more resources available for investigative purposes.”
Related: Wisconsin Teacher’s Aide Learns Her Fate After Sex With Student – “It Is Every Kid’s Dream”
Social Media Users Respond
Social media users had interesting responses to Waffle’s case in their commentary on the Daily Mail website.
“I have no sympathy for her,” one user commented. “If this was 22 year old guy and he targeted a 16 year old girl, I would be in favor of capital punishment. Same for this case. Child predators are dangerous creatures in society.”
“Stop hiring kids that are barely hitting 29 years old. In some cases the teacher is only 4 years older than the student,” another added, with a third writing, “It’s all about power and the thrill of doing something scandalous. It’s easy to manipulate teenagers sadly.”
“Probably the only reason she wanted to be a teacher’s aide,” commented another user.
Instances of teachers engaging in sexual relationships with students seem to be happening more than ever these days, as they keep popping up in the media. Some might argue this is a symptom of how morally lacking our society has become.
Lord help our children.