A former middle school teacher and married mother-of-one from Texas has been arrested for allegedly having a sexual relationship with a male high school student whom she met at church.
Nicole Marie Faires-Andrews, 31, was taken into custody on Tuesday and booked into the Williamson County Jail on felony counts of sexual assault of a child and improper relationship between educator and student.
The sexual assault charge carries a sentence of up to 20 years in prison.
Bad teacher: Nicole Marie Faires-Andrews, 31 (pictured left in mugshot), a former middle school teacher form Texas, has been charged with having sex with a teenage boy
Until her resignation in November, Faires-Andrews had taught sixth-grade English at Cedar Park Middle School in Texas (pictured)
Investigators say the victim in this case did not attend Cedar Park Middle Student, where Faires-Andrews had taught English and language arts until her resignation in early November.
According to local authorities, Faires-Andrews met the teenage boy while volunteering with the youth ministry at the Church at Canyon Creek in Austin, where her father-in-law is the head pastor.
Officials with the Leander School District say Faires-Andrews was hired in August 2015 to teach sixth grade and left her position on November 6, reported the station KXAN.
The Williamson County Sheriff’s Office began looking into Faires-Andrews’ suspected sexual misconduct on October 24.
In a letter sent to parents and student at Cedar Park Middle School, the principal said administrators learned on October 25 of a possible sexual relationship between Faires-Andrews and a male high school student.
Married woman: Faires-Andrews is pictured above with her husband, Dustin Andrews
Getting physical: Dustin Andrews, 30, co-owns a CrossFit gym and is a fitness instructor. Pictured right: his wife is seen paddleboarding
Young family: The married couple have a young son together (pictured)
The English teacher was placed on administrative leave the same day, and resigned less than two weeks later.
Records show that the Texas Education Agency is conducting its own investigation into Faires-Andrews, which got under way on November 21.
The former teacher is married to Dustin Andrews, 30, and the couple have a young son together.
Mr Andrews’ father is the executive pastor at the Church at Canyon Creek, where his daughter-in-law had volunteered as a youth administrator for a couple of years, according to a statement put out by a senior church official, and cited by CBS Austin.
This is not the first time that the Andrews family have been touched by misfortune: in 2006, Dustin Andrews’ sister, Lauren Andrews Brown, was killed in a murder-suicide that was carried out by her husband, an airman in the US Air Force, as Heavy.com first reported.
According to his Facebook page, Dustin Andrews co-owns a CrossFit gym in Cedar Park and has worked as a fitness instructor since 2010.
Dustin and Nicole are pictured above in 2009, long before tying the knot
Betrayal: Investigators say Nicole Faires-Andrews had a sexual relationship with the minor while volunteering at her father-in-law’s church