Ariel Madden Reed, a high school teacher, was arrested after she was accused of having sex with a 15-year-old student on multiple occasions. Reed, a critical thinking teacher at Sebring High School, was charged with 10 counts of sexual battery.
Following the shocking revelation, the School Board of Highlands County placed Reed on administrative leave as the Special Victims Unit began investigation into the case on February 10. During the arrest, Reed's husband Jonathan Patrick Reed was also placed under arrest after he interfered with the execution of a search warrant on Friday.
How was Reed Caught Sexually Abusing the Teenager?
Fox 13 reported that the sexual abuse came to light after nude pictures of Reed were found on the victim's phone. During the investigation, the victim revealed that they had sex multiple times at Reed's home, in her car and school classroom between November of 2020 and earlier this month.
"I want to commend the staff at Sebring High School for taking immediate action and quickly notifying the school resource deputy, as well as the Special Victims Unit for working quickly to develop this case. We take any allegations involving children very seriously and are continuing to investigate," Sheriff Paul Blackman said.
"We are committed to providing a safe learning environment in all Highlands County schools, so we are shocked and saddened by these allegations. School administration and district officials are fully cooperating with the Highlands County Sheriff's Office as they investigate this matter," Deputy Superintendent Andrew Lethbridge wrote in a statement issued following Reed's arrest.
Reed Was Working With the School Board of Highlands County Since 2015
The outlet reported that Reed, who joined the School Board of Highlands County in 2015, has also worked as office staff at both Woodlawn Elementary School and the district office. Before getting transferred to Sebring High School in 2019, Reed was a teacher at Avon Park Middle School.
Describing herself as "Innovative, energetic human resources professional' in her LinkedIn profile, Reed claims herself to be an experienced communicator with eleven years of experience in various industries.
Earlier this month, Hayley Close Hallmark, a middle school teacher from Florida, was arrested after it was found that she had a two-year sexual relationship with a student. The misconduct came to light after the 17-year-old victim confided about the abuse to another teacher.
