Charlton teacher charged with having sex with 7 students
Posted: January 30, 2013 - 1:32pm | Updated: January 31, 2013 - 3:25am
By Terry Dickson
A Charlton County High School teacher has been charged with having sex with seven students, officials said.
DaNita Wilson, 32, faces seven counts of sexual assault after a one-day investigation by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, said Stacy Carson, assistant
special agent in charge of the GBIs Kingsland office.
Six of the students were at least 16 and one was younger than 16, Carson said.
She turned herself in at the Charlton County Sheriffs Office, which had requested the GBIs help, Carson said.
Carson said the investigation is ongoing.
County Magistrate Bob Phillips said Wilson appeared before him Wednesday morning and that he set her bail at $35,000.
Wilsons family signed a property bond and she was released about 1 p.m., the Sheriffs Office said.
County schools Superintendent John Lairsey said his office was investigating allegations and made contact with the Sheriffs Office and the GBI.
Lairsey declined to identify who complained to his office.
District Attorney Rick Currie said once the GBI has completed its work, he will review the file and take the case to the grand jury for indictment.
Although 16 is the age of consent in Georgia, having sex with a student is a felony regardless of the victims age, Currie said.
The law was changed just a few years ago to include teachers and it forbids a person from having sex with someone over which they have supervisory or
disciplinary authority, Currie said.
It carries a sentence of one to 25 years in prison and a fine up to $100,000, Currie said.
For having sex with a student under 16, the sentencing range goes from 25 to 50 years.
Lairsey said Wilson has been suspended and that his office will schedule a hearing before the school board within 10 days with a recommendation that she
be terminated.
Hired in January 2003, Wilson taught ninth-grade math, Lairsey said.
Citing the privacy of the students, Lairsey declined to say whether Wilson taught any of the seven students.
All I can say is they were students in the school, at this point, Lairsey said.
Wilson was at work Tuesday and remained at the school until noon, he said.
A 27-year veteran of the system and superintendent for two years, Lairsey said he could remember no other incident that involved so many students
I guess I was lucky to go through 12 years of schooling without a teacher with any sex-appeal whatsoever. No sexual misconduct of students ever happened during my school years. I was one lucky person.
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