Transcription
A 25-year-old teacher reportedly caught red-handed, allegedly having sex with a student in a closet at school. We've seen the warrant, and trust me, you're going to want to hear what else is going on. This is Scandal, presented by Law and Crime. I'm Sierra Gillespie.
Alexander High School in Douglasville, Georgia is home to the Cougars. That's their mascot. But the allegations in this episode of Scandal are giving that a whole new meaning. A teacher there is now accused of some pretty nasty allegations inside a closet and then later inside an SUV. Yep. Her name is Maris Nichols. 25 years old, biology teacher at Alexander High School, also the operations manager for the football team. And according to the arrest warrants we've obtained, Nicholls is accused of having sex with a student twice. Once allegedly on campus in a closet that, according to police, is shared between two classrooms. The second time allegedly happened off campus in a black 2006 Hummer parked at the end of a driveway. And I do say accused here because she's only been arrested. She has not been convicted and our records show she's actually already out on bond. But the warrant, the timeline, the fact that parents are now saying that their kids weren't even being taught the actual biology curriculum all year. Yeah, there's there's a lot we're dealing with here. And it starts right here in the court records from the warrant itself.
"Quote said accused did having supervisory disciplinary authority over the student to wit. Miris Nichols who is a teacher at Alexander High School did engage in sexual intercourse in a 2006 Hummer H2 black and color at the end of the driveway with a student who is a student in her third period class at Alexander High School." That's from the official affidavit. Sworn, signed, sealed.
So, this is what we know so far. According to the warrant, the first incident happened on April 23rd inside a closet at Alexander High School. A closet that, according to investigators, was literally shared between two classrooms. My goodness. Now, the second incident, they say happened just a couple of days later over the weekend on May 2nd, but the time that's alleged is super late. It's between 12:45 a.m. and 2 o'clock in the morning. at a home on Aaron Way in Douglasville, Georgia. That's where this black Hummer was parked, according to police. Now, there are some major questions here that we're still trying to figure out. I mean, what led police to this driveway, the closet? That part of the investigation is still under wraps, but we do know this. The student was in Maris Nichols' third period biology class. Meaning, whatever is alleged to have happened between them, it started somewhere inside of those school walls during the school day. and likely while other students were just few feet away.
Now, Maris Nichols was arrested on May 8th. She made her first appearance before a judge via video and the courtroom, according to reporters, was completely packed. The judge set Maris's bond at $40,000 and she has since posted it. So, as of right now, she's out. But here's where things get even messier. Because now parents are coming forward, not just about these allegations, but about what was or wasn't happening in the classroom. 11 Alive News spoke with one parent who asked not to be identified. But here's what they said.
"Quote, 'As parents, our highest priority is the safety and well-being of our children, a responsibility we expect every institution and individual involved to share. We're not asking for special treatment. We're asking for transparency, accountability, and fairness. Unfortunately, our concerns have repeatedly been met with resistance, limited communication, and a lack of meaningful reassurance that appropriate measures are being taken to protect all children involved, including our own.'"
That parent also told 11 Alive that their child described this environment where little instruction was taking place inside of Maris Nichols' biology classroom for much of the school year. So, let me get this straight. We've got a biology teacher who's supposed to be teaching kids about cells and genetics and the scientific method and instead is accused of using a classroom closet for sex. Now, parents say their kids fell behind academically. The school district, they won't even say if Maris still works there. The Douglas County School System did release a statement, however, saying, "Quote, 'The Douglas County School System is committed to the academic success of every student. We are not able to comment further on this matter at this time.'" And that's it. They won't say if she's employed still. They won't say if there is an internal investigation that's happening. They won't say how a teacher allegedly managed to have sex with a student in a shared closet during the day without anyone noticing.
But here is what I can tell you. Nichols' LinkedIn profile, which we pulled, paints a very different picture of who she is. According to her own posted experience, she's a biology program lead for the Douglas County School System, a leadership role, meaning she wasn't just teaching biology. She was helping oversee the curriculum for other teachers. She also served as operations manager for Alexander High School's football program, coordinating orders, logistics, day-to-day operations for all the football players. And before that, vice president of operations and human resources at a roofing company. Her bio says, "Quote, 'I specialize in building efficient systems, leading compliance efforts, coordinating logistics, and developing people through clear processes and training.'" The same school system that trusted her to lead this biology program now won't say a word about what she's accused of doing.
But what happens next? That's the question we're trying to answer right now. Because here's the thing, this isn't just a criminal case. It's also a question of employment law, of school district liability, of whether the system failed to protect students and what that could mean for other families in Douglas County. So, let's throw to the interview now to take a deeper dive. Yikes, you guys. Another teacher with some pretty stark allegations wagered against her. So, let's bring on one of our favorite guests to talk it all through. It's trial attorney Bryce Hemsley. Bryce, thanks for coming on Scandal with us today. And I guess I mean this really is a scandal. Again, all allegations. However, there is this allegation accusation that this teacher had sex at school. I mean, at the very least, that's pretty crass, right?
>> Absolutely. And thanks for having me on, Sierra. I think this case especially highlights just the extent to which this teacher felt comfortable doing this, right? She chose to have sex with a student on school grounds in a closet from what I understand.
>> Yeah.
>> The thing that stands out to me is that this can't have been the first instance where something happened between the teacher and this student, right? It it doesn't just escalate right to that. And so the question that I have as I'm looking at the facts of this case are what was going on before that and what were the signs and and signals that adults on the school premises should have seen and either didn't see or chose not to.
>> Okay. I wanted to ask about that because in these cases I really struggle wrapping my brain around going from the student-teacher relationship where you know I'm a student. I'm respecting my teacher. They're teaching me. You know maybe we're joking. maybe were, you know, pals and away. But how does it go from that to allegedly having sex in a closet? I mean, you talked about warning signs. What could some of those be?
>> Well, typically what you see in cases like this, especially with an individual who's in a position of trust and authority, like a teacher, is you start by seeing grooming activities, right? Maybe the teacher is spending one-on-one time with the student more so than others. Um, there may be private tutoring sessions. There may be after school detentions where the teacher spending more time with them. There may be increased physical contact in the hallways. Um there may be things like gifts or special treatment. Um these are typical signs and symptoms of what we call grooming. And they're usually pretty common. It's it's the way that the teacher begins breaking down the walls between the student-teacher and makes it feel more like a friendship or even an adult relationship.
I guess when I'm thinking about this, I really am putting myself back in being a high school student. And at that time, everything is changing, right? You're thinking about where we're going to go to college. Our bodies are changing. We're still kids. We're not quite adults. You know, we're going through our first relationships. So, I'm wondering if too these students are at an extra vulnerability here because they're not quite adults. I mean, we remember when we were 16, 17. We feel like we're adults, but we're not quite there. we still haven't had the frontal lobe being developed. So, I mean, does it really just show that this population is a lot more vulnerable to something like this?
>> Well, I think it does, but I think it also speaks more so to the actual predators themselves and maybe the students.
>> I think teachers in these situations find themselves or they put themselves in these situations where they can take advantage of vulnerable populations like high school students. I mean, I think you hit the nail on the head that most people when they're going through high school, they're 14, 15, 16 years old. It's a period of time that's a lot of transition for them physically, sexually. They're trying to find themselves. They're trying to find their identity. And I think individuals like this woman, Miss Nichols, um, they're able to latch on to that and they're they're able to expose that and expose the vulnerabilities that these students are going through. I mean, it's it's terrible that this student had to go through this and unfortunately, they're going to be dealing with this most likely for the rest of their lives.
>> Yeah. And I don't want to throw any blame on the student in this case or any of the other cases we cover because honestly, I'm thinking about back to myself, I would have been susceptible to something like this. the way that you're talking about grooming, having extra attention, you know, maybe gifts, somebody liking me and caring about me. Those are all things that feel really great, but here there's a darker layer because it's a teacher, an adult who's allegedly acting this way toward a student. And that's another one of my questions. You and I have talked about other cases sometimes. I believe one of our cases recently, it was like a mayor. She was like 45 or 50 with a 16-year-old student. That was the allegations here. But in this case, it's a little bit different because the teacher here, Maris Nichols, she was 25 years old. And I'm not saying that that is okay in any way. She's still an adult and this is still a child. But I'm wondering if maybe she in her mind was like, you know, I just was in high school. I just graduated college. I'm not that much older than these kids. I mean, is that something you've ever experienced that these perpetrators or accused perpetrators would be thinking?
I think that's probably what was going through her mind or maybe why she felt like it may be okay. But the one thing that I'm always reminded of in cases like this is that educators in every state, as far as I know, have to go through mandatory reporting training. They have to go through extensive training that talks about the law, that talks about what's allowed and what's not allowed. And I think there's just general societal understanding that especially when you're teaching at a high school um the the kids that are there are under your care and they are susceptible like we've said but I think that you know as much as that may be the argument that she may try to put out there or maybe that's how she justified it to herself. I don't think that that absolves her of any blame. Certainly not legally and whether or not she can live with herself and what she did. That's a totally different story and something that I don't think we should go down that road. But from a legal perspective, I mean, there's this is black and white, right? This is this is as cleancut as it gets. Uh my understanding of the law in Georgia is that um for children under the age of 17, and I believe that this case falls under that category. Children under the age of 17, there's obviously it's a crime. and in the fact that this is a teacher, a person of in a position of trust and authority that will enhance or um increase the sentencing that could be uh imposed upon her.
>> Yeah, I think what you were really touching on is that this is an abuse of power and we trust teachers to take care of our kids. I mean, not only teach them, you know, everything they need to know, but also for most of the day, our kids, the students, our children across America are with teachers. By and large, teachers are great. You know, they're helping our kids, you know, both learning intellectually and growth personally, all of that. But then when we have an abuse of power like what's alleged here, that's where it crosses the line. And you're right, such an abuse of power, too. Okay, so there are two instances that I want to talk about that she's accused of having sex once on the school property in a closet, interestingly, and then a separate time having sex in a vehicle that was, you know, parked. This evidence, I mean, I guess you talked about how it's black and white in terms of the law that she's 25. This was a student, a child. Again, allegations, but as far as the evidence, how strong is that if we don't have video or photo evidence of the actual sexual encounter?
>> Yeah. Well, I think I mean from what I'm gathering is that information was provided to the police either by the victim or by somebody else that witnessed it.
>> Um, you know, from a criminal standpoint for her liability, um, in whether or not, you know, she's going to be convicted and ultimately sentenced, I don't think there's much of a distinction between the two locations. Um, from a civil perspective, whether or not the school district's going to be liable. Again, this goes back to what I was saying earlier about the having sex in a closet on school grounds. again, something happening on school grounds where teachers or other mandatory reporters that are employed by the school should have or did in fact see something. Um, that's a different story for the school district and I think that's going to really be where the civil case hinges. Um, but I think what you said earlier really hits the nail on the head with respect to the abuse of power. Um, I think that, you know, like you said, by and large teachers in this country do a phenomenal job. I come from a family of teachers. um the utmost respect for them and all that they do, but at the end of the day, parents, like you said, take their kids to school. They expect them at the very least to be safe. We hope that they get an education. We hope that they're getting ready for college and that they're learning all the things that they need to, >> but at the very least, we're expecting them to be safe. were expecting them not to be the victims of sexual assault, least of all by a teacher, somebody that's supposed to be there protecting them and that they're literally being placed into their care the second they're dropped off. I think that's the terrifying thing is is we're seeing these stories more and more. And I don't really know what the cause of this epidemic is, but it's good that we're able to continue shining a light on it because I think parents especially need to be aware of it. Um, school districts need to be aware of it and the warning signs are out there. People need to be trained on how to recognize those things.
>> That was actually one of the questions I had written down here because you and I know each other from you coming on Scandal multiple times and it's because I've had multiple stories like this. I truly have lost count of the number of teachers who are accused of something like this. It happens almost every day that I come across a new story. And I guess that's just an opinion question for you too is is this happening more? Did something shift in the world where we're seeing this more or is it that we have things like cell phones and digital evidence that you know they're just being prosecuted more? What is your thought on that?
>> I think the digital evidence certainly helps. I think that certainly helps with the prosecution angle of it. Yeah.
>> Um I think some of it too is just again people beginning to pick up on some of the warning signs. I think vigilant parenting is always going to, you know, save the day. Um, you know, I'm not advocating for parents going through their kids' phones and things like that, but when you're seeing stories like this on a regular basis, um, I think there is some level of diligence that has to be taken to make sure that your kids are safe. I mean, again, these predators embed themselves in schools. They embed themselves in situations and scenarios where they can take advantage of children. They do this purposely. That's why this happens at schools, I think, so much is because there's so much interaction between students and adults and it's almost seen as normalized. In fact, it has to be because you're sitting there, you're teaching these students, but it gives these predators an avenue to work their way in with tactics like the brooming that we talked about earlier before it ultimately becomes a sexual relationship like what we've seen here. And so I think it's, you know, it's on the school administrators to train their staff. I think that's one thing that can help increase awareness. And like I said, I think parents just have to stay vigilant on this kind of thing and make sure that they're involved and they're and they're paying attention to their their child's behaviors. And if they're noticing something where there's a relationship beginning to form in some way that might feel uncomfortable, it's probably worth saying something to the administration about.
>> Yeah. I I really feel for parents in all of this because I I mean I personally don't have kids, but just putting myself in their perspective. You want your kids to have autonomy and independence. You don't like you said, I don't want to have to go through my kids texts and read everything, but at the same time, we want to protect our kids. So, I really like what you said there that parents should be able to feel, you know, if there's kind of a red flag going off, go talk to the administration. Just, you know, put the feelers out there so that there's something there. And something else you mentioned too in all of this is that teachers are mandated reporters, meaning if they're seeing something illegal, they have to report it. And so, I'm wondering if maybe any of this could fall back on the school. You mentioned this in a potential civil suit if that ever comes down. If someone saw something and doesn't say anything or didn't say anything rather, I mean, we talked about civil. Could they face criminal charges too if they're a mandated reporter?
>> Yeah, there it depends on the state. In some states, it's a misdemeanor. In some states, it's actually a felony. But if you're a mandatory reporter and you see something and it's proven that you saw it and you didn't you didn't report it. There could be some criminal liability there as well. Um, it's certainly not going to be to the same extent as the actual underlying act, but that's part of the reason why we have mandated reporting laws is to incentivize people to come forward. We want to make sure that if people see something, they say something. And it's better to air on the side of caution, let the investigative process play itself out, and and protect children at the end of the day. That's the most important thing here.
>> Yeah. And I mean, I get that it's scary to have to call 911, to have to talk to your boss and say, "I think I saw something that doesn't seem right." That is terrifying to have to do, but it's something you said, "See something, say something." We have to do this to protect the children or anyone, by the way, because we talk about other cases where there are adults who are survivors in all of this. And it's it's just it's really tough. And okay, so even the idea of a parent or excuse me, a teacher having to report this, that's tough. having to talk to cops, maybe having to testify, whatever it may be. But for the student, I'm wondering if this were to go to trial, would the prosecution need this student to testify? Because that's really intimidating.
>> It is, and it's something that I think causes additional trauma beyond the underlying trauma of the actual encounter itself or the encounters in this case. Um, based on what we've heard so far, and you'll correct me if I'm wrong, of course, but I don't think there has been any digital evidence that I've seen referenced in any of the stories reporting on this.
>> And so, it very well may hinge on the testimony of the student. It may also hinge on the testimony of witnesses. You know, for instance, if another student was the one who saw what took place in the closet or saw what took place in the car in question, it may hinge on witness testimony. Um, but like I said, without digital evidence, it's very likely going to come down to a competing story of what actually transpired. Um, my guess though would be that if they at least move forward with the charges, um, if there's been a grand jury, there's probably sufficient evidence. The question then becomes, like you said, whether or not the victim is going to testify, which it very well may be that they may have to in order to substantiate the case and proceed with conviction.
It's really tough because some of the cases you and I have talked about, I believe it's, you know, sometimes we see that there were texts between the student and the teacher. There were photos, there was videos that were explicit. So, that is kind of hard to disprove. But to your point, I haven't seen any sort of reporting saying there was this photo or video or whatever. We don't have that. So, I think a lot of it would rely on the he said, she said, the testimony or maybe if there was a corroborating witness, another student, whatever it may be. And I guess that leads into my last question for you. What are your thoughts about all of this? the future of the case and this is of course you know your opinion and a hypothesis but do you think that this would go to trial that there's enough there or it would end in a plea dealer plea bargain of some sort that prosecutors might say you know what let's spare this kid because again they are a kid from having to testify confront the person who allegedly committed these acts I mean how do they weigh that and what are your thoughts
>> I think on the prosecution side it's it's weighing those considerations the victim's testimony the victim's credibility and whether or not there are corroborating uh witnesses. Um at the end of the day, there very well may be an offer for a plea, but those same considerations come on the defense side too of whether or not their client's guilt or innocence is going to be looked at favorably by a jury, right? And also what they need to be considering here is the potential ramifications of a jury coming back and and thymate that this took place. I mean, we're in a uh in Georgia when this took place. Um, you know, I I hate to say this, but it's just a fact that that is typically a more conservative jurisdiction. It's very likely that jurors are going to look unfavorably on something like this. And so I think it's a situation where the defense is also going to be weighing the considerations of what a jury could do. Could a jury come back and you know find very heavily against the defendant against the perpetrator and levy a sentence that is more significant than maybe what the prosecution is offering in a plea bargain. But all of those things are just going to depend on the strength of the evidence. I think right now it's maybe a little bit too early to tell. Maybe more will come out as time goes on and we may hear that there is in fact a plea bargain that's reached uh settlement of some kind where the defendant agrees to some time spent in prison or maybe some type of probation. Uh but you would hope in a situation like this that the prosecutors would be zealous in trying to uncover as much as they can to emphasize the importance of child safety.
>> Yeah. And hopefully bring some form of justice. I think you said right at the beginning of the interview here today that this student is likely going to have to live with this trauma for the rest of their life. I mean, that's something we all have things that happened in our childhood, but for this kid to grow up into an adulthood and have to go back and see, oh, there were stories in the local TV station, national news, like we are covering it. I mean, the bottom line here is this is senseless. Could have been prevented. I hope we don't have to cover another story like this because they're they're really just tough to talk about. Bryce Hensley, thank you for coming on Scandal and kind of breaking it down for us.
>> Nice to watch.
And that's where today's episode of Scandal leaves us for now. If you like what you saw and you want to see more or connect with me on social media, you can find me on places like Instagram, Sierra Gillespie. Thanks for watching today's episode of Scandal. As always, I'm your host, Sierra Gillespie, and I'll see you next time.