Alabama substitute teacher accused of sex with student, sheriff: 'Our children have every right to feel safe at school'

In the latest alleged teacher sex scandal, an educator in Alabama is accused of engaging in a sex act with a student, according to police.

Stephanie Mechelle Woods, 45, was arrested by the DeKalb County Sheriff’s Office on Friday. Woods, of Henagar, was booked into the DeKalb County Detention Center at 4:20 p.m. on Friday and charged with a school employee engaging in a sex act with a student under 19, according to law enforcement.

The DeKalb County Sheriff's Office said in a news release that it had received a complaint about a "substitute teacher possibly having inappropriate relations with a student."

As of Saturday, details were scant about the alleged child sex crimes that Woods is accused of.

Law enforcement did not provide any details of the alleged sexual assault. The DeKalb County Sheriff's Office did not identify which school Woods was employed at.

DeKalb County Sheriff Nick Welden said of the investigation into the alleged child sex crimes, "I would like to thank our Investigations Unit and the Board of Education for their earnestness in getting this case taken care of."

"Our children have every right to feel safe at school, and parents have every right to expect it," Welden continued. "Our children are our number 1 priority and we will protect them at all cost."

There isn't much data on the extent of sexual abuse of minors by school personnel.

A 2014 report by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) read, "The prevalence of sexual abuse by school personnel remains unknown, in part, because some cases go unreported. Further, the term sexual abuse may not capture the full spectrum of the issue."

The report warned how grooming makes outing predatory teachers difficult.

"While child sexual abuse typically refers to the criminal act of forcing a child to engage in sexual activity with the perpetrator, other inappropriate behaviors with children may eventually lead to sexual abuse," the GAO report said. "For example, while not generally criminal, behaviors often referred to as ‘grooming’ may be carried out by the perpetrator with the aim of establishing trust to facilitate future sexual activity with the child."

A U.S. Department of Education report published in 2004 found that 18% of K-12 students claimed they experienced sexual misconduct by a teacher at some point in their schooling.

The Office of Justice Programs’ National Criminal Justice Reference Service reported that there were "459 cases of school employee sexual misconduct ... that attracted media coverage in 2014," based on data from the Stop Educator Sexual Abuse Misconduct & Exploitation organization.

There were also 96 cases that did not involve a student, but were carried out on a minor.

The report showed that 7% of eighth through eleventh-grade students claimed to have experienced physical sexual contact from a school staff member. There were 10% of students who claimed they were exposed to sexual misconduct – such as being shown pornography or being subjected to sexually explicit language or exhibitionism.

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