FOLKSTON, Ga. – The district attorney's office has confirmed a high school math teacher has been charged with multiple counts of having sex with seven of her students at Charlton County High School.
According to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, DaNita Wilson, 32, was charged with seven counts of sexual assault, and she may face other charges.
The charges are in connection with having sex with one boy younger than 16, and six boys older than 16, which is the age of consent in Georgia. The law, however, says having sex with a student is a crime.
The superintendent of Charlton County schools says the district is cooperating with the Sheriff's Office investigation and Wilson will not return to campus. Superintendent John Lairsey said the district is seeking to terminate Wilson, and he was planning to send a letter home to parents Wednesday explaining the situation.
"We take seriously the safety and well being of our kids, and we can't tolerate that teachers do things that they shouldn't," Lairsey said. "It's the position of this school board and the board of education that we are not going to tolerate those kinds of activities."
Lairsey said a hearing regarding Wilson's job would be scheduled within 10 days.
"I will be recommending termination," he said. "We're just shocked and disappointed. And it's just hard to believe. Just disappointed and disheartened that people we put our trust in would violate that trust."
According her MySpace page, "Dee" Wilson is a 1998 graduate of Charlton County High School, got a degree in middle school education from Armstrong Atlantic State University in Savannah and taught math at the junior high for five years before moving up to the high school.
The principal would not comment on Wilson or the arrest, or allow any staff to talk about it with Channel 4.
The grandmother of one of the victims called this, "The most disgusting thing I ever heard in Charlton County. I think they should take her (teaching) license away because I don't think she should be at the schools anymore."
Channel 4 crime analyst Ken Jefferson spoke about how difficult cases like this are to investigate.
"Guys, boys or males respond somewhat differently when this type of crime happens because they feel they have done nothing wrong because it was all consensual," Jefferson said. "Having been a former sex crimes detective, you have to get past that part and play along with them just to get the information you need. Because they are somewhat braggadocios at times, they beat their chest, they feel they accomplished something, and yet they are the victim of a crime."
Wilson's bond was set at $35,000, $5,000 for each count of sexual assault. No other court dates have been set.