Texas Teacher Allegedly Had Sex With 5 Students

ARLINGTON, Texas -- A suburban North Texas high school teacher has been accused of having sex with five 18-year-old students at her home and was released on bond Monday.

Brittni Nicole Colleps, an English teacher at Kennedale High School, is charged with five counts of having an inappropriate relationship between a student and teacher -- a second-degree felony.

It is a criminal offense for teachers to have sex with a primary or secondary school student, no matter the student's age. A conviction carries a penalty of anywhere from two years to 20 years in prison per count.

The Arlington woman was booked into the city jail after turning herself in Monday morning and posted a $125,000 bond for her release that afternoon, police spokeswoman Tiara Ellis Richard told The Associated Press.

A telephone message left at Colleps' home was not returned.

Authorities allege Colleps, 27, had sex with the students at her home over the past two months. Arlington authorities began investigating the allegations after hearing about them from school staff and Kennedale police on May 11.

During the investigation, Arlington detectives learned that Colleps and students had exchanged text messages that included sexually explicit pictures, Richard said. Students also told detectives of having sex at the teacher's home.

Kennedale school Superintendent Gary Dugger told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram that school officials learned about it Tuesday night and by Wednesday afternoon had gone to police.

Tarrant County records show Colleps has been married for seven years, the Star-Telegram reported.

Aside from being a first-year English teacher, Colleps coached the freshman girls' basketball team.

She was placed on paid administrative leave until the end of the school year, said Mike Leasor, attorney for the Kennedale school system. Colleps had resigned her teaching contract in April, before the scandal came to light, Leasor said.

Kennedale is a town of about 7,300 residents near Arlington eight miles southeast of Fort Worth. The high school has about 3,200 students.