By RANDALL CHASE Associated Press
DOVER, Del. (AP) — Authorities have charged a former Delaware middle school teacher with multiple counts of rape of a student. Delaware State Police say 42-year-old Reed Messer was extradited to Delaware on Monday after being arrested at her home in Greenville, South Carolina. Authorities say the former Stanton Middle School teacher began a sexual relationship with a juvenile student in 2014 in Wilmington that lasted for about two months. Messer has been certified as a teacher in South Carolina since 2015. She faces more than 20 felony counts and is being held in custody with bond set at $310,000 cash. The court docket did not list an attorney for Messer.
DOVER, Del. (AP) — A former Delaware middle school teacher has been charged with multiple counts of rape of a student.
Reed Messer, 42, was extradited to Delaware on Monday after being arrested at her home in Greenville, South Carolina, according to Delaware State Police.
Police received a report from the Division of Family Services in late December alleging that a former teacher at Stanton Middle School in Wilmington had a sexual relationship with a juvenile student about nine years ago, authorities said. Investigators determined that the teacher and student apparently began a sexual relationship in October 2014 that lasted about two months.
Police obtained an arrest warrant for Messer on April 26, and she was taken into custody by South Carolina authorities.
Messer is charged with two counts of sexual abuse of a child by a person of trust, 10 counts of third-degree rape, and 10 counts of fourth-degree rape. She is being held at Delaware's women's prison with bond set at $310,000 cash. The court docket did not list an attorney for Messer.
Messer has not been an employee of the Red Clay Consolidated School District, which includes Stanton Middle School, since November 2014, Delaware authorities said.
After leaving Delaware, Messer was apparently hired by Legacy Early College, a charter school in Greenville, South Carolina. Officials at the school did not respond to an email query seeking confirmation that she worked there.
The South Carolina Department of Education's website indicates that Messer was first certified as a teacher in that state in July 2015 for elementary and early childhood education, middle level language arts, English and special education. Messer received a literacy specialist endorsement in November. Her certificate status reads: "summary suspension."