A teacher who left scratches on the back of a student during sex and used other pupils as lookouts will now head to prison.
Hailey Clifton-Carmack was initially sentenced by a Missouri judge to four years in prison after pleading guilty to sexual contact with a student, according to KJLU. However, she will be placed in a sex offender treatment program.
The court will be updated on her progress after 90 days, at which point the rest of her sentence could be suspended.
As a result of the plea deal, charges of endangering the welfare of a child, second-degree statutory rape and fourth-degree child molestation were dropped.
Clifton-Carmack was a math teacher at Laquey High School in Pulaski County, Missouri, until her arrest in January 2024.
Investigators were told about her “relationship” with a student by a classmate who reported it. The student involved showed his classmates pictures of scratches on his back made by the teacher.
The student who reported the situation described the teacher as being “too close with students.”
Clifton-Carmack initially denied the relationship when she spoke to police. When investigators searched her phone, they discovered messages between the teacher and student detailing their relationship.
The student’s father also confirmed the relationship and told police that the teacher used other students as “lookouts” while they had sex.
The dad told a witness: “They are going to do it behind my back so I may as well let it happen.”
The son’s father was also charged in connection to the case.
After Clifton-Carmack’s arrest, school officials said she had not been employed since December 2023 and they did not anticipate her return.
