ANDERSON COUNTY, TX June 4 2013 An East Texas teacher was arrested on Thursday and charged with improper relations between an educator and student.
According to Anderson County Sheriff Greg Taylor, 39-year-old Lisa Harroff, a middle school math teacher and cross country coach at Neches Independent School District, was arrested on Thursday after turning herself in.
Harroff, is accused of having an inappropriate relationship with a male student on the high school's cross country team. She was also a junior high math teacher for the district. Authorities believe the alleged activities happened over an extended period of time, mostly at Harroff's residence in Palestine, ending last week when the teenager reported it.
"I'm not clear why he came forward to his guardians, but he was forthcoming with us in the investigation," Sheriff Greg Taylor said.
Harroff was booked into the Anderson County Jail on Thursday and a bond was set at $25,000. She bonded out of jail later that day. Authorities executed a search warrant on her home Friday and took physical evidence in connection with this case. He said Harroff declined to talk with investigators when she turned herself in, saying she had a lawyer.
District officials said Harroff had been placed on paid administrative leave, pending the outcome of the sheriff's office investigation. She has been with Neches ISD for five years and a certified teacher in Texas since 1985.
The district plans their own investigation that should last a few weeks, according to Superintendent Randy Snider. The results of that investigation will be forwarded to the Texas Education Agency for possible action against Harroff's teaching certification.
"You know humans do make mistakes, but sometimes mistakes have serious consequences and this is one of those," Sheriff Taylor said.
The charge of improper relationship between a teacher and student is a felony, and carries a possible punishment of up to twenty years in prison.
We tried contacting Harroff for a comment on this story and our calls were not returned.
Neches Independent School District is located in Neches in Anderson County about 15 miles southwest of Jacksonville.
Source- KLTV