Hillcrest High Teacher Accused Of Sexual Contact With Student Had 'History Of Inappropriate Behavior'

TUSCALOOSA, AL — Tuscaloosa Patch has confirmed additional details in the case of a Hillcrest High School teacher charged last week with having felony sexual contact with a student.

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Patch reported on Thursday, Dec. 19, that Moundville resident Tyler Miguel Armistad, 31, was jailed on charges of first-degree sexual abuse and school employee having sexual contact with a student.

According to a deposition obtained by Patch on Monday, Tuscaloosa Violent Crimes Unit investigators made contact with a Hillcrest High student on Dec. 17 — the day of the incident — and were told that she was first called into a classroom by Armistad.

The court documents say Armistad had "a history of inappropriate behavior" toward the victim, which included direct messaging her on Instagram and inappropriate physical contact while at school.

While he was presently employed at Hillcrest High School at the time of the incident, multiple sources have told Patch that he was also previously employed at Northridge High School by Tuscaloosa City Schools.

It is unclear if Armistad faced any prior disciplinary actions for his history of sexually inappropriate behavior toward the Hillcrest student or any others before he was arrested last week.

Still, Tuscaloosa Patch has confirmed that Armistad's time at Northridge as a teacher and assistant football coach came to an end after he was forced to either resign or be terminated in the wake of accusations made by a student.

Following his departure from Northridge, he was hired as a teacher and assistant football coach at Hillcrest.

Patch has reached out to both school systems for comment and will update this story accordingly.

The victim told investigators that when she entered the room, Armistad was on the phone, but he began initiating more inappropriate physical contact before a male student walked in.

At this point, the victim said the teacher and coach passed her a note telling her to go to the bathroom, which she did, before Armistad told her "you're good" after a few moments.

The victim then allegedly returned to the classroom after the male student had left, at which point she said Armistad locked the door and approached her from behind.

She told investigators that he pinned her against furniture and continued his sexual advances and inappropriate physical contact.

The victim said she tried to push him away but Armistad refused to stop and became more physically aggressive.

As part of the investigation following the incident, the victim provided video that she had recorded that was taken from her pocket and only contained audio.

The deposition said the audio corroborates the victim's statement, which prompted investigators to subpoena the Tuscaloosa County School System to provide security camera footage from outside of the classroom.

Investigators found that the footage corroborated the victim's statement involving the timeline of events. The male student present at the time of the incident was also interviewed and confirmed he had been in the room with the victim and Armistad.

The male student told police that when the victim left the room, Armistad told him that he had to exit the room because Armistad was about to leave.

Investigators also attempted to interview Armistad but he refused to meet with them.

Armistad was booked into the Tuscaloosa County Jail on the two felony charges and released after his consolidated bond was set at $40,000.

“The Tuscaloosa County School System has high expectations for all faculty and staff,” TCSS Superintendent Daniel Bray wrote in a message to parents last week. “We expect our employees to conduct themselves professionally and with honor. TCSS takes all reports of wrongdoing seriously and cooperates with law enforcement to ensure all matters are appropriately resolved. The safety and well-being of students is our first priority.”

Captain Jack Kennedy, commander of the Tuscaloosa Violent Crimes Unit, also said if any other students or persons believe that they may have also been a victim of Armistad, they are encouraged to contact the Violent Crimes Unit at (205) 464-8690.

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