Texas High School Teacher Arrested For 'Sexual Contact' With 17-Year-Old Student

Sarah Fowlkes has a great smile, but flashing it in a mugshot taken after her arrest for sexual contact with a 17-year-old student was perhaps not a good idea.

The 27-year-old Fowlkes, a physiology and anatomy teacher at Lockhart High School, is accused of engaging in a sexual relationship with the male student at the school. Lockhart is about 35 miles southeast of Austin.

Fowlkes was suspended from her job after turning herself in to Lockhart police on Monday, a few hours after celebrating her birthday with her husband. She was released on bail.

Investigators in Lockhart began an investigation on March 10 after being notified by a school administrator about contact between the teacher and student. The investigation led officials to the student, who, police officials said, had been in touch with Fowlkes in person and via telephone calls.

"Their contact was of a sexual nature," police said.

"Lockhart parents entrust their children to us every day, and it is something we do not take lightly," schools superintendent Susan Bohn said in a statement. "Student safety is the district’s most important priority. As soon as we learned of the report, we acted swiftly to involve law enforcement and CPS to conduct a thorough investigation."

Fowlkes, who was married in 2013, has been with the Lockhart Independent School District since October 2014, according to KXAN.

“I have very high expectations of myself as a teacher as well as of my students and I hope that this will be a formula for achievement,” Fowlkes wrote on the school's official site, according to The Sun. Her name has since been removed from the Lockhart High School site. "I want this to be an enjoyable year for all of my students but also a productive, challenging and encouraging year with success for everyone," she continued in the note on the site.

"You've got a young lady who was arrested on the statement of a 17-year-old kid with no corroborating evidence," Jason Nassour, Fowlkes' attorney, told KXAN. "This isn't a guilty person sitting there like they just got caught. When everything's fleshed out it won't be as it appears."

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— Image: Lockhart Police Department