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Florida high school teacher accused of having sex twice with student on campus
Florida teacher Heather M. Mashburn-Smith is accused of having sex with a 17-year-old student on school grounds twice, the Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office (CCSO) announced Wednesday.
Detectives in CCSO’s Major Crimes Unit were alerted to potential illegal sexual activity between Mashburn-Smith, a teacher at Port Charlotte High School in Port Charlotte, Florida, and a student, the office said.
The alert reportedly came through a mobile app called ParentSquare, the school’s principal, James Vernon, told sheriffs, according to Gulf Coast News.
Sheriffs discovered probable cause to arrest Mashburn-Smith, alleging she had sexual intercourse with the student twice over the course of the last month, according to a CCSO statement.
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The student reportedly told investigators that the pair began communicating on the social media messaging platform Snapchat, according to an affidavit obtained by Gulf Coast News.
The student reportedly told Mashburn-Smith she was pretty in the messages, at which point she summoned him to her classroom to ask him about the messages, the outlet reported. She then began flirting with him and the pair had sex in her classroom twice over the course of four or five weeks, Gulf Coast News reported.
Mashburn-Smith confessed to the crimes and was charged with Unlawful Activity with Certain Minors, the sheriff’s office said. The charge, typically a second-degree felony under Florida state law, is enhanced to a first-degree felony because of Mashburn-Smith’s position as a teacher.
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“The actions of this individual are a direct violation of the duty every educator owes to students and families. We will not tolerate anything that compromises student safety,” Charlotte County Public Schools Superintendent Mark Vianello said in a statement.
“This individual has been placed on administrative leave as we work closely with law enforcement and pursue full accountability. Our focus remains on protecting our students and responding decisively,” Vianello concluded.
A first-degree charge of Unlawful Activity with Certain Minors can carry a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison according to Florida penal codes.
“What this woman has done is not just unlawful, it is damaging to the students and staff around her. Teachers are meant to be people that students can trust and seek out for mentorship, guidance, and encouragement. This individual took advantage of that vulnerability and preyed on one of the people she was entrusted to protect,” CCSO Sheriff Bill Prummell said in a statement.
“We take that very seriously in Charlotte County, and I applaud my Major Crimes detectives for their quick and appropriate actions to intervene, investigate, and make an arrest,” Prummell concluded.
Fox News Digital contacted CCSO and Charlotte County Public Schools for additional comment but did not immediately receive a response.
A massive fire broke out Saturday afternoon at a laboratory building on the University of South Florida campus in St. Petersburg, authorities said.
Campus police said fire crews were called to the Marine Science Laboratory building for a structure fire.
No injuries have been reported, and the building was safely evacuated, police said.
The cause of the fire is under investigation.
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Large plumes of gray smoke were seen rising from the building late Saturday.
According to the Tampa Bay Times, students and staff were alerted to the fire shortly before 6 p.m.
The school sent an alert reading: “Urgent Alert. Fire reported in MSL, Marine Science Lab. Evacuate building. Avoid area. Emergency personnel responding.”
St. Petersburg Fire Chief Michael Lewis said more than 60 units and about 200 firefighters responded to the scene.
Lewis said around 9 p.m. that the fire was largely extinguished but that the building is likely “a total loss.”
“The entire roof has burned off,” he said, according to the report.
USF police said it will provide additional updates as more information becomes available.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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Cameraman gets caught risking it all to film World Cup’s ‘sexiest fan’ in the Formula 1 paddock
Sometimes we forget how hard it is to be a cameraman. You’ve got to focus on what you’re supposed to be shooting and block out all other distractions.
Of course, sometimes a little eye candy comes along and slips through the goalie, and that’s what happened to one cameraman — and you’ll see in a second why I’m fairly certain it was a cameraman — working in the Formula 1 Miami Grand Prix paddock.
Hey, he’s only human.
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After Friday’s Sprint Qualifying session, UK broadcaster Sky Sports was doing some analysis with 2009 World Champion Jenson Button, former driver Naomi Schiff and presenter Simon Lazenby.
However, their coverage was somewhat interrupted when the cameraman got a little distracted by a certain paddock guest.
I bet a couple of husbands got dirty looks from the missus when they yelled, “Hey, that’s Ivana Knoll!”
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That’s right, internet sleuths were quick to identify the 2018 World Cup’s “sexiest fan.”
Which is a heck of a title. Do you realize how many people were at that?!
The cameraman managed to get back on track, although it was probably good that one McLaren mechanic wasn’t handling any power tools when Knoll walked by.
That could’ve been disastrous.
I do think Knoll knew what she was doing. One does not stumble into the title of “sexiest fan.”
That’s not the kind of outfit you usually see in a busy paddock with tools and pieces of cars and big stacks of tires all over the place. But Knoll knew there would be cameras, and dammit, where there’s sports and cameras, there’s “World Cup sexiest fan” Ivana Knoll.
Maybe she’ll get a little more facetime at Sunday’s Grand Prix. It was announced on Saturday night that the race’s start time has been moved up three hours to 1 p.m. ET, in an attempt to avoid inclement weather later in the day.
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