Teacher accused of sex crime out of jail

CEDAR RAPIDS - A former high school teacher accused of sexually exploiting a student has been released from jail after posting a $6,500 bond and is scheduled to appear in Linn County District Court on May 31.

Heather Adams, 41, who resigned from her job as a chemistry teacher at Cedar Rapids Washington High School on Monday for “personal reasons,” faces one count of sexual exploitation by a school employee, an aggravated misdemeanor.

According to a criminal complaint filed Friday, officers were dispatched to the 300 block of 28th Street Drive SE on Sunday night after a suspicious vehicle was reported. The officers said that when they arrived “they found a naked 18-year-old male in the front seat of a Chevy Suburban and the defendant, who is a 41-year-old teacher at Washington High School, also naked and hiding in the back seat.”

The complaint said both admitted they were engaged in sexual activity.

Even though Adams resigned her job, the Cedar Rapids school district has notified the Iowa Board of Education Examiners that it might have to take action against Adams' teaching license.

Beth Meyers, an investigator with the Iowa Board of Education Examiners, said she always warns teachers about getting too personally involved with students, calling it a “boundary issue.”

Meyers also said interacting with students too much via social media also is not a good idea, and that parents should look for signs that a teacher is taking an unusual interest in a student, especially after school hours.

“Text messages and phone calls, things like that in the middle of the night definitely should be a flag for parents,” Meyers said, adding “it's fine for a teacher to be concerned and help but there's definitely a time when they're stepping over that boundary.”

If convicted, Adams could face a sentence of two years in prison and placement on the state's sex offender registry.