A 27-year-old substitute teacher in Texas has been arrested and charged with having an improper relationship with students after school officials discovered what they described as inappropriate communications on a social media platform outside of school hours.
Angela Palmaras was taken into custody after Bell County school authorities alerted police to the messages and referred the matter for investigation. She now faces a charge of improper relationship between an educator and a student, a second-degree felony in Texas that carries a potential prison sentence of up to 20 years if she is convicted. She is currently being held on a bond of $150,000.
The Llano County Sheriff’s Office and the school district have not disclosed the nature of the messages, the social media platform involved, the number of students affected or their ages. Palmaras last worked for the district on 2 April and has since been removed from its list of available substitute teachers.
Mac Edwards, Superintendent of Llano Independent School District, said the district was treating the allegations with the utmost seriousness and had contacted the parents of all students directly involved. “The district has been in contact with all of the parents of those students who have been directly impacted by this situation,” he said, adding that the district remained committed to providing a safe environment for all pupils.
The Sheriff’s Office confirmed the investigation was ongoing and urged anyone who believed they may be a victim, or who held relevant information, to contact the Criminal Investigation Division directly.
The arrest is the latest in a series of cases involving educators in the United States facing serious charges related to inappropriate conduct with students. A high school basketball coach in Alabama, Paige Adams, 35, was separately indicted on more than 30 sex crime charges after allegedly asking a student to send obscene material and engaging in sexual contact with a student — allegations that emerged weeks after she resigned from Cold Springs High School. Meanwhile, a middle school teacher in New Jersey, Ashley Fisler, 36, is awaiting trial after a former student brought forward allegations of sexual abuse and grooming spanning several years.
