Woman Charged For Having Sex With At Least 14 Pupils In Tennessee

A parent who was pretty active at a Tennessee school reportedly had sex with at least 14 underage students, some as young as 9-years-old per reports.

The woman was identified as Melissa Blair, a mother who helped run a certain school club. She allegedly traded unspecified items with students to have sex at McMinn Central High School.

The 38-year-old was not employed at the school and was a volunteer parent for booster clubs. The lavish acts occurred from 2020 to 2021 according to the McMinn County Sheriff’s Department, WVLT reported.

Blair’s acts were brought to the attention of authorities by the Tennessee Department of Children’s Services on Dec. 9, 2021. The referral revealed that the 38-year-old had been having sexual encounters with students and prompted police to speak with Blair at her home as a search warrant was being issued.

According to McMinn County Sheriff Joe Guy during a news conference on Tuesday that Blair used social media to initiate the encounters. Authorities visited and spoke to Blair after a search warrant was issued, the Daily Post Athenian reported.

Upon learning this, parents were devastated and shocked at the revelation. One parent, Eric Benninghoff said they have no idea how to move forward with this case, WTVC News Channel 9 reported.

“This type of case is difficult and shocking even to seasoned detectives and I want to commend our staff for the many hours of identifying, locating and interviewing victims and their families, collecting physical and electronic evidence, as well as the many days of putting together the search warrant and subsequent case file,” Sheriff Guy stated.

Blair was indicted on a total of 23 charges, 18 of which were for aggravated statutory rape, four counts of human trafficking by patronizing prostitution, and one count of solicitation of a minor.

The 38-year-old has already surrendered and is in police custody. Her bail is set at $10,000. She is due to appear in court on Feb. 28.