SILOAM SPRINGS (KFSM) – The Siloam Springs teacher accused of having sex with a student is heading back to court on Dec. 10, officials say.
Mary F. McCormick, 32, was arrested in August on suspicion of raping and exchanging explicit photographs with a 13-year-old boy. She was later released on a $50,000 bond. On Sept. 11, she resigned from her job, officials say.
She’ll be back in court for a pretrial hearing on Wednesday, according to officials.
Siloam Springs detectives began investigating McCormick Aug. 8 amid reports she engaged in an inappropriate sexual relationship with a young teenager. The incidents occurred between June and August, according to the Siloam Springs Police Department.
Through the investigation, police said they collected evidence suggesting there was an exchange of electronic messages, photographs and a sexual relationship between McCormick and the victim.
A probable cause affidavit states the two had consensual sex at least twice. Under Arkansas law, “consensual” sex between an adult and an underage minor is considered rape because the minor cannot legally consent.
The encounters began after a friend dared the 13 year old to contact McCormick, the affidavit states. In one instance, the boy and a friend went over to the teacher’s apartment to watch a movie. The friend left, but the 13 year old stayed and later had sex with the teacher in her bedroom, the affidavit states.
The teacher and student sent each other Snap Chat messages of each other’s genitalia during the sexual relationship, police said. A 12-year-old female friend of the victim said she discovered one of the Snap Chats accidentally after borrowing the victim’s phone. The message showed McCormick wearing nothing but a towel, along with sexual comments, according to the probable cause affidavit.
Investigators later confiscated two USB thumb drives, an Apple iPad, two Apple iPhones and a desktop computer in connection with the case. Police said they searched McCormick’s Snap Chat account and found multiple photographs and videos of the victim, along with a photograph of a woman’s breasts believed to belong to McCormick.
An eyewitness told police she saw several inappropriate sexual messages and photographs while looking through the victim’s iPhone, including one of McCormick with wet hair while showing her breasts. The accompanying text stated, “I’m not dirty anymore,” the probable cause affidavit states. The eyewitness said she also saw other messages showing a romantic relationship between the victim and McCormick, the affidavit states.
