A married schoolteacher is accused of grooming an 11-year-old boy with nude photos and $700 until they had sex on her bed.
Ashley Elizabeth Bardfield, 32, was arrested on Wednesday night in Mt Zion, Illinois, after the boy helped police with a sting operation.
The sixth-grade substitute teacher at Decatur Public Schools District was recorded telling the boy they could ‘do it again’ and she couldn’t get pregnant.
Bardfield was reported to police after the boy’s mother noticed him ‘acting differently’ after spending the night at the teacher’s home on March 29-30.
She went through his phone and allegedly found texts between him and Bardfield and photos of them, including one of them ‘flipping off the camera’.
The horrified mother also discovered the teacher had allegedly sent her student about $700 over several months.
She confronted her child about this situation and the child disclosed he had unprotected sexual intercourse with Alley Bardfield on the night of March 29,’ an arrest affidavit by Mt Zion Police read.
The mother took him to the hospital where staff administered a rape kit.
Detectives interviewed the boy on Wednesday morning and he told them Bardfield took her to his bedroom where they kissed and she took off both their clothes.
They then had s*x on her bed, which she usually shares with her husband Casey Newton Bardfield, a construction worker.
The affidavit did not explain why the boy was staying over at his teacher’s house while her family was away.
The boy also told police he and Bardfield allegedly exchanged nude photos on Snapchat, the affidavit stated.
Police arrested Bardfield hours later and she allegedly admitted to the crime but claimed the boy ‘made sexual advances toward her’.
Detectives also did ‘a thorough review of text messages, social media, and a search warrant executed at the suspect’s residence’.
Bardfield was charged with grooming, and predatory criminal sexual assault of a child under 13.
She faced Macon County Circuit Court on Thursday where she only spoke to confirm she understood, and was told she faced six to 60 years’ jail if convicted.
The teacher would also have to register as a sex offender for life.
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