MIAMI _ The Citrus County Sheriff's Office arrested a substitute teacher on Wednesday after the special victims unit was made aware of "alleged inappropriate activity" among Angela Cone Stanton and three students at Citrus High School.
According to a new release on the office's Facebook page, Stanton worked as a short term substitute for the Citrus County School Board and was "heavily involved in the athletics program."
Detectives say that the suspect, 50, "routinely" texted and communicated with student athletes through various social media outlets.
The probe began after the high school principal learned of possible inappropriate activity between the woman and a student.
Investigators made contact with the three possible juvenile victims who reported that Stanton had taken various naked photographs of herself for Snapchat. They were also informed that she had performed oral sex on a 15-year-old boy.
Officers went to the Inverness, Fla., resident's home and placed her under arrest. Stanton was charged with one count of felony lewd and lascivious battery and one count of felony transmitting harmful materials to a minor. She was released on $12,000 bond.
"Stanton was a trusted community member who was heavily involved in activities working with our county's youth. She used her position to prey on the vulnerability of our children," Citrus County Sheriff Prendergast said. "No parent should ever have to worry about their child being victimized like this, especially from someone they viewed as a mentor."
Many commenters on the sheriff's office FB page were outraged:
"Sad world we live in when teachers can't be trusted," wrote one. "This is happening too often, once is to often. Great job getting this sick woman off the streets."
"This is so sad. I don't know what is wrong with people," posted another.
"Unfortunately, we don't have a crystal ball and can not predict the future actions of individuals," added another.
Stanton has only been with the district for a few weeks after being hired as a short-term substitute on Jan. 3, according to the Citrus County School District's Facebook page.
"This is an unfortunate and sad situation," Superintendent Sandra "Sam" Himmel said in the post, adding that Stanton was immediately terminated.
