Teacher Arrested for Wedding License With Teen

April 11, 2008 — -- A 27-year-old teacher in Texas has been arrested after he applied for a marriage license with his underage student, even though her parents gave consent.

Randy Arias taught Spanish and coached track at the Austin high school where 17-year-old Brenda Guerra was enrolled.

Police say that the pair secretly started dating one month ago and that they learned of the relationship from an anonymous caller.

"Whoever did call made a good judgment call," said Lt. Eric Mendez from the Austin Independent School District. "They met on the weekends and from there it just kind of blossomed."

According to court documents, "Arias asked her to the movies around the first weekend in March 2008 and then took her back to his apartment where they had sexual intercourse."

Police say even though the affair was consensual, Arias was arrested and now faces up to 20 years behind bars. In Texas any sexual relationship between a teacher and a student at the same school is a second-degree felony.

Neither Arias nor Guerra have spoken out, but her mother, who gave her blessing with her signature, told The Associated Press the reason was "for love."

More than 2,500 educators were punished for sexual misconduct between 2001 and 2005, according to an AP investigation.

Clinical psychologist Bethany Marshall offered parents some advice on how to tell the difference between a crush and something more dangerous.

Marshall said one of the first warning signs is "extensive secretiveness."

For example, "if they say they're spending the night at Sally's house, but you find out they're in a motel across town, or they start quoting someone like a coach, becoming suspicious towards you, saying, for example, 'you're trying to tear me and the coach apart," Marshall said. She also said to look out for early sexualized behavior, such as a daughter inappropriately flirting with adult men at a grown-up party.

If you think your child is caught up in a dangerous situation, here's what Marshall says parents can do: