Teacher, 60, Arrested for Sex With Teens

June 26, 2008 — -- Veteran Florida school teacher Adrienne Laflamme turns 61 in September. She may celebrate that birthday behind bars.

The 60-year-old long-time employee of the Brevard County School District faces 15 counts of unlawful sex with a minor after authorities arrested her and charged her with having sex several times with a 17-year-old student she taught while he was in custody at a juvenile detention center this spring.

On one occasion, according to a Palm Bay Police Department spokesman, the pair invited a 14-year-old to join them.

"This woman's actions are an absolute disgrace," Detective Jasmine Campbell said in a police department news release. "We have reason to believe there are other victims, and it's important that they come forward."

Detectives began investigating Laflamme after the teen's mother contacted police. Laflamme was assigned as a science teacher at the Brevard County Juvenile Detention Center and taught the 17-year-old inmate as a student in her class from the middle of April into May.

The alleged four-week affair took place within days of the teen's release, when Laflamme contacted him, picked him up and had sex with him for the first time, according to the Palm Bay Police Department arrest affidavit.

On June 19, Laflamme left for a vacation, Campbell wrote in the affidavit, and told the victim he could use her car while she was gone. Laflamme learned from a co-worker while she was away that the teen's mother had reported the relationship to police, at which point Laflamme called the police to report the car as stolen.

Authorities then set up a phone call between the teen and his teacher. Laflamme allegedly said during the call that she had been suspended from her job and she intended to deny the relationship.

"The victim asked the defendant if he should lie about having sex with her, in which she replied 'yes' because she's in trouble and might lose her job and retirement," Campbell wrote in the affidavit.

Laflamme also told the teen during the monitored phone call that he should lie about their drug use as well as the "three-way" they had with the second teenager, according to the affidavit. Investigators also obtained text messages sent between the two that reference the teen driving around town in her "drug dealing."

"She's a teacher at the detention center, that would put her as an authority-type figure," Barney Weiss, a Palm Bay police spokesman said. "These juveniles coming out have seen her as a teacher. She's breaching that authority."

In addition to the 15 counts of unlawful sex with a minor, Laflamme is also charged with filing a false police report over the car she allegedly allowed the teen to use during her vacation.

Laflamme was expected in court for arraignment today. No one answered the phone at her Palm Bay home, and it is unclear whether she had hired an attorney.