TACOMA, WA – Today Pierce County Prosecutor Mark Lindquist charged Meredith Powell, 24, with two counts of child rape in the third degree and communication with a minor for immoral purposes. She engaged in sexual conversations and activity with three of her students. The defendant pleaded not guilty and will be released on her personal recognizance.
The defendant is a math teacher at Lincoln High School in Tacoma. On Jan. 17, one of the victims went to the defendant’s classroom instead of attending the school’s Martin Luther King Day assembly. The two kissed and engaged in sexual activity.
A few days after the assembly, the defendant again engaged in sexual activity in her classroom with another victim. They kissed and the defendant performed oral sex on the victim.
Between the period of Jan. 17, 2014 and Jan. 28, the defendant exchanged explicit text messages with the victims. The messages included compliments about each other’s attractiveness. The defendant sent one of the victims a photo of her naked in the bathtub. She gave another victim her home address and asked him to come over. The victim declined. The defendant did not have intercourse with any of the three victims.
On Feb. 3, the defendant wrote a letter to the girlfriend of one of the victims. She apologized for the “promiscuous” and “unprofessional” comments and texts she sent to the victim. The girlfriend showed the letter to school administrators. The defendant was placed on administrative leave. Detectives arrested the defendant on Feb. 6.
Charges are only allegations and a person is presumed innocent unless he or she is proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
MEDIA CONTACT:
Heather Songer
Communications and Public Information Coordinator
Pierce County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office
253-798-6265
253-380-5856
[email protected]