A Seattle high school teacher has been accused of propositioning a 16-year-old former student, offering her $50 for sex.
Ernie Ammons, a 36-year-old physical education teacher and track coach at Kent Meridian High School, has been charged with a felony sex crime after allegedly engaging in sexual discussions with the female student by text message, online and during phone calls, according to the Kent Reporter.
Prosecutors said they spoke by phone at least 46 times between June and November and that during one online chat he offered her $50 for sex.
"The defendant engaged in sexually explicit text messaging with the 16-year-old victim. He did so knowing both her age and the fact that she was a former student of his. His actions not only violated the law, but the trust placed in educators to teach and nurture students, not to groom them for sex," prosecutor Charles Sergis wrote in court papers.
The allegations were reported to police Nov. 8 by the school's principal, who was alerted to the inappropriate exchanges by a friend of the 16-year-old girl, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer reported Tuesday. Ammons confessed when confronted by his boss, according to court documents.
Police detective Gerald Gee told the court, "On several of the text messages Ernie talked about having sex with [her] and suggested that they have sex in his truck or in the school's weight room, before school started."
School principal Wade Barringer wrote to parents, saying, "An allegation has been made that a teacher had an inappropriate relationship with a student. The teacher was immediately removed from the classroom, placed on administrative leave with instructions not to contact students or staff other than administrators or union representatives until this matter is fully resolved."
Ammons will be arraigned Dec. 22. He has not yet entered a plea and is free on a $50,000 bond.
