A Mississippi community is in shock following the arrest of a once-respected high school teacher, now accused of engaging in inappropriate contact with one of her underage students – including allegedly ‘making out’ with him in a Taco Bell parking lot.
Court documents filed in DeSoto County paint a disturbing picture of 31-year-old Natalia Elizabeth Wright, a former special education inclusion teacher at Lewisburg High School.
Wright has been charged with fondling by a person in a position of trust, a felony offense under Mississippi law.
According to an affidavit from the DeSoto County Sheriff’s Office, Wright, who taught and also tutored the victim, is accused of committing acts of ‘licentious sexual desires’ with a child under the age of 18.
The allegations span both private and public settings.
Investigators say multiple witnesses reported seeing Wright ‘kissing and making out’ with the student on April 21 in at least two locations: the parking lot of a Taco Bell and the parking lot of Longview Point Baptist Church in Hernando.
Those sightings, the affidavit alleges, occurred weeks after she had already submitted her resignation to the school district.
Wright resigned from Lewisburg High on April 3, after school officials became aware of what court documents describe as ‘inappropriate contact’ including physical touching, ongoing communication, and driving the student to school in her personal vehicle on multiple occasions.
But the most damning evidence may have come from inside Wright’s own home.
According to authorities, Wright’s husband allegedly obtained both video and audio recordings of her admitting to kissing the student ‘two or three times’ while tutoring him in a private home setting.
That admission, paired with witness testimony and her close access to the victim as both teacher and tutor, appears to have been enough to prompt charges.
Court filings state that Wright ‘did willfully, unlawfully and feloniously… handle or touch with her mouth… a child under 18 years of age.’
Wright, who had no prior criminal history, was arrested on May 13 and later released on a $200,000 bond.
Wright’s charge is a serious felony under Mississippi Code and could carry substantial prison time if she is convicted.
She is scheduled to appear in court on June 6.
Wright was widely known throughout the school community and would often take part at school functions including those organized by the PTA.
The arrest has sent shockwaves through DeSoto County, one of Mississippi’s fastest-growing and most affluent regions.
Officials at Lewisburg High, a public school often recognized for its academic performance, have not commented publicly on the case, other than to confirm Wright’s resignation in April.