A female teacher allegedly sent nudes to a 16-year-old student and then invited him over for sex while her husband was out of town.
Rikki Lynn Laughlin, 24, sent the explicit photos to the boy at St. James High School in Missouri – where Laughlin worked as a special education teacher, according to Maries County Sheriff Department.
The married mother-of-one faces six felony charges for allegedly pursuing the 16-year-old, sending him pornographic images and soliciting photos from him.
Laughlin married Grant Laughlin, 23, in June 2022 and the pair have a one-year-old daughter.
The teacher posts frequently on her social media accounts – where she has shared snaps of her spending time with her baby and husband, riding horses, posing with rifles and waving Trump flags.
Rikki Lynn Laughlin, 24, allegedly sent and solicited pornographic images from a 16-year-old student at the school she taught at
The teacher posts frequently on her social media accounts – where she has shared snaps of her spending time with her baby and husband, riding horses and posing with rifles
The teacher waving a Trump flag in a Facebook post ahead of the 2020 election
The interactions between Laughlin and the student took place mostly over Snapchat – where she allegedly sent him an explicit video of her performing a sex act.
The alleged victim claimed that they had also kissed and said that ‘things progressed fast’ after she had reached out to him on Snapchat.
Laughlin invited him over to her family home while her husband was out of town to have sex, according to the child.
The teen told cops he made excuses to not meet Laughlin for sex at her house because ‘he did not feel comfortable,’ according to the detective’s report.
After people began ‘talking’ at the school – Laughlin became worried and asked the student to delete all of the pictures they exchanged, telling him she could go to jail if the images and videos were discovered.
After the school district that employed Laughlin reported the relationship – a detective visited the student at his home and they were able to find some of the nude photographs and explicit content that had been exchanged.
Maries County Sheriff’s Office made a probable cause statement alleging that Laughlin did not deny receiving the photos – but insisted that the student had initiated their ‘inappropriate relationship’.
Laughlin claimed: ‘I was not aware he was a minor until yesterday.’
The age of consent in Missouri is 17.
After Laughlin gave cops permission to search through her phone – the detective found a video like the one the 16-year-old had described.
The accused is pictured with her husband
After people began ‘talking’ at the school, Laughlin became worried and asked the student to delete all of the pictures they exchanged, telling him she could go to jail if the images and videos were discovered (pictured: St. James High School in Missouri)
The interactions between Laughlin and the student took place mostly over Snapchat – where she allegedly sent him an explicit video of her performing a sex act
Laughlin now faces charges of possession of child pornography, tampering with a victim, tampering with physical evidence and the sexual trafficking of a child. Along with those charges – she also faces one misdemeanor count of furnishing pornographic materials to minors
A user on Reddit claimed they were a fellow classmate of the alleged victim. They said: ‘I go to St. James and honestly this shook me to my core, knowing there was a teacher involving themselves with students I know scared me. what if this happened to me or my friends?
‘What really got to me was how people reacted. when the student came back to school everyone started congratulating him, praising him and people on Snapchat are posting about how pretty she is and how lucky he was, that is absolutely disgusting.’
Laughlin now faces charges of possession of child pornography, tampering with a victim, tampering with physical evidence and the sexual trafficking of a child.
Along with those charges – she also faces one misdemeanor count of furnishing pornographic materials to minors.
Just one of the charges that Laughlin faces could land her more than 20 years in prison.
She is next due in court for a bond hearing on November 14.