A middle school teacher in Wisconsin has been accused of sexually assaulting an eighth-grade student — and buying him a gun for his 14th birthday. Wait, what the F**K?!?!
Tyesha Bolden (pictured above, in her mugshot) is a 34-year-old now-former teacher from the city of Brown Deer, Wisconsin on the north side of Milwaukee. She has been charged with two felonies in a case involving a student she first met and allegedly pursued when he was just 13 years old.
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Per law enforcement in the Milwaukee area, Bolden was working at Pilgrim Lutheran School in the city of Wauwatosa last fall when the then-13-year-old student in question was part of her class. The two of them allegedly began sending each other text messages — more than 2,200 of them in total, cops say.
Soon, the messages reportedly began to include “nude images and flirtatious language,” according to court docs filed against Bolden. But at some point, the teen’s parents reportedly became suspicious of his cell phone activities and his connection to the teacher. So, while he was sleeping, they went through his phone, and found “a topless selfie” the teacher had allegedly sent, per FOX 6 Milwaukee.
Police claim the relationship progressed, and at one point in June of this year, the teacher allegedly drove the teen boy to a park. There, cops claim the two had sex. Not long after that, the teen apparently asked Bolden to buy him a Glock 19 handgun because, according to court docs, he couldn’t go “without protection.” Bolden allegedly bought the gun and ammunition for the boy, and gave it to him “along with some books” as a 14th birthday present.
WTF…
Their relationship carried on until July 21, when cops say the boy asked Bolden for money and “another gun.” She reportedly gave the teenager $1,000 in cash, but “declined to buy a second gun,” according to that media outlet. Their relationship then fizzled, per cops.
The case took a turn four days later, on July 25, when the teenager’s parents called police to report him missing. He had run off with a relative’s car, and his family didn’t know his whereabouts. When cops asked where he might be staying, the boy’s parents gave Bolden’s address as a possibility. The teen was found three days after that, on July 28, during a police stop in the nearby Milwaukee suburb of West Allis.
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However, the mother’s initial tip led officers to Pilgrim Lutheran School to meet with administrators. An administrator then confronted Bolden about the mother’s claim that the boy may have stayed at her house. The teacher allegedly admitted to having the teenager “spend a night at her residence earlier this year,” per court docs. Bolden was fired on the spot, and administrators called the police.
In a brief statement to the media regarding Bolden’s dismissal, her employer LUMIN Schools confirmed an investigation into the incident at Pilgrim Lutheran School. A spokesperson for that org said they reported Bolden to police after learning she had violated their “standards of conduct,” and added:
“The Brown Deer Police notified LUMIN that their investigation uncovered additional information and the former teacher was placed under arrest.”
Now, the disgraced teacher is charged with second-degree child sex assault and giving a dangerous weapon to a child. Both are felony charges. She was released on a $2,500 bond this week and now awaits future court dates.
If found guilty of both charges, per FOX 6 Milwaukee, Bolden could face up to 40 years in a Wisconsin state prison.
You can watch more on this case and the charges against Bolden (below):
Wow. Just WOW!
Here’s hoping the teen gets the professional support he needs to navigate the aftermath of this ordeal. And that cops have confiscated the gun…
Reactions, Perezcious readers?
If you have sincere cause to suspect child abuse, call the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-4-A-Child or 1-800-422-4453, or go to www.childhelp.org.
To learn more about the impact of gun violence, visit https://www.apha.org/topics-and-issues/gun-violence.
If you or someone you know has experienced sexual violence and would like to learn more about resources, consider checking out https://www.rainn.org/resources.
[Image via Milwaukee County Jail/FOX 6 Milwaukee/YouTube]
