A teacher reportedly sent nude photos to a 16-year-old student and then invited him 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 the Maries County Sheriff’s Department.
The married mother-of-one is charged with six felonies for allegedly stalking the 16-year-old, sending him pornographic images and requesting photos from him.
Laughlin married 23-year-old Grant Laughlin in June 2022 and the couple has a one-year-old daughter.
The teacher frequently posts on her social media accounts – where she has shared snaps of her time with her baby and husband, riding horses, posing with guns and waving Trump flags.
Rikki Lynn Laughlin, 24, allegedly sent and solicited pornographic images to a 16-year-old student at the school where she taught
The teacher frequently posts on her social media accounts – where she has shared snaps of her time with her baby and husband, riding horses, posing with guns and waving Trump flags
The teacher waves a Trump flag in a Facebook post before the 2020 election
The interactions between Laughlin and the student largely took place over Snapchat – where she allegedly sent him an explicit video of herself performing a sex act.
The alleged victim claimed they also kissed and said “things progressed quickly” after she contacted him on Snapchat.
According to the child, Laughlin invited him to her home while her husband was out of town to have sex.
The teen told police that he made up excuses not to meet Laughlin at her house for sex because he “didn’t feel comfortable,” the investigator’s report said.
After people at school started “talking,” Laughlin became concerned and asked the student to delete all the pictures exchanged. She told him she could go to prison 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 was able to find some of the nude photos and explicit content exchanged.
The Maries County Sheriff’s Office issued a probable cause statement, claiming Laughlin did not deny receiving the photos but insisted the student initiated their “inappropriate relationship.”
Laughlin claimed, “I didn’t know he was a minor until yesterday.”
The age of consent in Missouri is 17.
After Laughlin gave police permission to search her phone, the investigator found a video like the one the 16-year-old described.
The defendant is pictured with her husband
After people at the school started “talking,” Laughlin became concerned and asked the student to delete all the pictures exchanged. She told him she could go to prison if the images and videos were discovered (pictured: St. James High School in Missouri). )
The interactions between Laughlin and the student largely took place over Snapchat – where she allegedly sent him an explicit video of herself performing a sex act
Laughlin is now charged with possession of child pornography, tampering with a victim, tampering with evidence and sex trafficking of a child. In addition to these charges, she also faces a felony count of providing pornographic material to a minor
A user on Reddit claimed that he was a classmate of the alleged victim. They said, “I go to St. James and honestly it shook me to the core because I knew there was a teacher who was dealing with students that I knew scared me.” What what would happen if this happened to me or my friends?
“What really impressed me was how people reacted.” When the student returned to school, everyone started congratulating him, praising him and people were posting on Snapchat about how pretty she was and how lucky he was , that’s absolutely disgusting.”
Laughlin is now charged with possession of child pornography, tampering with a victim, tampering with evidence and sex trafficking of a child.
In addition to these charges, she also faces a felony count of providing pornographic material to a minor.
Just one of the charges Laughlin faces could land her more than 20 years in prison.
She is next due in court for a bail hearing on November 14th.