Police charge West Valley teacher with molestation of student, 13
Mar 22, 2018, 2:14 PM | Updated: Mar 23, 2018, 1:53 pm
Maricopa County Sheriff's Office.
PHOENIX — A West Valley teacher was arrested Thursday on suspicion of having a sexual relationship with a 13-year-old student, police said.
The Goodyear Police Department said it was alerted to the alleged relationship by the principal of Las Brisas Academy, where 27-year-old Brittany Zamora was a sixth-grade teacher.
She was charged with sexual conduct with a minor, molestation and transmission of obscene material.
Police documents state the alleged relationship began around February.
The parents said they found text messages from the teacher that implied the pair were involved in a sexual relationship both on and off campus, said department spokeswoman Lisa Kutis.
The parents used an app that alerted them to keywords that were “sexual in nature,” Kutis said. They reported this to the principal.
“We do recommend that parents do get an app or some type of a device such as that, or at least monitor their kids’ cellphone activity regularly in order to protect them from predators like this,” Kutis said.
The victim and Zamora began talking on a classroom chat, according to police documents. Zamora eventually sent explicit pictures, according to the documents.
The Buckeye resident taught sixth grade at the school, which is located near Broadway and Citrus roads, for less than one year, the court documents said. A teacher profile for a Mrs. Zamora on the school website said it was her fifth year of teaching. She is married, Kutis said.
She graduated from Arizona State University in 2013 and was pursuing a master’s degree from Grand Canyon University.
<i>KTAR News’ Ashley Flood contributed to this report.</i>
