Texas teacher accused of sexually abusing former student

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A Texas middle school teacher has been accused of repeatedly sexually abusing a former student, police said.

Marka Bodine, an English teacher at Tomball Intermediate School outside Houston, was arrested Saturday following an investigation into allegations made by a former student, Tomball police said in a statement.

Bodine, 31, was taken into custody on a felony charge of continuous sexual abuse of a child after a former student at the school contacted police on April 12.

Tomball police Chief Jeffrey Bert told KRIV that Bodine allegedly abused the male student for roughly two and a half years.

“It was definitely a cry out for help,” Bert told the station of the victim. “He had reached out to a school, and he reached out to the police department as well, so I think he just became overwhelmed with it and reached out to us.”

Bodine made her initial court appearance Monday, the station reported. She told police that one of her former sixth-grade students had been harassing her and threatened to harm himself, court documents show.

But investigators allege Bodine had a three-year sexual relationship with the same boy who is now 16. Court documents indicate she admitted to sex acts with the victim starting in 2018 and continued having them even after he moved, the station reported.

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