Teacher Admitted to Sexual Relationship With Student

Raleigh, N.C. — A former Sanderson High School teacher admitted to kissing and fondling a female student and sending nude images of herself in text messages, according to a search warrant returned Wednesday.

Shannon Lynn Best, 33, also told Raleigh police that she and the 18-year-old student had been involved with one another for about three to four weeks.

On Monday, police charged Best, who had taught at Sanderson since August 2004, with one count of taking indecent liberties with a student by school personnel.

State statute allows no age of consent when the suspect is a teacher and the alleged victim a student.

According to the warrant, Best had planned to take the student, as well as another 18-year-old student, to a track meet and had invited them over to her apartment on April 11 for a sleepover the night before.

That's when someone took a digital photo of one of the students kissing Best, the warrant said. As a result, investigators confiscated two computers, one of them belonging to Sanderson, three thumb drives and a camera disk from Best's North Raleigh apartment.

Wake County Public School System spokesman Michael Evans said Best resigned Monday when the allegation surfaced.

She is out of jail on a $5,000 secured bond. Prosecutors say that if she is convicted, she is unlikely to face more than probation because she has no criminal record.