Former West Hartford student teacher accused of having sexual relationship with student

Tayler Boncal, 22, was charged with three counts of second-degree sexual assault.

According to New Britain police, the arrest stemmed from an investigation that began on Jan.12.

Police said she had the relationship with a male student from a West Hartford high school. The student is currently a senior.

According to the arrest warrant, Boncal was a student teacher at Conard High School who taught social studies for college credit. She was a student at Central Connecticut State University. She was also hired as a track coach in December.

Conard Principal Julio Duarte sent a letter about the arrest home to parents.

"The safety and well-being of all students is and will always be my number one priority. I know that there have been rumors amongst students these past few weeks. Now that the police action has concluded, I am able to inform you of an incident that I was made aware of between a former student teacher/assistant coach and a student. Once I received the misconduct complaint, I immediately informed the police and launched an investigation. While I cannot comment on the specifics of the investigation, I can tell you that this person no longer works at Conard. The incident did not occur on our campus and I have been working closely with both the New Britain and West Hartford Police Departments to ensure that this individual is held accountable for their actions.

"As educators, we are entrusted to protect and educate all of our students and know there are certain boundaries that can never be crossed. Also, we will not tolerate any behavior that compromises the safety or well-being of our students. I hope you will not let the misconduct of this one individual cast a shadow over all of our staff members who demonstrate their commitment to our students every day."

Boncal was living in New Britain at the time of the relationship.

According to the warrant, the teen told police that the two began exchanging text messages and went from there.

The student told police that the sex happened in New Britain, were Boncal had an apartment.

He spoke to two officers. However, the amount of times the teen and Boncal had sex differed. A different story was told to each officer.

"Victim had admitted that he and Boncal had sexual intercourse at least five times and that the first incident occurred after Dec. 25," the warrant said.

When police questioned Boncal, she admitted it.

"She loved the victim and was emotional regarding her feelings for him," the warrant stated. "She expressed concern for the victim and was worried that he would get in trouble."

The West Hartford School System alerted New Britain police of the allegations and the investigation began.

Boncal then turned herself into police and has since been arraigned in New Britain Superior Court.

Channel 3 spoke to one of Boncal's students, who called the situation "sad."

"I do feel bad because I knew this person before and she seemed like a nice person but she made a mistake," said Nick Segarra, a Conard High School student.

She posted a $20,000 bond and is due back in court in March.