Dowling English teacher arrested for alleged sexual exploitation of 17-year-old student
A Dowling Catholic High School teacher has been arrested for an alleged sexual relationship with a student.
Police arrested Kristen Gantt, 36, on Friday on two counts of sexual exploitation by a school employee. Authorities allege Gantt, who was employed as an English teacher at Dowling in West Des Moines, engaged in an inappropriate sexual relationship with a 17-year-old student in her class.
A criminal complaint states Gantt admitted to police that she engaged in a romantic relationship with the student which involved physical intimacy on at least five different occasions. Each of the physical encounters occurred in Gantt's classroom after the school day had ended, according to the complaint.
A search warrant application filed prior to Gantt's arrest showed police obtained communications between her and the student on email and Instagram that appeared personal and flirtatious in nature.
Some of these conversations on Instagram, which the warrant application said were first obtained by local NBC-affiliate WHO-13, detail messages in which they both comment on each others' appearances and make plans to spend time together outside of school.
In an interview with the student, investigators read some of the emails that included emojis that could be perceived as sexual innuendos. According to the warrant, the student told police Gantt reached out "to provide support" as he struggled with family issues at home.
The student denied having a physical relationship with Gantt and denied having contact with her outside of school, according to the warrant.
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Criminal complaints state that the messages showed "clear and concise grooming activity" and that conversations which took place through their private email accounts contained "more direct sexual overtones."
School administrators supplied police with surveillance footage that appeared to show Gantt and the student in her classroom alone behind a locked door. The window on the door is shown to be covered up by a piece of paper, according to the warrant.
Administrators also gave police separate interview transcripts between Dowling principal Matt Meendering, Gantt and the student. Both Gantt and the student acknowledged in these interviews that Gantt was the student's teacher and that they communicated via email about personal matters, but they both denied at the time that the communications were inappropriate, according to the warrant.
Despite those denials, the warrant concludes: "Messages collected through numerous sources show that an ongoing relationship had taken place between the two which was sexualized in nature, had occurred inside and outside of school grounds, and included numerous electronic platforms."
Representatives from Dowling could not immediately be reached for comment. As of Friday, Gantt is no longer listed as a faculty member of the school's English department. It was not immediately clear if Gantt had retained a lawyer.
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Francesca Block is a breaking news reporter at the Des Moines Register. Reach her at FBlock@registermedia.com or on Twitter at @francescablock3.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Dowling High School teacher arrested on sex exploitation charges
