Kennedale Teacher Accused in Sex Scandal

A Kennedale High School teacher posted bond and was released after she was arrested on suspicion of having improper relationships with five of her students.

Brittni Nicole Colleps, 27, is accused of having sexual intercourse with students at her Arlington home over the past two months.

"Our understanding at this point is that at least one of the encounters involved all five boys in the same time period," Arlington police spokeswoman Tiara Ellis Richard said. "But there were other times it was one student with the teacher."

Arlington police said Colleps and students had exchanged text messages that included sexually explicit photographs. Police said one of the students recorded one of the encounters on his cellphone.

Police said one of the students stayed at her house until 6 a.m. one night.

Investigators in Arlington began an investigation into the allegations after hearing about them from school staff and Kennedale police on Wednesday.

"Information we're gathering is that the students were talking about it, and that may be part of the reason the school administration learned of this," Richard said. "The conversations were going around the school so much, it came to their attention."

Kennedale school Superintendent Gary Dugger told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram that school officials learned about it the night of May 10 and, by Wednesday afternoon, had gone to police.

Tarrant County records show Colleps has been married for seven years, the Star-Telegram reported. Her husband is away in the military.

Kennedale Independent School District attorney Mike Leasor said Colleps is an English teacher who has been placed on administrative leave through the end of the school year. Colleps had resigned her teaching contract in April, before the scandal came to light, Leasor said.

Her teacher's page on the district's website has been disabled, but a cached version of the site reveals that she coached girls freshman basketball and taught English IV.  She graduated from the University of Texas at Arlington in May 2008 with a bachelor of arts in English and obtained her master of arts in education from the University of Phoenix in July 2010, according to her bio.

"Kennedale ISD has and will continue to cooperate fully with the Arlington Police Department in their investigation," Superintendent Gary Dugger said in a statement Monday. "Please know that the safety and security of the Kennedale ISD students is extremely important to the Board of Trustees and the staff of the district."

Colleps faces five counts of having an inappropriate relationship between a student and teacher, a second-degree felony. A conviction carries a penalty of anywhere from two years to 20 years in prison per count.

The students were all age 18 or older and adults, but state law makes it a criminal offense for teachers to have sexual relationships with their students, regardless of age.

Colleps was jailed at the Arlington City Jail after turning herself in on Monday morning. She was released Monday afternoon after posting $125,000 bail; $25,000 per count.

NBC DFW's Scott Gordon contributed to this report.

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