A teacher in Henderson Independent School District resigned after she was arrested and charged with multiple sex crimes involving a male student.
The district announced Tuesday that an unnamed teacher had been placed on paid administrative leave after being arrested for allegedly having an “inappropriate relationship with a student.”
Parents first identified the teacher as Kathryn Prior, a 35-year-old vocational agriculture education teacher at Henderson High School.
Henderson ISD confirmed Prior was the teacher and said she has since submitted her resignation.
Prior reportedly confessed to police that she touched the student inappropriately while she was driving him home in her car.
She also admitted to exchanging sexually explicit messages and photos with the student via the Instagram app.
Prior was booked into the Rusk County Jail on Tuesday, December 10, and charged with indecency with a child by sexual contact and improper relationship between educator and student. Both are second-degree felonies punishable by 2-20 years in prison.
She was also charged with possession of child pornography. She allegedly had more than 10, but fewer than 50, images on her cell phone, making the offense a third-degree felony punishable by 2-10 years in prison.
Prior has since been released from jail.
Texas’ State Board for Educator Certification has no record of issuing Prior a teaching certificate, nor does her name currently appear on the Do Not Hire Registry as a non-certified educator under investigation.
Her salary in 2023 was $65,000.
Prior is the latest in a string of Texas teachers charged with sex crimes involving students.
