A Dickinson teacher is accused of sexual misconduct with a 16-year-old student at the Galveston County Juvenile Justice Center.
Kristi Rae Hanks, 46, was arrested and charged with improper relationship between educator and student, a second-degree felony punishable by 2 to 20 years in prison. The offense includes contact and non-contact sexual conduct by an educator involving any K-12 student, regardless of the student’s age.
Hanks is employed by the Dickinson Independent School District and was assigned to teach students in the Galveston County Juvenile Justice Alternative Education Program (JJAEP) during the summer.
Galveston County operates the JJAEP program.
Dickinson ISD clarified that it employs the JJAEP teachers, but the students come from school districts throughout the county—suggesting Hanks’ alleged target may not be a Dickinson ISD student.
According to a statement from the Galveston County Sheriff’s Office, the Major Crimes Unit arrested Hanks on August 19 after investigating a report received in early August from the Juvenile Justice Center regarding a teacher’s relationship with a student.
The Sheriff’s Office stated that evidence gathered during the investigation and admissions made by Hanks indicated that the teacher had “maintained frequent contact with the student outside of an academic setting and engaged in an improper relationship.”
The Galveston County District Attorney’s Office issued an arrest warrant for Hanks and recommended a $100,000 bond.
Dickinson ISD released a statement acknowledging the arrest but did not name Hanks.
“Prior to being notified of the arrest, Dickinson ISD had already placed the employee on administrative leave while the investigation was pending. The District took this action immediately after receiving information regarding the allegations and before learning that an arrest had been made,” the statement read.
“The safety and well-being of our students is our highest priority,” the district added. “Dickinson ISD takes allegations involving student safety and employee conduct extremely seriously.”
Online records show Hanks began working for Dickinson ISD in the 2016-17 school year—the same year she first received a Texas teaching certificate.
Hanks is among hundreds of Texas school employees accused of sex crimes involving students and other children in just the past few years, and thousands have been reported to the Texas Education Agency for sexual misconduct.
The TEA’s Educator Misconduct Reporting Dashboard shows the agency is currently investigating more than 2,700 sexual misconduct complaints and opening an average of 250 new cases each month.
