Maricopa County Sheriff's Office/Brittany Zamora/FacebookNewly released police documents show how a married teacher from Arizona lured her 13-year-old pupil into engaging in sexual activities with her.
27-year-old Brittany Zamora, who taught sixth-grade at Las Brisas Academy Elementary School, has been charged with the felonies of sexual conduct with a minor, molestation, furnishing sexually explicit material and indecency.
Zamora was arrested in March 2017 after her victim’s parents found naked pictures and explicit messages on his phone. They had noticed the boy acting strangely, and installed Sentry Parental Control on his phone; an app which looks out for worrying behaviour.
The victim’s stepmother started receiving multiple alerts with the word ‘baby’. After confronting the teenager about the alerts, he admitted the messages were from his teacher.
Documents reveal Zamora sent the victim messages which read: ‘OMG, I love you,’ and ‘Omg lol you’re so cute baby.’ and ‘I wish you could’ve stayed after with me.’ To this, the victim replied: ‘Me too. I wish I could just hang out with you whenever we wanted.’
Following a sexual encounter, the victim texted Zamora to say he wanted to have sex again. She responded: ‘I know baby! I want you every day with no time limit…If I could quit my job and [have sex with] you all day long, I would.’
Police officers have said Zamora had sex with the victim on at least four occasions, dating from around February 1 to March 8. These incidents included Zamora performing oral sex on the victim both in a classroom and inside her car.
As reported by AZ Central, the victim’s father said:
There truly are real monsters in the world.
As parents, you teach your kids that there’s no such thing as monsters. At all. There’s none. But in the real world, there are monsters. And Brittany Zamora is a monster.
Watch my interview tonight on @azfamily azfamily with @LindseyReiser re the Brittany Zamora Notice of Claim. I expect it will air at 9pm on 3TV and 10pm on CBS 5. pic.twitter.com/erQtqMboVU
— Russ Richelsoph (@RussLawAZ) August 9, 2018
The victim’s parents are now suing the school for $2.5 million, alleging how officials failed to properly report the molestation. Their lawyer has argued how the worst of the abuse could have been prevented if the principal had gone to the police in time.
Attorney Michael Medina told The Arizona Republic:
It was preventable. We want to hold the school district accountable so this never happens again in the future.
As reported by 12 News, school principal, Tim Dickey, first received a written statement regarding Zamora’s alleged molestation of the victim from three other pupils in February. However, an arrest was not made until late March.
Officials have previously stated an investigation was made into the allegation, however no evidence was found to back up the claim. However, Dickey told police he had only spoken to one out of the three pupils who had made the written statement, admitting this was a mistake.
Parents of 13yo sexual abuse victim speaking at their attorneys office. Didn’t want their identity known. Says #brittanyzamora is a monster and should be in jail for rest of her life. @mikewatkiss3tv will have the details on @azfamily pic.twitter.com/5PxBVjznzZ
— James Apalategui (@PhxPhotogJames) March 29, 2018
Following the arrest of Zamora, Las Brisas Academy released the following statement:
In the late evening of March 21, 2018, a parent at Las Brisas Academy reported an allegation involving a staff member and a student. We immediately reported the incident to local law enforcement.
The investigation is in its preliminary stages and as more information becomes available, we will update you.
While employee privacy law does not allow us to comment on the employee issues, we have taken the corrective steps to separate the students and staff member and have reported the incident to the Goodyear Police Department for investigation.
The safety of our students is our #1 priority. Transparency is equally important. We are fully cooperating with the Goodyear Police Department and will comment further at the appropriate time.
Prosecutors say the 13 YO student who this teacher, 27 YO Brittany Zamora, is accused of having a sexual relationship with, was NOT the only victim at Las Brisas Academy in #Goodyear -I have the full story now on #Fox10Phoenix pic.twitter.com/paF0FNQVAg
— Stefania Okolie (@StefaniaOnABC13) March 24, 2018
If you’ve been affected by any of these issues, and want to speak to someone in confidence regarding the welfare of a child contact the NSPCC on 0808 800 5000. If you are a child seeking advice and support call Childline for free on 0800 1111.
If you have a story you want to tell send it to UNILAD via [email protected]
Jules studied English Literature with Creative Writing at Lancaster University before earning her masters in International Relations at Leiden University in The Netherlands (Hoi!). She then trained as a journalist through News Associates in Manchester. Jules has previously worked as a mental health blogger, copywriter and freelancer for various publications.