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Female Stamford English Teacher Charged With Sex Assault Of Male Student

STAMFORD, Conn., -- An English teacher from Norwalk who taught at Stamford High School has been charged with having sex with an 18-year-old male student and threatening to fail him if he didn't continue the sexual relationship, Stamford police said.

Danielle Watkins, 32, of 11 Fort Point St., Norwalk, an English teacher in the Stamford schools, is accused of having sex with an 18-year-old male student. She was arrested Thursday.

Danielle Watkins, 32, of 11 Fort Point St., Norwalk, an English teacher in the Stamford schools, is accused of having sex with an 18-year-old male student. She was arrested Thursday.

Photo Credit: Stamford Police Department

Danielle Watkins, 32, of 11 Fort Point St., was charged with two counts of sexual assault and one count of selling marijuana in connection with the case involving the 18-year-old, police said. She is also charged with selling marijuana and risk of injury to a child after she provided marijuana to a 15-year-old student, police said.

Watkins turned herself in to Stamford police on Thursday and released to make her first court appearance on July 31.

Police said the the investigation began June 23 after the 18-year-old told a counselor, who notified the Department of Children and Families and the Stamford Board of Education. The teen provided police with a statement on June 23 saying he had had a sexual relationship with the teacher throughout the school year, from September 2013 to June 2014, police said.

The sexual encounters occurred in her vehicle during school hours but not on school grounds, police said. She also sent sexually explicit text messages to him and allowed him to use her car even though he didn't have a driver's license, police said.

The teen tried to break off the relationship but Watkins assaulted him, police said, accusing him of seeing someone else and threatening to fail him if he didn't continue their relationship.

She also provided the 18-year-old and a 15-year-old with marijuana that they would smoke both on and off school property during school hours, police said.

On June 27, officers executed a search warrant on Watkins' vehicle, phone, and residence to corroborate the allegations, police said. As officers attempted to pull Watkins over on a motor vehicle stop in Norwalk, she attempted to hide her phone under the passenger seat, police said.

She was removed from the vehicle and the vehicle was seized for a forensic examination, police said. As officers searched the vehicle and found marijuana, she became verbally combative, police said.

She was subsequently arrested on charges of interfering with a search warrant and possession of marijuana charges, police said.

A search of her cellphone discovered more than 2,000 text messages and hundreds of calls between Watkins and the 18-year-old, police said. The cellphone also contained evidence of the sexually explicit text messages that were sent by Watkins, police said.

Police received warrants for her arrest as a result of the investigation and she turned herself in Thursday.

Watkins' bond was set at a total of $100,000 in the case.

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