A Jackson High School science teacher was charged Thursday with having sex with a 17-year-old student.
Robert Vincent Beresford, 35, of Everett faces two counts of first-degree sexual misconduct with a minor, according to documents filed by Snohomish County deputy prosecutor Janice Albert.
She alleged that Beresford and the girl carried on a romantic affair between August and October, engaging in sex numerous times.
Beresford remains on administrative leave, according to Everett School District officials. He was taken out of the classroom in October, when the allegations were first brought to the school district’s attention.
The girl was in one of Beresford’s classes, and she knew him when he was her teacher at Gateway Middle School, documents say. Teacher and student became better acquainted when she worked at Jackson during the summer, assisting in clerical work.
On the last day of summer school, she helped Beresford move his classroom. That’s when he first kissed her and gave her his telephone number, Albert said.
They kept in touch on the telephone when she went on vacation. When she returned, he invited her onto his boat, where the first sexual contact happened, Albert said.
After that, the two engaged in sexual activity at the defendant’s home, in his sports utility vehicle and in his classroom, documents say.
He allegedly told her not to tell anyone about their relationship because "he would lose everything," Albert said.
The girl never told her friends she was dating a teacher, but acknowledged she was having a sexual relationship with an older man named "Jake." Once, she drove by the defendant’s home and told a friend that Jake lived there.
The affair came to light Oct. 19 when the girl returned home late from a party and her mother noticed the telephone light turn on. She picked up an extension and heard a man reprimanding her daughter for the way she had behaved at school and for not doing her reading.
He also complained that the girl had been to his home when the defendant’s ex-girlfriend was there.
The mother confronted Beresford, who assured her that the relationship was not sexual. The girl later told her mother that she’d had sex with the teacher.
Beresford was first employed with the district in 1996 and taught at Gateway. He left to teach in the Edmonds School District in 1998 and 1999 before returning to Gateway. He’s been teaching at Jackson since 2002.
Reporter Jim Haley: 425-339-3447 or haley@heraldnet.com.
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