Photo: Garden Ridge Police Department
A Missouri teacher who had sex with a 16-year-old while other students served as "lookouts" and the boy's father who knew of their relationship were both arrested.
Hailey Nichelle Clifton-Carmack, 26, was charged with child molestation, statutory rape, sexual contact with a student and endangering the welfare of a child, the Garden Ridge Police Department announced in a post shared on its Facebook account. Clifton-Carmack "was suspected of fleeing the State of Missouri" prior to being detained by authorities.
Mark Creighton, the boy's father, was also arrested on charges of endangering the welfare of a child after allegedly telling others he was aware of his son's relationship with the math teacher and that she used other students as "lookouts" when she had sex with his son during school hours.
Police initially became aware of alleged sex crimes committed by Clifton-Carmack on December 7, 2023. The school's resource officer immediately contacted the Pulaski County Sheriff's Department after being notified of the alleged inappropriate relationship by another student.
The witness then met with local authorities and provided photographs of his classmate showing scratches on the teen's back, which he claimed were "from Hailey after the confidential victim had sex with her” in the "driveway" of the boy's home. The witness also told police that Clifton-Carmack had previously been accused of "being too close with students," according to court documents obtained by the New York Post.
Clifton-Carmack, a recently divorced mother of two, was reported to have often worn "tight or low-cut shirts" that showed off her "headlights" and "tight leggings that 'showed off her camel toe," the documents stated. The witness claimed that the teacher's "divorce was pushed through" because of the victim and that “Hailey had wanted a divorce due to her husband only wanting to ‘do butt stuff,'" the documents stated.
Clifton-Carmack was initially confronted by detectives on December 8, 2023, at which point she denied having a sexual relationship with any of her students. Authorities confiscated the teacher's phone but were unable to access it until a search warrant was granted on December 22, finding text messages confirming her illegal relationship with the 16-year-old, court documents stated.
Clifton-Carmack left Missouri to stay with family in Texas around December 23 and “individuals living at the residence that Hailey was previously living at" told police that she had "moved to Texas to live with her family down there" and were unsure "if she was going to return" on January 3. Warrants were issued for her arrest and the 26-year-old was detained in Texas, where she is currently awaiting extradition back to Missouri.
Clifton-Carmack, who had worked at the school for about a year and a half as part of her first teaching gig, hadn't been on the school campus since administrators were initially notified of the allegations, Laquey School District Superintendent Kent Stoumbaugh confirmed in a statement to ABC 17.
“The alleged misconduct is inexcusable and does not meet the professional standards for district employees. The district took immediate action once we were aware of this situation,” Stoumbaugh wrote.
“The employee has not been in the district since December 8, 2023, and we do not anticipate her return.”
Creighton was arrested last Thursday after a second witness claimed they were told by the father of his knowledge of the incident, court documents stated. The father reportedly "knew of the relationship of his minor child and the 26-year-old teacher, and instead of reporting the information, he continued to cover for them and allowed the relationship to continue,” which included allowing "Hailey to come over to his residence and see the victim while he was present," prosecutors stated in the court documents.