EL PASO COUNTY, COLO. -- A teacher, two pastors and a former principal have all been arrested in connection with a sexual assault case from 2007.
El Paso County Sheriff's deputies arrested 32-year-old Terah Rawlings for allegedly sexually assaulting a 15-year-old student multiple times in 2007.
Rawlings was a teacher at Hilltop Baptist School. Deputies received the report in December 2010 and had been investigating the case. They searched Rawlings' home in February and asked the case be presented before a Grand Jury.
The Grand Jury handed down indictments Wednesday afternoon to Rawlings and three others.
According to court documents, Rawlings and the victim had sex for the first time in her car and during their relationship had sex numerous times.
Rawlings also emailed the victim a photo of herself nude from the waist up covering her nipples with her hand.
Deputies arrested brothers Franklin and Raymond Knight Wednesday for failure to report child abuse or neglect. Franklin was also charged with accessory to a crime.
Rawlings is Raymond's daughter and Franklin's niece. Raymond is the Associate Pastor at Hilltop Baptist Church and the former Athletic Director of the school.
Documents state Raymond received a report on Dec. 17, 2010 from two women who were told of the sexual relationship by the victim. One woman said she saw Rawlings go into a bedroom with the victim during that school year and heard noises that sounded like people having sex.
Franklin is the Senior Pastor at the church and the former school Superintendent.
He had received three reports from different sources who had heard about the inappropriate relationship. According to the indictment papers, "Pastor Wayne Knight displayed a consistent pattern to manipulate and control the situation not only among the faculty at Hilltop baptist school but also among parents, church members, and students."
Deputies also arrested former school principal Jan Ocvirk Thursday for also failing to report child abuse or neglect.
Indictment papers state Ocvirk received two separate reports of a sexual relationship between Rawlings and the victim. She even received a text from Rawlings in which she stated that she had made a "big mistake," and that students were going to look at her differently.
"It's certainly disheartening. You have three individuals, they are a part of the upper echelon of the school and hold a significant degree of responsibility of the safety of children in their hands," Lt. Lari Sevene with the El Paso County Sheriff's Office said.
Rawlings was charged with eight counts of sexual assault on a child by one in a position of trust, four of which were pattern of abuse charges, and obscenity.
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