A married school teacher in Kentucky has been charged with grooming a minor after investigators said she exchanged messages and held late-night video calls with a 14-year-old student.
Sadie Flores, 25, was arrested on Friday inside Graves County Middle School in Mayfield, Kentucky, on a felony charge of grooming a minor. It is unclear at this time whether she has entered a plea.
According to a uniform citation obtained by the Daily Mail, Flores is accused of attempting to manipulate the student by expressing feelings of love and admiration. The document states the Graves County Sheriff's Office was notified by the school board after a parent of the 14-year-old contacted them.
Investigators met with the parent, who had taken the teen's cell phone and gone through their messages, discovering exchanges with Flores. The citation states that the messages reviewed by investigators were determined not to be of a legitimate purpose and were not school-related.
The parent also found a number of FaceTime calls that allegedly occurred multiple times in the late evening hours. The charging document said Flores had been communicating with the teen on multiple social media platforms, including Snapchat and TikTok, through what investigators described as unauthorized and untraceable communication.
The citation states that it appeared Flores was attempting to manipulate the minor and expressed feelings of love and admiration more so than just a student-teacher relationship. It also states that the two met in secret before a school function, outside of school, that Flores was not directly a part of but lived in close proximity to.
Sheriff's office details the investigation
In a statement, the Graves County Sheriff's Office confirmed that Flores, of Mayfield, was arrested around 3.30pm at the Graves County Sheriff's Office on a charge of grooming a minor, classified as a Class D felony. The office said Flores, an employee at Graves County Middle School, reportedly was having an improper relationship with a minor student of the district.
The allegation was initially reported to the Graves County School District Office, which then immediately reported it to the Graves County Sheriff's Office for an investigation. The sheriff's detectives' investigation included the seizure of electronic records, interviews and other related investigative measures.
Flores was interviewed on the afternoon of her arrest and then taken into custody. She was transported to the Graves County Restricted Custody Center and later to an out-of-county detention center. The sheriff's office said the investigation is continuing.
Superintendent responds to the allegations
Graves County Schools Superintendent Matt Madding said district administration was made aware of an allegation involving a teacher at Graves County Middle School. He said school officials immediately reported the information to the Graves County Sheriff's Department for investigation.
Madding said the district has since been informed that, as a result of the investigation, charges have been filed against the teacher. He said that because it is an ongoing legal and personnel matter, the district is limited in the information it can publicly share, but that the safety and well-being of students remains its highest priority. He also thanked the Graves County Sheriff's Department for its professionalism and assistance.
Personal details from the case
Flores is married to David Flores, a machine operator, and the pair married in June 2022. The couple has a baby daughter. Her social media profiles feature images of the child alongside references to her Christian beliefs.
A "get to know" post on the school's Facebook page in July 2024 said Flores was a first grade teacher. It remains unclear whether she was still teaching first grade at the time of her arrest. Calls to her cell number and her husband's went unanswered on Monday.
