Florida High School teacher named Kelly Simpson has been arrested for hiding a missing teenager in her home for days. According to the New York Post;
Investigators were trying to locate the minor, who had been missing since Aug. 12, when they received information from the boy’s parents that led them to the Port Charlotte home of 31-year-old teacher Kelly Simpson, the Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office said.
Police found the teen inside her home on Wednesday and Simpson was arrested for interfering with the custody of a minor.
According to the sheriff’s office, Simpson picked the boy up from an unknown location and hid him inside her home, knowing he was reported missing and endangered.
Simpson was bonded for $5,000 Wednesday, jail records show.
The Charlotte County School District has since placed Simpson on administrative leave from her position at Charlottte High School, the district said in a statement to WFTX.
The Charlotte County School District released a statement saying;
“Charlotte County Public Schools takes an incident such as this very seriously,” the statement said. “The safety, protection, and well-being of our students are a top priority.”
According to a report from the Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office, The teen left home on August 12 after an argument about him stealing $100. The person who reported the teen missing said he did not take his phone, medication, or bank card and had not been to school that day.
On August 15, the sheriff’s office sent a BOLO for the missing on their Facebook page, saying he was missing and endangered.
According to the report, the following day, deputies received information that the missing teen was last seen at a Punta Gorda address. Investigators went to the address and spoke to someone who said the missing teen had been there but was picked up by a woman named Kelly on the 15th.
After speaking with the person the teen was with previously, deputies determined Kelly was 31-year-old Kelly Simpson.
Investigators were told that the missing teen would talk about Simpson constantly and would sometimes bring her coffee, according to the report.
Based on the information provided, deputies went to Simpson’s home. The report says Simpson acknowledged that she knew the missing teen and knew that he had been reported missing. Simpson told investigators that she had picked up the missing teen but said she dropped him off at a gas station.
The report says that when investigators asked if they could search her home, she said no because the teen was not there. The investigators told her that it would be a quick search if that were the case.
According to the report, Simpson asked deputies what would happen if she did not let them search her home, at which point they told her she could be charged with a crime. That is when the report says Simpson said she would go inside and have the missing teen come out to speak with investigators.
The missing teen told deputies that Simpson picked him up on the night of the 15th, and he spent the night at her house. The report states Simpson knew the teen was missing because the teen told deputies that he showed her the sheriff’s office’s Facebook post.
Flip to the next page for video of the WILD story and photos of the teacher.