Beaumont Teacher Accused Of Sexual Relationship With Student Posts Bail

BEAUMONT, CA — A Beaumont High School teacher was out of jail the morning after she was booked on charges of unlawful sex with a minor and oral copulation with a person under 18, jail records showed Thursday morning. Samantha Lee Ciotta was arrested Wednesday afternoon, booked into jail Wednesday night and out of custody by 10 a.m. Thursday upon posting $150,000 bond.

Ciotta, who works as an English teacher at Beaumont High, still has a valid teaching credential as of Thursday morning, according to the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing. She first was credentialed in Jan. 2010, but has only worked for Beaumont Unified School District since Aug. 2015, Patch has learned. She only ever worked at BHS while working for the local district.

Police on Tuesday announced the arrest of Ciotta after an investigation revealed "... there has been unlawful sexual intercourse occurring for the past few months by a teacher who works at the Beaumont High School."

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• Beaumont Sex Scandal: Teacher Arrested For Alleged Relations With Student, Police Say

"The investigation further revealed there were inappropriate communications between the teacher and student through various messaging platforms," police said.

Ciotta has been placed on leave with Beaumont Unified. At this time, officials will not disclose when she was first placed on leave, nor when police first launched their investigation due to the ongoing case.

Beaumont Unified did issue the following statement about the arrest:

The Beaumont Unified School District administration has been informed of allegations of misconduct by a Beaumont High School teacher. The teacher is on administrative leave while the District conducts a thorough investigation.

Beaumont USD is cooperating with the Beaumont Police Department with this ongoing investigation, and as a result, we must limit our comments. Additionally, federal and state privacy laws prevent the District from commenting on this matter beyond this statement.

Please be assured that our number one priority is the safety and well-being of our students and staff. Please direct all inquiries to Shawn Mitchell at 951-845-1631 extension 5314.

Ciotta is due in court on Nov. 3 for her arraignment, according to jail records.

Police say they fear there may be more possible victims related to this case. They are asking that anyone who may have a connection to the case to get in touch with them.

"Detectives believe that there may be other victims and encourage anyone with any information about this investigation to contact Detective Wells of the Beaumont Police Department at 951-769-8500," Beaumont police said.

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Image via Beaumont Police Department