Lakeland Teacher Had Sex With Teen At Graduation Party: Police

LAKELAND, FL — A teacher from Lake Gibson Middle School in Lakeland was charged with lewd battery after the Polk County Sheriff's Office said she had oral sex with a minor June 6, authorities said.

Leslie Bushart, 49, was arrested Thursday after a police found through an investigation that she had sexual relations with a teenager at a graduation party, a news release said.

Bushart told someone at the party about the incident after it happened, and that person told the teen's mother, the release stated. The mother contacted the Polk County Sheriff's Office, and Bushart reportedly confessed to the crime when police met with her, the release stated.

Law enforcement officials said Bushart told them she and the boy walked away from the crowd together, and she attempted to smoke marijuana but was too drunk to light it. At that point, she began having sexual relations with the victim, the news release stated.

"Leslie Bushart victimized a teenage boy," Sheriff Grady Judd said in the release. "She betrayed her profession, as well as her friends during what was supposed to be a very special day. There is technically one victim in this case, but the entire family and school community have suffered from this."

The Polk County Public Schools District told Patch through an email that Bushart has been placed on administrative leave, and that it will move forward with terminating her employment. She has been employed at the school district for 29 years.

Bushart began working with Polk County Public Schools in July 2004. Her most current annual salary is $48,769.