Teacher Met Student For Sex At Downtown St. Pete Hotel: Police

ST. PETERSBURG, FL — A teacher is accused of meeting one of his students, a 16-year-old girl, for sex at a downtown St. Petersburg hotel, on Nov. 18, according to an arrest affidavit from the St. Petersburg Police Department.

Conor Westrate, 31, of St. Petersburg is charged with unlawful sex with certain minors, police said. He was also arrested on an unrelated charge for failing to appear in court for petit theft in Orange County.

Westrate first met the teen at an unnamed Pinellas County school, where he was her teacher, according to the arrest report.

They met at a hotel at 80 Beach Drive NE — the address for Hampton Inn & Suites, the hotel chain’s website shows — and “engaged in consensual sex,” police said.

In an interview with police, after he was read his Miranda rights, Westrate claimed the girl told him that she was 18 years old.

He was taken into custody Friday and released on a $10,000 bond for the unlawful sexual activity with a minor charge and a $2,000 bond for the petit theft charge, according to jail records.