MONROE, N.C. — Diana Farnell, 28, of Fort Mill, S.C., didn't have anything to say to Eyewitness News as she left the Monroe Police Department and got into a police car to be taken to the county jail.
A city spokesperson said she turned herself in after a warrant for her arrest was issued on suspicion of sex offense with a student.
According to the police report, Farnell's alleged victim is a 17-year-old student. Eyewitness News is not releasing his name. The arrest warrant states he was a student at Union Academy Charter School, in Monroe, when the alleged incident happened and that she was a teacher there.
Some Union Academy parents Eyewitness News spoke with hadn't heard the news. Others had but hoped the allegations weren't true.
"They teach all the ethics, all the morals, and it's just such a great school, and I hate that it's happened to them," said Becky Zazeski, a parent.
She says her children didn't have Farnell as a teacher, but she heard about the charge.
At the school, a fellow teacher told Eyewitness News off camera that she's heartsick about this. She says Farnell was a good teacher and a good friend, and she would be surprised if the allegations are true.
One father told Eyewitness News his son had Farnell for English in the past, and he's waiting for all the facts.
"I don't want to be the judge and jury, so whatever allegations, you hope that it's not true," said the Rev. James Shine, a parent.
The school is only telling Eyewitness News that it's cooperating with police. It would not confirm whether Farnell is still an employee. Thursday, Eyewitness News could not find her name on the website.
Farnell bonded out of jail Thursday afternoon.
In February, a Union Academy basketball coach was fired after he was arrested for sending in sexually inappropriate text messages to a teenage boy he met while working at a group home.
WSOC
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