2 years ago
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Authorities in Magnolia say a school teacher who allegedly rented motel rooms for a 12-year-old girl and a 13-year-old girl to have sex with others has been arrested on numerous charges. Forty-six-year-old Donna Sanders of Magnolia was arrested on 12 counts of permitting abuse of a minor and 12 counts of accomplice to rape. She was jailed in the Columbia County Jail on a $100,000 bond after her arrest Wednesday. She resigned that same day from her job as special education teacher. The sheriff's office would not say whether Sanders was still being held Friday afternoon.
Police Chief Robert Gorum said the investigation began after a parent called Magnolia School Superintendent John Moore to inquire about a rumor involving Sanders and the two girls. Gorum says the superintendent contacted police, who then interviewed Sanders.
The police chief says Sanders admitted to the allegations. He says a 21-year-old man is being sought on a rape charge, and that two male juveniles involved have not been charged. One of the juveniles may be a victim.
Gorum says he does not know a motive in the case. Police allege that Sanders rented motel rooms in El Dorado for the girls, left them overnight, and returned the next day and picked them up. She also provided alcoholic beverages to the juveniles, Gorum said. The incidents took place over seven months, beginning in September, all in Union County. Magnolia is in Columbia County.
Police seized a laptop computer from Sanders' home and a computer that she used at Magnolia Junior High School. Her husband, Magnolia High School assistant principal Terry Sanders, was not implicated in the case.
El Dorado Police Captain David Smith says the El Dorado police assisted in the investigation.
(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
