High School Psychologist Charged With Having Sex With Student in Classroom: 'Betrayal of Trust'

Christine Pelisek
Updated

A California high school psychologist was charged this week with statutory rape for allegedly having sex with a student inside a campus classroom.

Kristen Lynn Boyle, 37, was a psychologist at La Habra High School in La Habra when the alleged abuse occurred with a minor student in April of 2018.

“The inappropriate activity occurred on campus in a classroom,” Orange County District Attorney’s Office spokesperson Kimberly Edds tells PEOPLE.

Boyle, who was charged with one count of statutory rape, has been on administrative leave since the alleged abuse was discovered.

High School Psychologist Charged With Having Sex With Student in Classroom: 'Betrayal of Trust'
High School Psychologist Charged With Having Sex With Student in Classroom: 'Betrayal of Trust'

If found guilty, she faces up to three years in prison.

Authorities said Boyle was arrested Sept. 20 by the La Habra Police Department after a “lengthy investigation” into a report about the alleged misconduct, according to a district attorney’s office press release.

“Mental health professionals wield a tremendous amount of influence over their patients,” Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer said. “This betrayal of trust is even more egregious because she used her position to gain her victim’s trust and then exploited the therapist/patient relationship to prey on one of the very students she was entrusted with helping,” he alleged.

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Boyle, who could not be reached for comment, has since been released on $20,000 bail.

An arraignment has been scheduled for Nov. 8. She has yet to enter a plea.

The Fullerton Unified School District didn’t return PEOPLE’S call for comment.

Anyone with information about the incident is asked to call the La Habra Police Department at (562) 383-4300, or through the website Tip411 by selecting “La Habra Police Department.”