Teacher’s Aide at Tx. School Allegedly Sexually Abused Boy, Called Him ‘My Secret Lover’ in Texts
A teacher’s assistant at a Texas school is accused of sexually abusing a teen boy for more than a year.
PEOPLE confirms from jail records that Tedria Fluellen, 51, faces a charge of sexual assault of a child age 14 to 17.
According to court documents obtained by KHOU, the Houston Chronicle and ABC 13, the boy alleged the abuse began in 2018, when he was 16 and attending Worthing High School, where Fluellen was employed.
He told investigators he’d known Fluellen for two to three years and went to the same church as her, and said he would sometimes go to Fluellen’s house to do tasks like help her get things out of her storage unit. He alleged the abuse began when he was at her home, the documents state.
The documents allege Fluellen and the alleged victim had sex four times, including once in Fluellen’s vehicle in a school parking lot.
The teen alleged to investigators Fluellen would send him sexually explicit texts messages calling him “my secret lover.”
He also alleged that at one point, she told him, “You don’t have to be gay,” and then made a sexual advance at him.
The teen’s grandmother reported the alleged abuse after finding sexually explicit messages on his phone, the documents state.
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The Houston Independent School District released a statement saying, “We are aware that a former HISD employee has been arrested and charged. We are cooperating fully with the Harris County District Attorney’s office. Keeping our students and campuses safe so that productive instruction can take place remains the district’s top priority.”
Fluellen was booked into the Harris County Jail last Friday and remains there on $40,000 bond, jail records show.
It wasn’t immediately clear if Fluellen has entered a plea. PEOPLE’s call to her attorney, Christopher Randall Self, wasn’t immediately returned.
She will appear in court on Dec. 2, jail records show.
