Former teacher at Pilgrim Lutheran School in Wauwatosa charged, accused of sexual relationship with 13-year-old student

A former teacher at a private school in Wauwatosa has been criminally charged, accused of having a sexual relationship with a then-13-year-old student and purchasing him a firearm.

Tyesha Bolden, 34, an eighth grade teacher at Pilgrim Lutheran School, 6717 W. Center St., was charged Friday with second-degree sexual assault of a child age 16 and under and with one count of providing a dangerous weapon to a person under 18, both felonies.

According to a criminal complaint, Bolden became the boy's teacher in October 2022, and soon thereafter began texting with the student. By early 2023, she was sending nude photos and telling the student she loved him unconditionally.

The mother of the student informed police in Brown Deer, where Bolden resides, on July 25 that she believed her son and Bolden were having an inappropriate relationship and the complaint says the mother found explicit photos exchanged between the two after going through her son's phone while he slept.

According to the complaint, a supervisor at the school confronted Bolden on July 27 about a possible sexual relationship and Bolden admitted the student spent the night at her house. She also allowed the supervisor to go through her phone, where the supervisor found a number of explicit text messages, the complaint states. The supervisor then terminated Bolden's employment at the school.

The student told investigators that just before June, right before school was out for the summer, he and Bolden had sex after she picked him up and drove to a wooded area, the complaint states.

The student said Bolden would repeatedly ask what name he had her saved in his phone as. Prosecutors said the explicit messages came from the same phone number the school had listed for Bolden.

Among the more than 2,200 text messages between Bolden and the student is an exchange where the student asks Bolden to purchase him a gun, the complaint states. On July 28, the student was stopped by West Allis police while driving and found with a gun, according to prosecutors.

The gun's serial number shows it was purchased at a Greenfield gun shop, prosecutors said. Detectives went to shop and were provided the receipt that showed Bolden bought the gun, the complaint states. The gun shop then provided police surveillance footage that shows Bolden purchasing the gun.

The student said the inappropriate relationship came to an end on July 21 at Mayfair Mall when he asked Bolden to buy him another gun and Bolden declined but gave him $1,000, the complaint states. After that meeting, Bolden and the student did not speak to each other, according to prosecutors.

If convicted on both counts, Bolden could be sentenced up to 43½ years in prison.

A listed attorney for Bolden has not yet been made available, according to online court records.

Pilgrim Lutheran is part of LUMIN schools, which is a small network of Lutheran schools that serves primarily low-income children on taxpayer-funded vouchers. The group's president and CEO, Shaun Luehring, issued a statement Friday evening.

"Recently, LUMIN leadership received information indicating that a Pilgrim Lutheran School teacher violated our standards of conduct," he said. "We immediately shared the information with local authorities and began an internal investigation. Within 24 hours, members of LUMIN's administrative team met with the teacher and determined there had been a violation of the LUMIN Schools Standards of Conduct leading to immediate termination."

Luehring said the school was notified on Aug. 15 that Bolden was placed under arrest.

"LUMIN takes the physical, emotional and spiritual safety of our students incredibly seriously," he said. "To that end, we conduct background checks on all candidates prior to employment. We share our expectations around standards of conduct with all teachers and employees, and execute regular trainings to ensure our expectations, policies and procedures are understood in practice.

"As a faith based, Christ-centered network, LUMIN Schools is comprised of Christian team members united by our mission. We strive to be a network of schools that is Christian in every sense of the word. Therefore, we expect our staff to represent Jesus Christ and the mission of LUMIN Schools – not only in their work, but in their personal lives as well."

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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Teacher at Pilgrim Lutheran School accused of having sex with student