Teacher Friended 14-Year-Old on Instagram, Then Sexually Abused Him at His 8th Grade Graduation

Police launched an investigation into the teacher after the boy's parents heard rumors about the abuse, according to one report

A former Northern California teacher pleaded guilty this week to charges that she sexually abused one of her 14-year-old students on the day of his 8th grade graduation.

The Butte County District Attorney’s Office said in a press release that Michelle Christine Solis appeared in Butte County Superior Court on Tuesday morning and pleaded no-contest.

Solis, 46, was not expected to plead no-contest, according to the district attorney’s office, but she changed her plea and ultimately “admitted her guilt.”

According to Butte County District Attorney Mike Ramsey, the incident occurred in June 2021 while Solis was the boy’s teacher at Sycamore Junior High School in Gridley, Calif.

“She ‘friended’ him on Instagram and began messaging him in the weeks leading up to his graduation,” the district attorney’s office said in a news release this week. “Evidence showed that Solis sent the boy four explicit photos of herself before having sexual intercourse with him in a locked classroom on the day of the student’s 8th grade graduation.”

Rumors about the photos began to circulate around the Gridley community in Oct. 2023, as well as copies of the photos she sent to the boy on social media.

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Gridley police then began to investigate the rumors and obtained the boy’s cellphone after his parents heard about the incident, The Sacramento Bee reported. When investigators reviewed the boy’s cellphone, they found “two explicit photographs of Solis” on it, the district attorney’s office said.

Solis was arrested in November last year and immediately posted a $15,000 bond. She will remain out on bond until her sentencing on June 6, according to the district attorney’s office.

“As part of her plea today, Solis stipulated that she would be registered as a sex offender and could face up to four years in state prison,” the office said.

If you or someone you know has been a victim of sexual abuse, text "STRENGTH" to the Crisis Text Line at 741-741 to be connected to a certified crisis counselor.

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