Police Say Teacher Admitted to Having a Sexual Relationship With Student

Bay City News Service     

A teacher has admitted that she had a sexual relationship with one of her former students, according to court documents.

Marie Johnson, who turns 41 Saturday, when she arrived for work at the Granada High campus at 400 Wall St.

on 24 felony counts alleging that she sexually assaulted a 14-year-old male student from December 2010 to May 2011.

Johnson, a Livermore resident who's being held at Santa Rita Jail in Dublin in lieu of $1.85 million bail, is scheduled to return to court at 2 p.m. Tuesday to be arraigned.

Detective Joseph Draghi said in a probable cause arrest warrant filed in court Friday that when police interviewed Johnson on Wednesday she "admitted to committing the above-listed violations."

The charges include four counts of unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor under the age of 16 and 10 counts each of oral copulation of a person under 16 and performing lewd acts on a child.

Draghi said the student, who is now 15, told a high school coach on Tuesday that "he was a victim of repeated molestation."

The student "provided a detailed statement of a long-term sexual relationship with Johnson," Draghi said.

Livermore police spokesman Steve Goard said authorities allege that Johnson began having sex with the boy shortly after he finished taking a class from her in December 2010 and sexually assaulted the boy 24 times over a six-month period.

He said investigators don't know why the alleged sexual assaults ended in May, but added it could have been because that's when the school year ended.

Police believe the alleged sexual assaults occurred in Johnson's car and in other undisclosed locations in Livermore, according to Goard.

Investigators believe Johnson and the boy formed their relationship through text messages, social networking on Facebook and instant messaging on an online game called "Words with Friends," Goard said.

He said police don't think there are any other victims but they recommend that parents speak with their children about the nature of any contacts with Johnson.

Johnson's lawyer, Elizabeth Grossman, couldn't be reached for comment today.