Sprague High School teacher arrested for alleged sexual misconduct with student

A 29-year-old Sprague High School teacher admitted to having a sexual relationship with a 16-year-old student and is now in jail on a $50,000 bond, according to court documents.

Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office deputies arrested Madeline Gregory, also known as Madeline Scoon, Monday afternoon at Sprague Elementary School, across from the high school, on suspicion of sexual misconduct with a minor and communicating with a minor for immoral purposes, according to court documents and a sheriff’s office Facebook post.

Raymond Leaver, superintendent and principal at Sprague School District, declined to state Gregory’s status at the school moving forward because of the ongoing investigation.

“Because this matter is currently under investigation by law enforcement, the district is limited in what it can share at this time,” the school district said in a news release. “However, the Sprague School District takes allegations of this nature extremely seriously and is cooperating fully with the Sheriff’s Department as the investigation proceeds.”

Gregory and the teen admitted to deputies Monday to having an inappropriate relationship, including sexual intercourse and times when Gregory performed oral sex on him, court records say. The alleged misconduct happened in the large closet in her classroom after school, Gregory and the teen said.

The sheriff’s office has video of the two entering her classroom well after school hours and being in the classroom with the door closed for more than 45 minutes, according to court documents.

Gregory also said they kissed and fondled each other’s genitals in a closet in a school gym closet and in bushes outside of the high school tennis court after tennis practice.

The teen told the sheriff’s office he was at first happy with the relationship, but it started to negatively affect his mental health as it progressed. He said he felt it was wrong and tried to end the relationship many times, but his teacher became upset and even threatened to kill herself, court documents said.

He said he has had suicidal ideations over the stress of the relationship. He was happy law enforcement got involved and the situation ended, the documents said.

The sheriff’s office was advised of the inappropriate relationship Feb. 15. The boy’s mother told law enforcement she found texts between her son and his teacher.

She said her son has had Gregory for various classes the past two years and she noticed her son spending a lot of time with Gregory starting in September.

She said her son became Gregory’s teacher’s aide in phys ed, became interested in tennis, which Gregory coached, and started staying late after school to receive extra help on school work with his teacher even though his grades were good.

The boy’s mother said she then noticed her son and teacher texting frequently and at late hours. They started spending more time with each other after school and at tennis practices late at night and on the weekends, despite it not being tennis season.

He also started attending her north Spokane church, where Gregory is the youth group leader on Tuesday nights. The mother said she reported last fall to the Sprague school counselor that she felt strange about the closeness between Gregory and students.

Surveillance cameras showed evidence of an inappropriate relationship, the documents say. For example, the two met in December at the Airway Heights Walmart and drove away in Gregory’s car. Over two hours later, she pulled back into the parking lot and dropped him off, according to court documents.

Text messages between Gregory and her student show them talking about Gregory’s marriage problems and a possible divorce. They sent photos of each other to one another and said they love and miss each other, court records show.

In one message, she asked him if they could at least be friends forever.

“I know it might be awkward, but I don’t want to lose you,” Gregory told her student.

She also asked him not to date anyone from Sprague because she didn’t think she “could handle it.”

Gregory made her first appearance Tuesday in Lincoln County District Court where a judge found probable cause for the charges and set bond at $50,000. She remained in jail Tuesday night.

Lincoln County Prosecuting Attorney Ty Albertson said he has three days to file charges against Gregory from the time of her first appearance Tuesday. If he does file charges, Gregory will have an arraignment in Lincoln Superior Court.

The sheriff’s office continues to investigate, according to its Facebook post.

The arrest follows Friday’s arrest of 32-year-old Spokane elementary school teacher Mahayla K. Benavides, who is accused of raping and molesting her 10-year-old student at the school.