Pueblo West art teacher in jail after allegedly having an inappropriate relationship with a student
PUEBLO WEST, Colo. (KRDO)- A former Pueblo West teacher is sitting in jail following accusations of having an inappropriate relationship with a student.
After receiving a tip from the Colorado Springs FBI, deputies with the Pueblo County Sheriff's Office started investigating.
Back in late November, detectives believe that 48-year-old Russell Davis was having an inappropriate relationship with a student.
Law enforcement said in court documents that the art teacher met with the student on separate occasions, sexually for about a month. Davis would allegedly invite the student into his classroom, with the doors locked, and engage in kissing and sexual touching.
Court documents say that detectives also found inappropriate sexual online messages between him and the victim. The affidavit states that Davis would ask the victim to keep what they did together and their relationship a secret.
Pueblo Rape Crisis Services said if you or someone you know has been assaulted to always know they're resources and help out there.
"We have advocates who are trained to receive calls that might be about somebody who has a question if an interaction was appropriate or not, or they have a friend who has disclosed sexual violence to them and they want to know what they should tell that friend. And we really are able to help answer questions to take away some of those fears," said Kirsten Taylor, Executive Director of Pueblo Rape Crisis Services / Juniper Southern Colorado.
According to the Pueblo County Sheriff's Office, District 70 immediately placed Davis on administrative leave upon learning of the reported sexual assault. He was fired by the school district on Dec.19.
In the affidavit, Davis denied anything ever happened between him and the student besides a hug.
Deputies arrested Davis on Jan. 12 for sexual assault on a child by one in a position of trust, unlawful sexual contact, internet luring of a child, and enticement of a child.
KRDO13 reached out to District 70 for comment and a district spokesperson provided the following statement:
"We trust the experts at the sheriff's department and law enforcement to bring this to justice and our top priority as a district is to show the utmost compassion to the victim, the family, friends and classmates, and out of respect for their privacy and healing process we will not be commenting further."
Davis is due back in court on Thursday, Jan. 25.
