A Missouri teacher has been charged with raping a 16-year-old student, while the student’s father has been charged with allowing the rapes to occur.
Hailey Clifton-Carmack, 26, was arrested on Friday in Garden Ridge, Texas, and designated “a fugitive from justice who was suspected of fleeing the State of Missouri,” according to a statement from the Garden Ridge Police Department. She was arrested on outstanding warrants for endangering the welfare of a child, statutory rape in the second degree, sexual contact with a student, and child molestation in the fourth degree. As of Monday, she was awaiting extradition back to Missouri.
Allegations against Clifton-Carmack, a mother of two who was recently divorced, were first reported on December 7, 2023, the New York Post reported. Another student at Laquey High School – where Clifton-Carmack worked as a math teacher – reported the rape to the school’s resource officer, who contacted the Pulaski County Sheriff’s Department. The witness talked to law enforcement and showed them photos of the victim with scratches on his back, claiming that the “scratches were from Hailey after the confidential victim had sex with her” in the witness’s driveway, according to court documents reviewed by the Post.
This witness also reportedly told law enforcement that Clifton-Carmack had been reprimanded before for “being too close with students.”
Clifton-Carmack allegedly wore tight clothing to show off her figure and reportedly discussed with students the vulgar reasons for her divorce, according to the witness. Detectives questioned Clifton-Carmack on December 8, one day after the allegations were reported, but she denied any involvement with students.
Police confiscated her phone at that time and waited for a warrant to come through so they could access its contents. At that time, detectives found text messages about the alleged relationship between Clifton-Carmack and the 16-year-old boy.
The day after police gained access to the teacher’s phone, she left the state to visit family in Texas. Clifton-Carmack’s roommates told police on January 3 that she had “moved to Texas to live with her family down there” and that they “were not sure if she was going to return.”
The teacher’s bond has been set at $250,000, the Post reported.
Following Clifton-Carmack’s arrest, the victim’s father, Mark Creighton, was arrested and charged with endangering the welfare of a child. Another witness told law enforcement that they told Creighton about the rape of his child, and that Creighton had allegedly said he knew about the “sexual relationship.”
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Creighton allegedly told police that the math teacher and his son had other students act as “lookouts” so that they could have sex during school hours.
Creighton “knew of the relationship of his minor child and the 26-year-old teacher, and instead of reporting the information, he continued to cover for them and allowed the relationship to continue” and “even allowed Hailey to come over to his residence and see the victim while he was present,” court documents said.
The witness said that when they told Creighton they were going to the police, Creighton responded by saying his son and the teacher “are going to do it behind my back, so I may as well let it happen.”
Creighton is being held on a $50,000 bond.