The arrest of a former substitute teacher in the Cleveland County School system on charges of multiple sex-related crimes has raised questions about why the school sytem would hire a 19-year-old as a substitute teacher.

The Cleveland County Sheriff’s Office arrested  Emily Durden, described in a Sheriff's Office news release as a former substitute teacher in the Cleveland County School System.  On Thursday of last week (11/18/2021), the SRO at Crest Middle was notified by a parent that a substitute teacher, Emily Durden, had possibly been sending their child inappropriate images and videos. The Sheriff’s Office initiated an investigation and quickly discovered that Ms. Durden had initiated conversations and shared sexually explicit materials with several 13 and 14-year-olds. [The news release doesn't tell whether they were male or female.]

As part of the investigation Ms. Durden was interviewed and admitted to sending the sexually explicit videos and pictures. The investigation is still ongoing and the Sheriff's Office has issued a request to parents: if your child was victimized by Ms. Durden, please contact the Cleveland County Sheriff’s Office.

Ms. Durden was arrested last Thursday and jailed in the Cleveland County Detention Center under a $50,000 secure bond.  She posted the bond and was released on Friday (11/19/2021).

Charges filed against her included felony indecent liberties with a student (2 counts), misdemeanor display of material harmful to a minor (3 Counts), and felony2nd degree sexual exploitation of a minor (2 Counts). 

According to the arrest record,  Emily Jean Durden was born on October 22nd, 2002--which means she just turned 19 years old.  

She is scheduled for a court appearance on Dec. 13th.