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Christina Butler
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By ABBIE VANSICKLE and CASEY CORA, Times Staff
Writers
Published October 25, 2007
TAMPA -- As a special education teacher, Christina Lin Butler taught
mentally disabled high school students.
The 33-year-old Middleton High educator violated her position of
authority by having sex with one of her students, a 16-year-old,
police say.
Butler of 3507 N Tampa St. faces felony charges of engaging in lewd or
lascivious behavior, jail records show. She was released from the
Orient Road Jail early Wednesday morning on $7,500 bail.
Police say she and the teenager had sex up to a dozen times, including
a Monday meeting at Butler's home.
Butler, who did not return a call for comment, has been suspended with
pay, according to Hillsborough school spokeswoman Linda Cobbe.
The teacher has no criminal record in Florida, records show.
She joined Middleton's faculty at the start of this school year and
taught students considered "educable," meaning they are the least
affected of those classified as mentally disabled. The students have a
degree of mental retardation and may exhibit judgment problems, Cobbe
said.
Prior to that, Butler taught as a substitute at Coleman Middle School
and Bryant Elementary School during the 2006-07 school year, Cobbe
said.
Police say they learned of the sexual relationship in an unusual way.
Plainclothes police officers spotted six teens speeding away on
bicycles Tuesday while conducting surveillance at the Meridian
Apartments at 2450 Hillsborough Ave. The teens wore green and white
Halloween skeleton gloves in the sticky 80-degree weather. The teens
then got into a blue Jeep Grand Cherokee.
After the Jeep twice crossed the double-yellow center line, police
pulled it over, Davis said.
Butler owned the vehicle, Davis said. The teenager driving had no
license. He told police that his friend, Butler, let him use her car.
Butler was called to come and pick up the Jeep. While police waited
for her, officers talked with one of the other teens, who told them
the driver was in a relationship with the teacher.
The officers suspected a sexual relationship, and they questioned
Butler. At first, she said the relationship was platonic, but then she
changed her story, telling police the two had sex, Davis said.
Before Butler started her teaching career, she worked at Brandon Lakes
Animal Hospital, according to Cobbe. Workers there declined to
comment, but one of Butler's job references remembered her work with
animals.
Diane Simpkinson, an elementary school teacher, met Butler through the
animal clinic. She never observed Butler's teaching, but Simpkinson
said she was impressed with Butler's personality. Butler cared for
Simpkinson's home and a litter of puppies when she was out of town.
"I had total trust in her," Simpkinson said. She said Butler seemed
responsible, like a "very positive person."
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