Alex Thomas
Forty-three-year-old Rayna Culver won’t be seeing a blackboard any time soon, after a long-running investigation concluded with sexual assault charges. The story began in December of 2015, when the unnamed student in Trenton, N.J., was kicked out the relative’s home where he was staying. Culver, who taught at the school where the student worked, took him in. In a February interview with prosecutors, the student characterized his relationship with Culver as “very close,” while she was still only his teacher.
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The Trentonian filed a public records request to obtain the criminal complaint outlining the specifics of the case. According to the complaint, the two “developed a close relationship,” and the student “would talk to [Culver] often.” He was 15 years old when Culver assumed custody of him. She began with casual touches, and the complaint claims that “he didn’t think anything of it.” But the situation escalated in 2016. The Trentonian reports that she “started touching him as he was about to fall asleep and then took off his clothes […] performed oral sex, then proceeded to have sex with him.”
The complaint states that “[the victim] told Culver via text message that he didn’t want to have sex anymore, and she made it clear that she did not want it to stop.” He said that the sex “happened almost every day over several months.” In April, the student gave authorities his phone, which contained “in-depth conversations regarding sex, having sex and sexual acts.”
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On Wednesday, Culver’s attorney claimed, “The state’s theory of the case is a completely fabricated recitation made up by a troubled, young man.” The former educator was arrested in May on charges of second-degree sexual assault and second-degree endangering the welfare of a child. According to a press release from the time of the arrest, she was ordered to have no contact with anyone under the age of 18.
