STARKE, Fla. — Action News Jax discovered a second Bradford County School District employee, Autumn Brooke Rodgers, 24, turned herself in on Wednesday afternoon on multiple sex-related charges involving a Bradford High School student.
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Autumn Rodgers, 24, is accused of lewd/lascivious behavior, authority figure soliciting/engaging in lewd conduct with a student, and cruelty toward a child by the transmission of harmful material to a minor, according to the Bradford County Sheriff’s Office
This comes two days after Bradford High School volleyball coach, Lainie Kay Rodgers, 24, turned herself in for similar charges.
Lainie Rodgers is facing charges of transmission of harmful material to a minor by an electronic device, and authority figure soliciting/engaging in lewd conduct with a student, according to BCSO.
Autumn Rodgers’ victim is also a 16-year-old female, but not the same victim of Lainie Rodgers, according to BCSO. According to the warrant affidavit for Autumn Rodgers, she told deputies on Tuesday that “the relationship started” between she and her victim when the victim was 15.
Autumn Rodgers is facing more charges than Lainie Rodgers because there was sexual contact with her victim, BCSO said.
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When talking to investigators, Autumn Rodgers “admitted to having a sexual relationship” with the victim, the warrant stated.
The victim also admitted to having a sexual relationship with Autumn Rodgers and “also stated explicit sexual pictures were exchanged between her and Rodgers,” the warrant said.
Autumn Rodgers allowed investigators to search her phone and in the “for my eyes only” section of her Snapchat account, “explicit sexual pictures” of Rodgers were found. When asked about the pictures, Autumn Rodgers told deputies she had sent those pictures to the victim.
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The sheriff’s office did confirm Lainie Rodgers and Autumn Rodgers are not blood-related but are friends and co-workers.
According to Bradford County’s School District website, Autumn Rodgers is a paraprofessional at Bradford County Middle School.
When asked if the two cases are connected, BCSO said, “The cases are not connected but have some ironic similarities.”
The Bradford County School District released the following statement on Autumn Rodgers and Lainie Rodgers’ arrests:
“We are shocked and saddened about the recent news regarding members of our staff. The safety and well-being of our students is always our top priority, and we will not tolerate any behavior that puts that in jeopardy. We are fully cooperating with the Bradford County Sheriff’s Office and have launched our own internal investigation as well. The employees in question were placed on immediate administrative leave while the accusations against them are fully investigated. We have offered counseling services for our students at any time, if needed. The safety and well-being of our students is always our top priority, and we will not tolerate any behavior that puts that in jeopardy. We encourage anyone that has any information that may assist us in the protection of our students to please contact us.”
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