Teacher Sent Perfumed Love Letters to Boy

(Ft. Worth, Texas) A teacher at Holy Trinity Catholic School in Grapevine, Dawn Reiser, 30, was arrested last year and charged with aggravated sexual assault of a child and indecency with a child for allegedly having an extended-term sexual relationship with her 13-year-old student. Tomorrow, her trial starts in Criminal District Court No. 2 in Fort Worth.

From Star-Telegram.com:

Reiser befriended the boy at the Grapevine school, where she had worked for four years.

According to a search warrant affidavit, Reiser kept in contact with the boy in the spring of 2004 by calling him on the telephone, emailing him and meeting with him without his mother's knowledge.

At some point, Reiser told the boy that she loved him, and they discussed getting married when he turned 18, the search and arrest warrants state.

The boy told Colleyville police that Reiser picked him up June 10, 2004, at his house and drove him to her Euless home, according to the affidavits. Her husband was not there.

The boy told police that Reiser tied his arms to a bedpost with black silk ties and spread warming lotion on him, the search warrant states. For the next three hours, they had sex "nine or 12 times," and Reiser performed a sex act on him, according to the affidavits.

Days after that encounter, the boy went to the Christian summer camp, where he received what appeared to be "love letters," the affidavits state.

The perfumed letters were adorned with hearts and flowers and professed Reiser's love for the boy. The boy contacted camp counselors who alerted the police. During a search, police found the warming lotion and black silk ties in Reiser's home.

If convicted, the 30-year-old Reiser could get life in prison on the assault charge and 20 years on the indecency charge. It's unknown what Mr. Reiser thinks of the situation.


[Update 1900 EDT, 8/03/05]


Dawn Reiser
(Fort Worth, Texas) A jury deliberated about four hours today before convicting Dawn Reiser of aggravated sexual assault of a child and indecency with a child.

From Star-Telegram.com:

Reiser was convicted on the testimony of the Colleyville boy, who is now 14, and on the strength of love letters that she wrote to him in the summer of 2004.

The boy said he and Reiser repeatedly had sex at her Euless home while her husband was gone.

A few days after they had sex, the boy went to camp, where he heard the testimony of a counselor who said he had been sexually abused by an older woman. The boy confided in the counselor, and the following day, the three letters arrived.

Reiser was arrested a few days later and has been free on $150,000 bail.

Following the verdict, the penalty phase of the trial began.


[Update 1930 EDT, 8/04/05]

Jurors sentenced Dawn Reiser to eight years in prison and recommended ten years probation for her convictions of aggravated sexual assault of a child and indecency with a child. No mention was made about her registering as a sex offender nor the status of her teaching credentials.


[Update 0630 EDT, 8/05/05]

According to this report, Reiser will be required to register as a sex offender and may never teach again.


[Update 08/12/06]

The boy's family settles lawsuit with Roman Catholic Diocese.