Mrs. Teacher, 53, Sticky with Boy, 14

(El Paso, Texas) Arrest warrants have been issued for a second-grade teacher at Vista Hills Elementary School and her husband pertaining to the molestation of a 14-year-old boy and attempts to cover it up.

From a report by Heath Haussamen for the Las Cruces Sun-News:

Donna McKnight, 53, of 11235 Signal Ridge in El Paso, is facing two counts of criminal sexual contact of a minor, a fourth-degree felony. Her husband, Ronald McKnight, 49, is charged with one count of bribery of a witness, a third-degree felony.

[ ... ]

According to court records, on Aug. 7 the 14-year-old boy was doing work at the home of Ronald McKnight's mother at 1205 Hueco in Chaparral, in southern Dona Ana County. He was approached by Donna McKnight who asked "if he wanted to make some extra money." Ronald McKnight was also at the home at the time, court records state.

Investigators report Donna McKnight told the boy she was going to have him rub suntan lotion on her skin. She then removed her clothes and told the boy to touch her intimate parts, which he did. At one point, Donna McKnight forced him to touch her, court records state.

She also pulled the boy toward her for a kiss on the mouth, court records state.

McKnight also allegedly told the boy she could "give him pleasure," but he refused.

Ronald McKnight became involved during a car ride afterward, when he told the boy "if he made his wife happy, they would allow him to drive the Jeep," court records state.

Donna McKnight propositioned the boy once more during the day for "the same kind of fun that they had that morning," court records state, but the boy refused.

He was paid $35 by the McKnights, records state.

The boy told his mother who alerted the police. According to investigators, Ronald McKnight subsequently left a message on the boy's mother's answering machine in which he offered to pay for two years college if they would "drop the complaint." McKnight also said his wife "has a 34-year career which would come to an end for 15 minutes of insanity."

If convicted of the offenses, each faces a possible three years in prison.


[Update 8/30/05]

A family member alerted the police that the McKnights were at a motel in Las Cruces where they were arrested yesterday morning. Both are being held on $50,000 cash bonds.

In a new development in the case, police said that family members alleged McKnight and her husband also were having sex with their son and daughter and it had gone on for years. The El Paso Police Department is investigating the allegations of abuse involving the McKnight children.


[Update II, 8/30/05]

 
Donna & Ronald
McKnight
According to another report, the McKnight children are both minors who live with their parents and they claim that they had been raped and molested by both parents for several years. Also, new sexual assault allegations in several counties in New Mexico and El Paso County are being investigated.


[Update III, 9/12/05]

A Dona Ana County grand jury in New Mexico has indicted Donna McKnight on charges of criminal sexual penetration, criminal sexual contact of a minor, and other charges. If convicted, she faces a possible seven and one-half years in prison.

Also, Ronald McKnight was indicted by the grand jury on charges of bribery of a witness and other charges. If convicted, he faces a possible six years in prison.

Obviously, happy days are over for the McKnights. By successfully being charged with sex crimes and other felonies in two states, it's hard to imagine them surviving the judicial process without spending some time behind cold, steel bars.


[Update 02/28/06]

Donna McKnight sentenced to four years in prison.