Teacher Arrested for Flirting with Students

(Norwalk, Connecticut) A 49-year-old substitute teacher at Briggs High School, Dina McNelis, was arrested Tuesday for allegedly flirting with students. It's not exactly clear what charge she faces since flirting is probably not, by itself, illegal.

Dina McNelis dressed provocatively, tried to give her cell phone number to a student and, at one point, bent over and put her rear end near the face of a student while substitute teaching at Briggs on March 31, according to police.

Numerous students had complained to a Briggs social worker on April 1 that McNelis' behavior made them feel uncomfortable, police said. The social worker had each student write an account of the incident, according to police.

McNelis touched multiple students on the shoulder and whispered in their ears. She told students that "she didn't know why, but she was attracted to black men" and even tried to give her cell phone number to a student, according to her arrest warrant.

At one point, she complained about how hot it was in the classroom and unzipped her hooded sweatshirt, revealing a tank top, police said. Her bra straps and the straps to her tank top kept slipping off her shoulder, police said.

McNelis showed students her driver's license and remarked about how well she looked for her age, police said. She rubbed students' backs and at least one student's chest, according to police.

McNelis has denied the allegations.