Timothy Oshields
Fountain Lake Schools
Fountain Lake Schools
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. (KTHV) - Garland County Sheriff's Department says they've arrested a teacher after he allegedly had sexual relations with a student.
Timothy Oshields, 34, was arrested for sexual assault of the second degree, and for having child pornography on his computer. Oshields was a English teacher at Fountain Lake High School but has resigned.
Police say that the relationship between Oshields and the 17-year-old female student had been allegedly going on since Thanksgiving weekend of 2011.
Police say that the contact between the two began with a Facebook message and continued through text messaging, instant messaging, communicating on campus, and phone conversations using different phones.
Police say that the mother of the student stated that Oshields would often ask her daughter to sneak out of their home. He also asked her daughter to perform sexual acts.
Police say that the mother stated that Oshields kissed her daughter on two different occasions and grabbed her daughter's buttocks while on campus.
In addition, police say the mother stated that Oshields texted her, thinking he was texting her daughter, asking her to sneak out of the house to meet him at his home. Pretending to be her daughter, the mother agreed to meet Oshields.
The mother's fiancée met Oshields instead, and confirmed that Oshields was there to meet the student, with a sexual agenda.
Police say that Oshields sent a text message to the mother stating that he would pay for counseling for her daughter, resign from teaching, and work "five jobs if he needed to." In addition, he offered money to help the student victim. The mother told police that in the same conversation, he admitted to have been sexually conversing with the student.
Fountain Lake Superintendent Darin Beckwith says his administration learned of sexual misconduct by Oshields after returning from Christmas break.
"The minute that it was reported to us, we took the allegations very seriously and we picked up the phone and reported it to the proper authorities," said Beckwith.
Beckwith says the district is working with police, chasing leads and talking with students.
"We want our kids and our patrons to know that safety is priority number one for our kids," said Beckwith.