Special ed teacher accused of sex with student

Christina Lin Butler, 33, of 3504 Tampa St. N, was arrested Tuesday on a felony charge of engaging in lewd or lascivious behavior. Police said Butler and the student engaged in oral sex and intercourse no more than a dozen times and always at her home. Their last sexual encounter was Monday, said police spokeswoman Andrea Davis.

Jail records show Butler was released from the Orient Road Jail early this morning on $7,500 bail.

Butler first joined the district in the 2006-2007 school year as a substitute teacher, working at Coleman Middle School and Bryant Elementary School, said school spokeswoman Linda Cobbe. Butler joined the staff of Middleton High at the start of this school year. She taught mentally disabled students at Coleman, Cobbe said. It was not immediately clear from files whether or not Butler taught mentally disabled students at Middleton.

Hillsborough school spokesman Steve Hegarty said Butler, hired in August, has been suspended with pay.

Police say they learned of the sexual relationship on Tuesday evening, said police spokeswoman Andrea Davis. Plain-clothes police officers were conducting surveillance at the Meridian Apartments at 2450 Hillsborough Ave., when they spotted six teens speed out of the apartment complex on bicycles. The teens wore green and white Halloween skeleton gloves. The teens then got into a blue Jeep Grand Cherokee.

Police say they pulled over the Jeep after it twice crossed the double-yellow line. Officers discovered the Jeep belonged to Butler, the teacher. The driver said he didn't have a license and that his friend, Butler, let him use the Jeep.

Butler was called to come and pick up the Jeep. While police waited for her, officers talked with one of the other teens involved, who told them the driver was in a relationship with the teacher. The officers suspected a sexual relationship, and they questioned Butler. At first, she said the relationship was platonic, but then she said it was sexual, police say.

-- Casey Cora and Abbie VanSickle, Times staff writers