Teacher charged with having sex with student

A high school teacher in Northridge Local Schools in Licking County has been placed on leave after being charged with having sex with a student.

Kristen Grow, 39, of Newark, was charged Thursday with sexual battery in Licking County Common Pleas Court.

Grow, a Northridge High School English teacher, was placed on leave after she was charged with having sex with a student.

She has taught at Northridge for 18 years. According to an indictment, she engaged in sexual conduct with a then-Northridge student between February and May of this year.

District officials became aware of the relationship after someone stepped forward and told school staff that something didn’t seem right, Superintendent Scott Schmidt said.

In a letter to parents, Schmidt said Grow is prohibited from coming onto school grounds or talking to students and other staff. Her teacher’s email and building access have been revoked. Reports also were filed with the Licking County sheriff’s office and the Ohio Department of Education’s Office of Professional Conduct.

Schmidt said the student was enrolled at the time of the incident, but he would not give the former student’s current status, age or gender.

Although the age of consent is 16 in Ohio, teachers are prohibited from having sex with students regardless of age.

Schmidt said in his letter that Grow will be on leave until proper plans for her termination can be put in place. A long-term substitute has taken over her classes.

“This is an unfortunate incident that is outraging to us all,” Schmidt wrote to parents. “Yet it is not indicative of a Northridge Local Schools education or our core of teachers.”

Schmidt said counselors are available to students in need of support.