WEST HAVEN, Utah – Police have arrested a man who is accused of having sexual relations with a 14-year-old girl he met while working as a teacher’s aide.
According to a press release from the Weber County Sheriff’s Office, 20-year-old Zachary Arrington was arrested Tuesday and faces numerous felony charges relating to an alleged sexual relationship with a teen girl.
Arrington was employed as a teacher’s aide and staff assistant at Quest Academy, which is a public charter school in West Haven. The man befriended the teen girl after meeting her in the lunchroom, and the release states a relationship developed between the two of them that continued outside of school.
The man allegedly had inappropriate conversations with the teen via text messages and social media and exchanged pornographic photos through Snapchat. The release states the two, “also met at a local park on numerous occasions where they engaged in inappropriate sexual conduct.”
School officials were made aware of the relationship after rumors began to circulate at the school, and an investigation ensued after school officials contacted police.
Arrington was fired in October of this year after the allegations came to light, and the man eventually confessed to detectives that he had been involved in the relationship.
The release states there is no evidence to indicate that criminal or inappropriate conduct occurred at the school, and they said they do not believe there were other students involved.
Dave Bullock, Principal of Quest Academy, issued a statement in the press release from police.
“The arrest of staff assistant Zachary Arrington comes as a surprise to us,” he stated. “A background check was completed and cleared at the time this employee was hired.”
Arrington was booked into the Weber County Jail and faces the following charges: sexual abuse of a minor as a third-degree felony, sexual exploitation of a minor as a second-degree felony, obstruction of justice as a third-degree felony, two counts of dealing in harmful materials to a minor as a third-degree felony and a misdemeanor count of enticing a minor.
