A former Nashville teacher has been charged with statutory rape after allegedly performing sexual acts on five 17-year-old boys.
The alleged incidents took place between September and November of 2014, and officials confirmed some of those acts reportedly happened on the campus of Pearl Cohn High School where the suspect used to teach.
Authorities said 24-year-old Marquita Alston was arrested and charged with five counts of statutory rape.
According to reports, an investigation of Alston began on November 24, 2014 by the Sex Crimes Unit of the Metro Nashville Police Department.
Officials had received information from the principal at Pearl Cohn regarding disturbing information about Alston.
Detectives conducted several interviews and were told the former teacher had sexual contact with multiple teens.
Prosecutors received the case file for evaluation and consideration in May 2015.
Those involved with the case said Alston's arrest took a while to happen because authorities had to go through the five victim’s phones to recover text messages and interview the victims and their families, which took a couple of years.
Those with the school system said Alston was placed on administrative leave on November 25, 2014, and she resigned just a few days later on December 1.
Joe Bass with Metro Nashville Public Schools confirmed Alston has not been allowed on school property and hasn’t worked for the school system in two years.
Alston was free on a $1,000 bond.
