A Federal Way Todd Beamer High School teacher was charged Wednesday with two counts of first-degree sexual misconduct with a minor for having sex with a student, according to King County prosecutors.
Federal Way police arrested Eli Thomas Godbolt, 33, in October after a 17-year-old girl told her mother she had sex with him four times over two years, court records show.
He is on administrative leave pending internal and external investigations, Federal Way Public Schools spokeswoman Diane Turner said Thursday.
Godbolt called his wife while in jail, said “I’m guilty” and apologized, prosecutors say.
He also wrote to a Florida pen pal and said, “I did have a relationship with a student,” prosecutors said.
According to charging documents:
The girl told police she met Godbolt as a freshman in his algebra class, and spent time with him before and after school because she was having problems in math.
Last year he kissed her on a couch in his classroom and said he loved her. He continued to kiss her in his classroom at various times and locations around Tacoma and Federal Way.
Police officers twice saw him kissing her in her car at the Tacoma Tideflats and told them to leave. The girl turned away both times so they couldn’t see her age. One of these occasions was after the school homecoming dance.
Godbolt first had sex with her at his house while his wife was away. She was 16.
He also had sex with her in the basement of her house twice while her parents weren’t home, and once in her car.
She told him this year that she didn’t want him to touch her anymore, and he said he “wouldn’t bother her anymore.”
It’s illegal for teachers to have sex with students in Washington public schools, even if the student is old enough to legally consent. Godbolt’s arraignment is scheduled for Nov. 14.
Alexis Krell: 253-597-8268
alexis.krell@thenewstribune.com
blog.thenewstribune.com/crime
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