A Burlington middle school teacher has been charged with multiple sex offenses after allegedly raping a student. Cynthia Rayfield Hall, 45, of 300 Trail Eight, was arrested Tuesday afternoon by the Burlington Police Department and charged with two counts each of statutory rape of a child younger than 15, and sex act with a student.
Hall was a teacher of exceptional children at Turrentine Middle School, though as of Tuesday evening had resigned from the Alamance-Burlington School System.
After turning herself in to police, she was booked in the Alamance County jail under a $20,000 bond.
Police learned of the alleged offenses, which took place between June 1 and Feb. 4, on Monday after being contacted by the Department of Social Services. DSS had received a report the same day about the alleged sexual abuse of a 15-year-old by the Turrentine teacher, said Lt. Bret Currie of the Burlington Police Department, though police did not release information on how the information was disclosed to social services.
Currie said that neither of the two alleged sexual encounters occurred on ABSS property, and investigators believe both took place at Hall’s residence.
Though Currie didn’t say specifically how Hall knew the boy, he said the victim had not been a student of Hall’s when he previously attended Turrentine. He no longer attends the middle school.
On Tuesday morning, Hall was informed by the school system that she was under investigation by the police department, Currie said. She was subsequently interviewed by investigators, who had also interviewed the victim.
Jenny Faulkner, public information officer for the Alamance-Burlington School System, reported earlier in the afternoon that Hall had been suspended with pay, pending an investigation. Faulkner confirmed Tuesday evening that Hall had resigned.
Hall had been employed with ABSS since September 1994, when she began working as a teacher assistant. She became a teacher in 1996, and began working at Turrentine Middle School in 2007, Faulkner said.
She was a varsity softball coach at Western Alamance High School from 2001 to 2002 and a volleyball coach at Turrentine from 2005 to 2006.
On Turrentine’s website, Hall was listed Tuesday afternoon as a sixth-grade EC teacher.
Anyone with information relevant to the investigation is asked to contact the Burlington Police Department at 336-229-3500 or Alamance County-Wide CrimeStoppers at 336-229-7100.
