A former high school teacher in Missouri, charged with having sex with a male student will no longer face prosecution because she and the student are now married.

In February 2019, Sarcoxie High School teacher, Baylee Turner, 26 was charged with having sexual contact with one of her male students following an investigation by the Jasper County Sheriff’s Department. Turner, then 23 years old, was a first-year English teacher at the school resigned as a result.   

 Nate Dally, an assistant Jasper County prosecutor, said the charge was dismissed because the marriage means the former student can no longer be compelled to testify against Turner, which makes prosecuting the case difficult.

Turner, who faced for four years in jail only lost her state teaching license. The probable cause affidavit in the case does not say how old the student was at the time Turner was charged.