Community Corner

REDLANDS TEACHER SEX: Whitehurst Now Accused of 41 Sex Felonies with Former Students

Laura Elizabeth Whitehurst, the Redlands high school teacher who gave birth last month to a baby she allegedly conceived with a Citrus Valley student, is now charged with 41 felony counts of unlawful sexual intercourse and oral copulation of a person under 18, a District Attorney's spokesman said.

If convicted as charged, she could face up to 29 years in state prison. A downloadable copy of the 25-page criminal complaint against Whitehurst is attached to this report.

Whitehurst was re-arrested by Redlands police at 1:52 p.m. Monday July 8 in the 200 block of Jesse Way, at her parent's home in Redlands, according to inmate records. Bail was increased to $750,000.

She was held just before 6 p.m. Monday at West Valley Detention Center in Rancho Cucamonga, according to inmate records. She has a court appearance Tuesday in San Bernardino Superior Court.

She was first arrested Monday July 1 on suspicion of having sex and a baby with a Citrus Valley student, according to Redlands police.

Police announced "two additional victims" in their investigation of Whitehurst on Wednesday July 3.

At the time of her arrest, Whitehurst was a teacher at Citrus Valley High School in Redlands. She was an advisor to the Citrus Valley student when he was 16, and she gave birth to his baby June 18, shortly after he graduated with the Blackhawks Class of 2013, police said.

After news of Whitehurst's arrest emerged, a 22-year-old Redlands man contacted police and reported he, too, had been involved in a sexual relationship with Whitehurst in 2007 and 2008, Redlands police spokesman Carl Baker said in a statement.

The man told police the sexual relationship took place while he was a junior in Whitehurst's English class at Redlands High School, Baker said.

He said "the relationship began with kissing in Whitehurst's classroom in the fall of 2007," Baker said. "A sexual relationship continued through the summer of 2008, with the two meeting in Whitehurst's apartment in Redlands."

Police then identified a third alleged victim, who said he was a 14-year-old freshman when a sexual relationship began with Whitehurst, also at Redlands High in the fall of 2007, Baker said.

"The victim, now 20, told police that he and Whitehurst had sex in her classroom before school, as well as at her apartment and in her car," Baker said. "That relationship lasted through early 2008."

The recent Citrus Valley graduate and the two former Redlands High students were not identified by police.

Investigators are still seeking help identifying other potential, alleged victims of Whitehurst. Anyone who has more information was urged to call Redlands police Detective Natasha Crawford at (909) 798-7623 or the San Bernardino County District Attorney's Office at (909) 382-3660.


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