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Theresa Michelle Pinckney
A Kountze ISD school librarian is in jail after a grand jury indicted her on two counts of improper relationship between educator and student – a second-degree felony.
According to a July 27 grand jury indictments received by The Examiner on Oct. 17 from the Hardin County District Clerk’s Office, Theresa Michelle Pinckney, 41, of Lumberton, was charged with two counts of improper relationship between educator/student – a second-degree felony.
Documents stated Pinckney was employed as a librarian with Kountze ISD and she communicated by email or text message in a “sexually explicit manner” namely Snapchat with two Lumberton ISD male students – named in the indictments – in July. The students’ names are not being released to protect their identities.
She’s also accused of attempting to obtain child pornography from the two males.
According to the Hardin County Sheriff’s Office (HCSO) website, Pinckney remains in the Hardin County Jail. Sheriff Mark Davis reported Pinckney turned herself into HCSO about 3 p.m. Oct. 13.
According to Kountze ISD, she was employed as a paraprofessional from Nov. 16, 2020 to Aug. 3, 2022. As of Oct. 14, Pinckney’s information has been removed from the Kountze Middle School’s webpage.
In a Facebook post by Lumberton ISD in February 2019, Pinckney was selected employee of the month at Lumberton Middle School. Lumberton ISD officials would not comment on her work history in the district.
According to Pinckney’s Facebook page, she attended Hardin-Jefferson High School in Sour Lake and her LinkedIn account shows she worked in customer service with Farmers Insurance.
The Texas Department of Public Safety reported the Texas Rangers are conducting an ongoing investigation into this matter.
District Attorney Rebecca Walton said each felony has a punishment range of 2 to 20 years in prison and an additional fine not to exceed $10,000. Pinckney’s total bond was $300,000 for both counts.
In 2017, Gov. Greg Abbott signed Senate Bill 7 into law which “cracks down on inappropriate teacher-student relationships in Texas.”
According to SB 7, “The law ensures teachers who engage in an inappropriate relationship with a student will lose their teaching certification/license and their taxpayer pension, and punishes administrators, superintendents and principals who turn a blind eye to such misconduct. The bill also requires school districts to adopt a written policy to prevent improper electronic communications between school employees and a student.”