Police report: Teacher says she had sex with student in classroom

Las Vegas High School teacher Jennifer Gardel told police she had sex with a 17-year-old student multiple times, including in her classroom, according to a school police report obtained Friday.

According to the report, Gardel, 30, initially told Clark County School District police that she only kissed the boy, who had been Gardel's student and was also part of her after-school theater technician class.

She was in love with the boy, but was waiting to have sex with him until he turned 18, she told police. According to the police report, he will turn 18 in July.

The underage student told police the relationship had been sexual, the report stated. He and Gardel had sex in her home, in the sound booth of the theater and twice in her classroom, he told police.

After being interviewed a second time and informed of the boy's statements, Gardel told police the relationship had been sexual and she then described six encounters with the boy, which matched his statements to police.

The sexual relationship began in January and continued through the last week of April, according to the report. The last incident took place in Gardel's Ford Focus.

Gardel did not return phone calls seeking comment Thursday or Friday.

Gardel was charged with six felony counts of sexual misconduct with a student. She was booked into the Clark County Detention Center on Wednesday on $18,000 bail, but jail records indicated she was no longer at the facility.

School district spokesman Michael Rodriguez said Gardel has been placed on paid administrative leave. She was hired by the district in August 2007, he said.

Rodriguez said "appropriate actions" will be taken in Gardel's case based on the criminal investigation.

"Anytime an employee is arrested or charges are brought against an employee, we have to wait for that process to work itself out before we can move internally," he said.

Gardel told police that the boy became her student in August. She and the boy began their relationship through phone calls and text messages, she told police.

After some time, the text messages became sexual in nature.

State law explicitly states that teachers cannot engage in sexual acts with students who are minors.

According to Nevada Revised Statute 201.540, a person who is 21 or older and in position of authority is guilty of a category C felony if he or she "engages in sexual conduct with a pupil who is 16 or 17 years of age and who is enrolled in or attending the public school or private school at which the person is employed."