A CREC middle school teacher in East Hartford has been arrested for having an alleged inappropriate relationship with her 13-year-old student.
An arrest warrant states that Two Rivers Middle School drama teacher Karen Vinick, 34, and a student were sleeping together under the same blanket at a school-sanctioned drama club sleepover.
The middle school principal reported the incident in June and Vinick was ultimately placed on administrative leave. She's since been arrested on Oct. 26.
Investigators obtained video of the two at the sleepover. The boy is seen placing a pillow and blanket next to Vinick and laying down next to her. Later on, Vinick can be seen putting her arm around the student, spooning him. Shortly after, Vinick and the student got up and left the sleepover, going to a classroom down the hall together, according to the warrant.
Get Connecticut local news, weather forecasts and entertainment stories to your inbox. Sign up for NBC Connecticut newsletters.
In an interview, the boy told investigators that months earlier, Vinick told her that she loved him and didn't see him as a student, but rather as someone she was interested in and liked romantically.
The boy went on to say that he felt guilty thinking that something he may have done made Vinick have romantic feelings for him, and he didn't know how to tell her that what she was doing was wrong. The two began a relationship, but the student said Vinick made sure not to cross any lines, and they didn't do anything physical, the warrant reads.
According to investigators, Vinick started calling and texting the boy, and between Nov. 2021 and June 2022, she called him a total of 135 times. In a phone call after their relationship ended, the boy said Vinick told him if he, "didn't want this to go public their best course of action would be to deny anything had happened."
Local
Superintendent Timothy J. Sullivan issued a statement regarding the incident.
"In June, CREC Administration learned of a situation involving a staff member at CREC Academy of Computer Science and Engineering Middle School (formerly CREC Two Rivers Magnet Middle School) and a student. CREC has fully cooperated with authorities from the moment we were made aware of the situation. The employee was immediately placed on administrative leave when the investigation began and resigned from CREC before this school year. CREC’s priority is always the safety and well-being of our students and staff."
When the boy told Vinick he was going to tell his mother what happened, she tried to convince him not to tell her, the warrant said.
The student told investigators that he didn't like that Vinick, "was willing to risk her whole career and livelihood over their relationship." The boy knew that Vinick was married and said her husband didn't know they were together.
Police searched the boy's phone and said, "It is apparent that the victim deleted messages from the thread because he speaks about being sent pictures from Mrs. Vinick while she was on vacation during his forensic interview."
The news of the arrest hit home for parents and guardians.
“It’s really sad that we can’t feel safe sending our kids to school and we have to keep this in the back of our minds now,” Erica Laplante, a parent said. She said her daughter also had class with Vinick.
“She was the chorus teacher for all of the students. They did come in contact with her. Luckily, she didn’t make any attempts with my child and it’s sad that it happened to someone else,” she said.
“I was shocked. Because I haven’t heard of anything like this in 30 years,” a great-grandparent of a CREC Academy student said.
Vinick is expected to appear in court on Nov. 22.
