Madison Southern biology teacher charged with sexual abuse of 16-year-old student

A biology teacher at Madison Southern High School was arrested Tuesday on charges of having sex with a 16-year-old student.

Brandi Whitaker, 24, of Richmond, was charged with first-degree sexual abuse, third-degree rape and third-degree sodomy, according to a news release from the Berea Police Department.

Police and social services workers were called to the school to investigate allegations of sexual contact on Tuesday, according to the release.

Police said Whitaker had sexual contact with the boy twice. Neither incident took place on school property, according to the release.

District spokeswoman Erin Stewart said in an email that Whitaker has been suspended with pay "pending the results of the Berea Police investigation and the district's own internal investigation."

Whitaker was beginning her second year of teaching in the Madison County schools.

This story was originally published August 25, 2015 at 5:12 PM with the headline "Madison Southern biology teacher charged with sexual abuse of 16-year-old student."