Attorney Speaks Out On Behalf Of Teen Student Who Allegedly Fathered Ex-Teacher's Baby

SAN BERNARDINO (CBSLA.com) — An attorney spoke out Wednesday on behalf of the teenage student who allegedly fathered the baby of a former Redlands high school teacher.

The now 17-year-old boy is one of three victims who reportedly had a sexual relationship with 28-year-old Laura Whitehurst, an ex-Citrus Valley High School English instructor. She pleaded not guilty last week to 41 felony counts of illegal sex acts with three minors.

"What this family has done, and what this victim has done, is they've stood up and they've made sure that this is not going to happen to any other victims from this teacher," Jillian Duggan-Herd told KCAL9's Adrianna Weingold.

Whitehurst gave birth on June 18, according to court documents. Her relationship with the baby's father reportedly lasted just shy of one year. During that time, she's accused of having inappropriate contact with the boy 30 to 40 times.

Court documents also showed that the victim's mother told Whitehurst to stay away from her son, but Whitehurst continued to call and text him. She asked him to come over and even showed up in the boy's neighborhood.

"We're looking into…did the school district and did these teachers and this particular teacher protect the children? And right now we don't think so," said Duggan-Herd.

She added, "Since there were past victims… maybe this could have been prevented before and he wouldn't have had to be a victim."

Whitehurst is being held on $750,000 bail. If convicted of the charges, she faces up to 29 years in prison.

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