Heather Marie Mashburn-Smith, Port Charlotte High School teacher in Florida sentenced to 7-years jail and 15 years probation after admitting to sexual relations with teen student, including showing investigators where in the classroom she had ‘relations’ with the boy and whom ‘she wanted to leave’ her husband for when her victim turned 18.
An anonymous tip sent to a Florida school principal has led to a Charlotte County teacher being sentenced to 7-years jail and 15 years probation after admitting to having sexual liaisons with a student.
Heather Marie Mashburn-Smith, 37, was arrested April 29 and charged with unlawful sexual activity with certain minors, according to a Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office affidavit. The Port Charlotte High School teacher was accused of inappropriate conduct involving a 17-year-old student.
Deputies began investigating after school officials received a confidential tip-off alleging a possible relationship between a ‘married’ staff member and a student, the affidavit states. Investigators then conducted interviews, including a child forensic interview, and later interviewed Mashburn-Smith in a sworn, recorded session.
‘I feel like it was these desks,’
Mashburn-Smith was arrested at 4:54 p.m. April 29 and transported to the Charlotte County Jail without incident, according to court records cited by MySunCoast.com.
Prosecutors alleged the educator she had sexual relations with the student victim on Port Charlotte High School’s campus twice that month.
Previous released video included Mashburn-Smith showing officers where exactly in her classroom she had sex with the victim.
‘I feel like it was these desks,’ the teacher is heard saying. ‘I’m pretty sure it was these ones.’
Adding, ‘…this is the desk that we leaned back on,’ describing how she was on top of the teen and facing him as he sat on a chair.
Abuse of position, trust and authority
According to court documents, the illicit trysts began with the pair flirting over Snapchat after the teenager called her ‘pretty.’
Matters turned physicial between the teacher and student with Mashburn-Smith complaining to the teen about her marriage. According to charging documents, the teacher told the boy she wanted to leave her husband for him when he turned 18. The legal age of consent in Florida.
That concerned the boy, who stopped chatting and blocked his teacher — who kept messaging him on Snapchat, according to the affidavit.
‘What this woman has done is not just unlawful, it is damaging to the students and staff around her,’ Sheriff Bill Prummell said of the educator, who was suspended from her job at the high school at the time of her arrest.
‘This individual took advantage of that vulnerability and preyed on one of the people she was entrusted to protect,’ the statement continued.
Mashburn-Smith entered a guilty plea to a charge of sexual assault by a custodian. The court adjudicated her guilty on Aug. 25, 2026 the outlet reported.
Mashburn-Smith was in turn sentenced to seven years jail, followed by 15 years of sex offender probation under the supervision of the Department of Corrections, according to the judgment.
Mashburn-Smith was adjudicated a sexual predator under Florida Statute 775.21, court records state. The age of consent in Florida is 18.
Not immediately clear is what led to the female educator abusing her position of trust, authority and power to subjugate her minor male student victim.
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