LITTLE ROCK — A former Magnolia teacher supplied three teens with alcohol and arranged for a variety of sexual encounters, including several with an El Dorado man, authorities said Friday.
Donna L. Sanders, 46, gave beer and vodka to the teens, and took two girls, ages 12 and 13, to motels in El Dorado to have sex with "guys," including the 22-year-old man, according to a police report released Friday.
A 15-year-old boy told investigators he had sex with a 12-year-old girl in the backseat of Sanders' car while she drove them around with the music turned up, the report states.
Authorities on Friday were looking for the El Dorado man, who is wanted on rape charges. They accuse him of engaging in oral sex with a 13-year-old girl, records show. He was not identified in reports.
Sanders is facing 12 counts of permitting child abuse and 10 counts of rape, as an accomplice, stemming from allegations in Union and Columbia counties, according to the report released Friday. Authorities are not accusing Sanders of engaging in any sexual activities.
Sanders resigned from her job as a special education teacher at Magnolia Junior High School on Wednesday, the day she was arrested. On Friday, she was transferred from the Columbia County jail to a mental health facility for an evaluation.
The case has perplexed police, who say there was no financial gain or apparent sexual gratification for Sanders.
"There's no motive," Magnolia Police Chief Robert Gorum said Friday.
The two girls are students at the Magnolia school, Gorum said, but it doesn't appear other students were involved.
Police began investigating Sanders earlier this week after rumors surfaced about the sexual rendezvous. Magnolia Superintendent John Moore called the police chief to his office to report the allegations.
An investigator interviewed Sanders' husband, Terry Sanders, who is an assistant principal at Magnolia High School. He told investigators his wife admitted to arranging for the teensto have sex, records show.
Gorum said there have been no prior complaints of abuse by Sanders and said she had an unblemished record as a teacher.
Moore, the Magnolia superintendent, did not return repeated calls to his office on Friday.
In a faxed response, he saidSanders has no record of disciplinary actions. She began teaching in the district in 2003.
He released her one-sentence resignation letter, in which she cited "catastrophic events that have taken place within my family."
Robin Carroll, the prosecuting attorney for the 13th Judicial District, said on Friday he planned to review the case over the weekend and file formal charges next week.
Arkansas, Pages 13, 19 on 04/26/2008