A former Indiana high school teacher flaunted her sex toys, stripper poles, and drugs to her students – before going on to sexually assault them, say court documents.
Brittany Fortinberry, 31, a former middle school math teacher with Eminence Community Schools in Morgan County, 40 miles south of Indianapolis, is facing multiple charges including sexual misconduct with a minor, dissemination of matter harmful to a minor, and contributing to the delinquency of a minor.
The teacher is being charged with two alleged incidents and was first suspended by the district in August 2024 following the allegations. A day after her suspension was issued, Fortinberry resigned her position. Online records show that Fortinberry was issued a marriage license in 2021.
The first incident alleges that in August 2024, Fortinberry sent a spate of inappropriate messages to two of her students on Instagram that included images and videos of sex toys, a stripper pole she had inside her home, as well as explicit photos, reports Fox59.
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According to the court documents, a warrant conducted at the teacher’s home recovered the items matching the description to what the students had described.
“It is just bizarre you come to a school, see a teacher and you are supposed to be able to trust them”, a student told investigators, as per the documents.
Fortinberry reportedly said to officers that she regretted the day she lost weight because if she was still 150 pounds heavier she would never have run into any problems, reports Fox59.
In the second instance, Fortinberry is accused of molesting at least one student after a woman informed police in December 2024 that her 16-year-old grandson had been abused when he was 15, just months after the inappropriate messages were revealed to have allegedly been sent.
The teenage boy was reportedly given drugs and at one point with Fortinberry threatening to take her own life if he told anyone about the abuse, alleged the grandmother to police.
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When interviewed, the teenager said the teacher sent him nude images on Snapchat before sexually assaulting him several times and even taking him on a trip to French Lick, a town in southern Indiana.
The boy also says he was not the sole victim of her abuse.
He told investigators that at least five others, possibly a number closer to 10, had also been molested by Fortinberry.
“[The boy] said that some of the victims are considering talking about what happened and there’s others that don’t want to talk about it,” the court documents read, as per WRTV.
In a statement provided to the outlet, the school’s district said: “The night of August 22, 2024, a report was made to the School Corporation that an employee, Brittany Fortinberry, had engaged in inappropriate conduct toward two students. School Administration immediately reported this information to the Indiana Department of Child Services and local law enforcement.
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“The employee was immediately suspended the night of August 22, 2024, pending investigation into the reported misconduct. On or before 9:45 am the following morning, on August 23, 2024, a resignation notice was received from Ms. Fortinberry and her employment with the Eminence Community Schools immediately ended. The welfare and safety of our students is the top priority of the Eminence Community Schools. As such, the School Corporation has been and will continue to fully cooperate with law enforcement and the Morgan County Prosecutor’s Office in this matter.”
Fortinberry is reportedly being held without bond and had her initial hearing Thursday afternoon.
The Independent contacted the school district and Morgan County Sheriff’s Office for more information. It is not clear whether Fortinberry had an attorney or not.
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