Teacher admits having sex with 16-year-old boy and leaving claw marks on his back as other students served as lookouts

A Missouri math teacher is likely headed to prison after admitting that she had sex with a 16-year-old student while other students served as her “lookouts”, and the boy’s dad still faces felony charges for allegedly condoning the disturbing relationship. 

Hailey Clifton-Carmack, 26, was arrested in January 2024 after a student reported their illicit relationship to a school resource officer, and then showed cops a photo of the scratches she left on her victim’s back. 

On Friday, September 6, she pleaded guilty to sexual contact with a student, a charge that could imprison her for the next four years, according to the Daily Mail.

The plea deal let her avoid other serious charges, including statutory rape, child molestation and child endangerment. 

The teacher will now be on house arrest until her Oct. 11 sentencing, the outlet said.

The boy’s dad, Mark Creighton, has been charged with endangering the welfare of a child since he allegedly knew about the affair but didn’t report it. 

But that case is on hold until after Clifton-Carmack’s sentencing in Pulaski County, Missouri, according to the county’s prosecuting attorney, Kevin S. Hillman.

Clifton-Carmack’s plea is the latest turn in the sickening case, which began when a student witness reported the relationship between the teen and the Laquey High School math teacher last December. The witness showed cops the photo of the victim’s torn-up back, which Clifton-Carmack allegedly mauled when the two had sex in the witness’s driveway. 

The math teacher — a divorced mother of two — had gotten in trouble with school officials before for getting too close to the students, the witness added. 

She also often wore revealing clothing, like low-cut shirts and tight leggings. Clifton-Carmack denied the relationship when detectives caught up with her on Dec. 8, 2023.

Cops confiscated her phone, and eventually found text messages illuminating the risqué relationship, court documents said. 

She took off just before Christmas, allegedly heading to Texas so she could visit family. But her roommates said she’d moved permanently and weren’t sure if she was coming back. 

In January, the Garden Ridge Police Department arrested her in Comal County, Texas, and charged her with first-degree endangering the welfare of a child, second-degree statutory rape, sexual contact with a student, and fourth-degree child molestation. 

Creighton, the boy’s dad, was also arrested in January on a charge of endangering the welfare of a child after another witness said they told the teen’s father about the teacher’s actions.

He simply said he knew about their sexual relationship, court documents said. And he also knew that his son and the teacher used students to serve as lookouts — particularly when they had sex during school hours. 

The man “knew of the relationship of his minor child and the 26-year-old teacher, and instead of reporting the information, he continued to cover for them and allowed the relationship to continue” and “even allowed Hailey to come over to his residence and see the victim while he was present,” prosecutors said. 

He also reportedly told a witness he would lie for his son if he had to.