MARIES COUNTY SHERIFF
Rikki Laughlin’s mug shot.
A 25-year-old Missouri teacher faces six felony charges for allegedly pursuing a 16-year-old student — and both sending him pornographic images and soliciting ones from him.
Rikki Lynn Laughlin of St. James, Missouri, allegedly solicited dick picks from her victim via Snapchat and sent him nudes, as well as a video of herself using a dildo, according to a probable cause statement by the Maries County Sheriff’s Office. Maries County is near Rolla, about a two-hour drive west of St. Louis.
When the school district that employed Laughlin reported a possibly inappropriate relationship, a detective visited the student at home. The student that “things progressed fast” after the teacher reached out on Snapchat and that they’d kissed. She also allegedly invited him to have sex at her home while her husband was out of town, but the student “made excuses for not meeting with Laughlin because he did not feel comfortable,” according to the detective’s report.
Laughlin allegedly told the student that she could go to jail for the photos they’d exchanged and asked him to delete them because people at school were talking. But the student was able to pull up some photos for the detective.
That same day, according to the probable cause statement, the detective visited Laughlin at her home. She didn’t deny receiving the photos, but said the student had initiated the inappropriate contact and claimed, “I was not aware he was a minor until yesterday.” After she gave written consent to have her phone searched, the detective found a video like the one the student had described.
Laughlin now faces charges of possession of child porn, tampering with a victim, attempted statutory rape, sexual exploitation of a minor, tampering with physical evidence and sexual trafficking of a child, along with one misdemeanor count of furnishing pornographic materials to minors. Just one of those charges could result in more than 20 years in prison.
Laughlin now faces a bond appearance hearing on November 14.
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