Dexter teacher pleads not guilty to having sex with student

DEXTER, Mo. -- A former industrial arts teacher at Dexter High School pleaded not guilty last week to having sexual contact with a student.

Marti Pulliam, 37, stepped down from her position in August after police were called to the school about the allegations, according to a probable-cause affidavit filed in the case.

The male student, who turned 18 in February, told authorities during the 2014-2015 school year, he had a sexual relationship with Pulliam. The relationship, the student told police, began when Pulliam started texting him about school matters. Soon after the student's 18th birthday, he stated, the texting shifted to a "flirting" tone.

The student said as the texting continued, Pulliam eventually began sending him nude images via Snapchat. The student sent Pulliam nude images, as well.

The photo exchanges reportedly continued into March, and the student told police after a classroom session in March, the relationship turned physical when the two "talked and began to kiss."

After several weeks of continuing to exchange nude photos through Snapchat, Pulliam reportedly picked the student up one night and drove to an area "just outside of Dexter," where they had sex.

The student told authorities once the relationship became sexual, the situation "became awkward," and the teacher stopped initiating conversation with him. He told police, however, when the current school year began, Pulliam sent him another photo, and he texted her back.

On Oct. 1, Stoddard County sheriff's deputies conducted an interview with Pulliam at the sheriff's office in Bloomfield, Missouri.

During the interview, Pulliam admitted between November and May, when she was employed at Dexter Schools, she did "have an affair with an 18-year-old student," and she told them who it was, according to police.

Pulliam, according to an official statement, said the relationship began amid personal problems at home and after an accident in her industrial arts classroom that resulted in a student being injured. Pulliam reportedly told the investigators the student who admitted to having an affair with her "was always there for her" after the other student was injured.

She concurred with the student's account the relationship began with texting, then "sexting." She also stated she often would drive the student to school.

Pulliam admitted to police on one occasion in March or April, she met the male student, along with another student, on the east side of the city. The two reportedly rode with her in her truck to a more remote area in rural Dexter, where Pulliam had sex with the same student she previously had been involved with.

Pulliam reportedly told police after that encounter, she and the student agreed to "distance their relationship." She stated when the 2015-2016 school year began in August, she was "surprised" the student was scheduled to be in two of her classes at Dexter High School.

The Dexter School Board accepted Pulliam's resignation from the school system during an executive session Aug. 25.

Pertinent address:

Dexter, Mo.