Teacher of Year accused of having sex with student

GOOSE CREEK — Westview Middle School's Teacher of the Year has been arrested by North Charleston and Goose Creek police on charges she had a sexual relationship with a female student under 16.

She is also the girl's Sunday school teacher, according to an affidavit.

Goose Creek police charged Kanesa Hopkins, 31, of Goose Creek, with two counts each of committing a lewd act upon a child under 16 and second-degree criminal sexual conduct with a minor. North Charleston police charged her with one count of criminal sexual conduct with a minor.

Hopkins was held Tuesday night at the Charleston County Detention Center. Her total bail was set at $300,000.

Hopkins is a seventh-grade math teacher and has been at Westview for eight years, Berkeley County Schools spokeswoman Pam Bailey said. Hopkins was selected by her peers as the school's 2007 Teacher of the Year.

'There is no higher form of recognition,' Bailey said.

The school board wasn't aware of any investigation until Hopkins' arrest, Bailey said. The teacher was placed on administrative leave with pay pending the disposition of the charges.

The victim was a student in her class, a detective said in an affidavit. The events alleged to have occurred in Goose Creek happened between January 2003 and October 2004, when the girl was between 14 and 15, according to affidavits. Hopkins admitted to having sexual contact with the girl, the affidavit stated.

Allegations of sexual assault were first reported to police in North Charleston, where Hopkins once lived, the affidavit said. Hopkins committed sexual battery on the girl between May 2002 and May 2003 at an apartment on St. Ives Road, according to another affidavit.

Goose Creek police were notified when it was learned that some incidents may have occurred in that city's jurisdiction. Hopkins moved from North Charleston to Goose Creek, the detective said.

Contact began with the exchange of letters between the student and teacher and progressed to the girl spending time at Hopkins' house and, eventually, physical contact, according to the affidavit.

Hopkins was confronted in 2002 by the church that she and the student attend about the amount of time they were spending together, but the church is not identified in the affidavit and there is no further mention of the concerns.

Committing a lewd act upon a child is punishable by up to 15 years in prison. The two charges of criminal sexual conduct with a minor carry a maximum punishment of 20 years.

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Nita Birmingham

at 745-5858 or nbirmingham@postandcourier.com.