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A high school teacher in Florida is facing serious allegations after reportedly having numerous sexual encounters with a student who resided in her home, as well as supplying the teenager with alcohol. These claims are detailed in an arrest affidavit.
Mackenzie McLean, aged 49, who teaches economics at Crooms Academy in Sanford, was detained on Tuesday. She faces two charges related to sexual misconduct by an authority figure and one charge for distributing a controlled substance.
The student, a senior who had formed a friendship with McLean’s daughter, moved into her house in March 2024 following his eviction from his family home, according to the affidavit.
The affidavit states that during one incident, while playing video games with McLean and her daughter, the teacher allegedly served the student 12 shots of gin, leading to extreme intoxication. Afterward, she purportedly asked her daughter to leave the room before initiating sexual activities with the student.
Mackenzie McLean, who has been teaching at Crooms Academy in Sanford, Florida, has been placed on administrative leave by the school district in the wake of her arrest. (Seminole County Sheriff’s Office)
It “went on for a very short time,” the student told authorities, alleging that he “pushed McLean off him and told her it was wrong.”
The student lived with McLean for nine months, though he estimated that he was sexually abused “approximately five to ten times” in the two months when she was still his teacher.
McLean taught the male student at Crooms Academy Of Information Technology, a magnet school in Sanford, Florida. (Google Maps)
As the student told authorities about the alleged sexual encounters, detectives noted in the affidavit that he appeared “quite emotional” and started crying with visible tears.
The student said he allowed the sex to continue because he was afraid that if he stopped, he would no longer have a place to live or food to eat.
The student also brought a friend to speak with detectives who said she had also spent time at McLean’s home, sometimes sleeping over. The teen girl alleged that McLean provided her with alcohol and Adderall, a schedule two controlled substance.
The friend said that she witnessed McLean ask the student to sleep in bed with him, though she did not have direct knowledge of any sexual activity until sometime later, according to the affidavit.
McLean was arrested on Tuesday and is being held on $35,000 bond. (iStock)
Text messages between McLean and the teen girl show that McLean claimed she knew the sexual relationship with the student was wrong, though she alleged that the student initiated the sex.
“I’m well aware that I’m the adultier adult and so I intentionally never initiated anything because I didn’t want to make him feel any kind of way,” reads one alleged message from McLean.
McLean was placed on administrative leave Tuesday morning after spending nearly 25 years working in the district, a Seminole County Public Schools spokesperson told FOX35 Orlando in a statement.
“Any allegations of misconduct by our staff will be taken seriously and handled quickly,” the statement said. “The safety of our students and staff is our highest priority, and any type of behavior that jeopardizes that safety will not be tolerated in Seminole County Public Schools.”
McLean is being held on a $35,000 bond. Her next court date is scheduled for March 31.