Parents discover teacher allegedly had sex with their son through cellphone monitoring app

Jason Pohl | The Republic | azcentral.com

PHOENIX -- An app that monitors children's cellphone use alerted a 13-year-old boy's parents that his teacher was in a sexual relationship with him, the child's father said last week.

Speaking to reporters at a Tempe law firm, the parents also said they are exploring legal action against the Goodyear school for what they said was a failure to properly notify them of rumors and potential misconduct involving their son and his sixth-grade teacher.

"There truly are real monsters in the world," the boy's father said. "As parents, you teach your kids that there’s no such thing as monsters. At all. There’s none. But in the real world, there are monsters. And Brittany Zamora is a monster.”

Zamora, 27, allegedly had sex with the boy at least three times and performed oral sex on him in the classroom and in her car from about Feb. 1 through March 8, The Arizona Republic reported previously. The two also exchanged sexually explicit text messages in which Zamora, a teacher at Las Brisas Academy Elementary School in Goodyear, sent naked pictures of herself to the student.

Police in Goodyear said the school's principal reported the alleged misconduct March 21. The teacher was arrested the following day.

A cellphone surveillance app

The parents spoke to reporters last Thursday alongside their attorneys on the condition of anonymity due to the sensitive nature of the case and the involvement of a minor.

They credited a cellphone application for alerting them to the sexually explicit content on their son's phone and prompting the conversation that ultimately set the criminal investigation in motion.

The app, Sentry Parental Control, is among several surveillance tools for smartphones.

The app monitors popular messaging programs, like Facebook Messenger and WhastApp, and notifies parents when "suspicious content or behavior" is detected, according to the program's online description.

It can also alert parents when "suspicious images" are taken or received by a child's device.

Without the program, the parents fear the alleged misconduct could have continued unchecked and included even more victims.

“A TV can’t watch your kids. A video game system cannot watch your kids. You have to do that," the father said. "If we didn’t have the app, and we didn’t take all the steps, we’d never have known this happened to my son. How much longer could it have gone? How many other boys could this teacher have done this to?”

'Not just a boy. It was a child'

The student later told police that the contact began when Zamora began "flirting" with him on a classroom chat group. She sent him a naked picture of herself and another of herself wearing lingerie. He told police he also sent her pictures of himself naked.

In one exchange spelled out in court records, the boy told the teacher he wanted to have sex with her again.

"I know baby! I want you every day with no time limit," Zamora responded, according to court records. She also allegedly texted him that "If I could quit my job and (have sex with) you all day long, I would."

A second student told police he witnessed the two of them having sex and also admitted to receiving naked pictures from the teacher.

"A 27-year-old monster took advantage of a 13-year-old child. Not just a boy. It was a child," the father said. "No parent should ever have to go through this.”

Media outlets from around the world have jumped on the story since it broke last week. So did social media speculation, finger-pointing and commentary that seemingly celebrated the molestation of a sixth-grader.

Some went so far as to suggest he was lucky.

“They can go to hell," the boy's father said of those comment writers. "Because if they had a kid, they wouldn’t be asking these questions. This is not a high-five situation.”

12 Class 2 felony charges and counting

Zamora was arrested March 22 on suspicion of one count of obscene material transmission to a minor.

The Maricopa County Attorney's Office has since formally charged her with 10 counts of sexual conduct with a minor and two counts of molestation — both charges are Class 2 felonies. She also faces two counts of furnishing sexually explicit material to a minor and one count of sex in public, Class 4 and 5 felonies, respectively.

The boy's father said he hopes she spends the rest of her life in prison.

At her initial appearance in court, Zamora told Commissioner Melissa Zabor that she would "love to go home, to be released. … I’d love to go home to my husband."

Bond was set at $250,000, and she remained in custody Thursday.

She is next due in court for a preliminary hearing Monday.

Goodyear police on Thursday declined to comment further about the ongoing investigation.

'Nip this in the bud'

Steven Weinberger, a partner with the Tempe law firm Davis Miles McGuire Gardner, is representing the boy and weighing additional legal options, including a potential civil lawsuit against the school.

“Based on what we know thus far, the school had ample opportunity to nip this in the bud,” he said. "The school knew that there was an inappropriate relationship going on dating back to, at the very least, early February before this escalated into sexual molestation.”

The school did not immediately return a call seeking comment.

Corroboration about those rumors and in-school actions was not immediately made available, though the boy's parents said they're still learning more from their son and others about what has allegedly occurred since the start of this year.

'Safe and nurturing environment'

Las Brisas Academy officials on Wednesday said they found a new sixth-grade teacher to take Zamora's place. They also said they were looking for a full-time school counselor to be on campus for the rest of the year to bolster existing counseling resources.

The school vowed in a letter to parents to ensure "kids have a safe and nurturing environment at school, at home, and in our community."

Anyone who wants to speak to someone regarding counseling at the school is asked to call the school’s main number, 623-386-2860.

Those who suspect a child is being or has been sexually assaulted can contact local law enforcement as well as child-service organizations such as ChildHelp at 1-800-422-4453 or the Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network (RAINN) at 1-800-656-4673.